Norway skilled worker visa (work permit)

You need a concrete job offer from one specific employer in Norway. The job must normally be full-time, although a position of at least 80 percent is accepted, and it must require the skilled qualifications you hold. Pay and conditions may not be worse than normal in Norway. If you apply yourself from abroad, the employer first submits a job offer confirmation to UDI and gives you a code to enter in the application form. Regulated professions such as health personnel also need Norwegian authorisation, for example from the Norwegian Directorate of Health.

Staffing agencies must be registered with the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority and must list the planned assignments, each confirmed by the client with period, hours and tasks; the permit covers only those periods.

UDI counts you as a skilled worker if you have a completed vocational programme of at least three years at upper secondary level with a Norwegian equivalent, a completed university or university college degree, or special qualifications from long experience, generally at least six years documented with detailed work certificates. For vocational-level jobs such as chef, car mechanic, carpenter, painter, bricklayer or hairdresser, UDI applies extra checks to documents issued in Türkiye and several other countries, and these cases may take longer.

Where a collective agreement applies, hand in its first page and the pay-rate page with your rate marked by the employer. Where none applies, you need no further evidence if the job requires a master’s degree and pays at least NOK 624,700 a year before tax, or requires a bachelor’s degree and pays at least NOK 545,400. Otherwise you must show that the pay is normal for the occupation and place, for example with industry wage statistics; UDI says strong evidence is needed for a normal salary below those amounts.

From abroad the route is the same for all residence permits: register the application in UDI’s portal and pay the fee, then hand in the documents and originals in person at the Norwegian embassy or consulate responsible for your place of residence, or at the external service provider it uses. The mission verifies the originals and forwards the case to UDI, which decides. Your passport and originals are returned when the case is finished. Documents not in English or Norwegian need a translation, and for work permits the translation must be made by an authorised translator showing the translator’s name and date.

With your written power of attorney, the employer in Norway may hand in the application for you; copies of your passport and education and work documents are then sufficient, although originals can be requested later.

You may enter Norway before the decision if you hold a valid visa, but you may not work, not even remotely, until the permit is granted, unless the police give you an early employment start when you hand in the application in Norway.

If you need a visa to travel, the Norwegian mission issues an entry visa (D visa) once the permit is granted. After arrival you must report to the police within seven days to have fingerprints and a photo taken; the police then order your residence card, a plastic card sent by post. Put your name on the letterbox so the card can be delivered, and avoid trips abroad until you have it. You should also report your move to the Norwegian Tax Administration to obtain a Norwegian identification number.

A new job of the same type does not need a new permit, but you must notify the police within seven days of starting; a different type of job needs a new permit before you start. If you lose your job, you may stay up to six months while the permit is valid to find a new one and must notify the police within seven days. Renew before expiry; after three years on this permit you can apply for permanent residence.

If UDI refuses, you can appeal within three weeks of receiving the decision letter. The appeal is free, must be signed and written in English or Norwegian, name the decision and explain what should change, and should contain new information; it can be uploaded through udi.no. If you cannot gather all documents in time, appeal anyway and explain, and you get up to two more weeks. UDI reconsiders the case and sends it to the Immigration Appeals Board (UNE) if it maintains the refusal.