Norway FAQ

The Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi is handling all visa applications to Norway. You can however submit your application to the Norwegian Honorary Consulate in Kolkata, Chennai or Mumbai.

Skilled workers who wish to come to Norway before they have been granted a residence permit can apply for an entry visa. You are eligible for such a visa if you are a skilled worker and have received a concrete offer of employment from an employer in Norway. The entry visa does not entitle you to work in Norway, but it does entitle you to stay in Norway while you wait for your application for a residence permit to be processed. To apply for a D-visa for employment please submit one schengen visa application form along with the same documents as for the work permit you are applying for (see over), together with your passport and the visa fee of INR 3700 paid as a draft. If you have already got a clearance from UDI to work in Norway, please submit your passport together with one Schengen Visa application form duly filled in, 1 recent passport size photograph with white background and 1 copy of first and last page of passport. Those who applied from New Delhi will only need to submit their passport.

You must have entered into an employment contract with an employer in Norway. :- You must as a minimum have completed a vocational education. The embassy or consulate can only in exceptional circumstances grant an entry visa to foreign nationals who have not completed a vocational education, but who can document 'special qualifications'  You are not eligible for an entry visa if you are to work as a religious leader/teacher or ethnic cook.

Special rules apply for skilled workers who want to come to Norway to seek employment here. You can be granted a residence permit as a job seeker if you are a skilled worker and are subject to a visa requirement. Your purpose must be to seek employment as a skilled worker or specialist in Norway.

You must be a skilled worker. The term skilled worker covers the following categories: Specialist training corresponding to upper secondary education level. You must have completed vocational training for a specific occupation. The education must as a minimum correspond to upper secondary level, i.e. at least three years. You must have achieved the same level of expertise as you would have achieved had you been educated in Norway. Craft certificate. It must have resulted in the same level of expertise as a Norwegian craft certificate. University college or university education. The requirement is a completed degree or study programme, for example a Bachelor or Master’s degree. Special qualifications. You must have gained expertise through professional experience of a certain duration, alternatively in combination with courses and similar. If there is a formal education in the field, you must have achieved a corresponding level of expertise as such education leads to. A permit is only granted on the basis of special qualifications in exceptional cases. You are not eligible for a residence permit as a jobseeker if you wish to seek employment as a religious leader/teacher or an ethnic cook. You must have sufficient funds for the period in which you intend to stay in Norway. This must correspond to salary grade one in the pay scale for Norwegian state employees. This currently corresponds to NOK 107,450 for six months, which amounts to NOK 17,908 per month. You must have travel or medical insurance that covers expenses incurred at a medical care facility for necessary and acute medical treatment, and for medical repatriation services related to patient transfer. The insurance shall be valid for all the Schengen countries with minimum coverage of EUR 30,000. The insurance shall be valid for the period you are applying for a residence permit.

If you are not subject to a visa requirement and are qualified as a skilled worker, you can stay in Norway without a residence permit for six months to seek employment as a skilled worker or a specialist. You will not be granted a resident permit nor a sticker in your passport during the six month period. You must comply with the visa requirement, if you decide to leave Norway and you have not applied for and been granted a resident permit. :- You must report to the police in the place where you live no later than three months after your arrival in Norway, provide proof of your identity and inform the police that you are a job seeker. :- If you travel out of Norway, you can only re-enter the country if your total residence period in the Schengen area does not exceed 90 days during a period of 180 days. :- If you have held a residence permit in Norway, you must have stayed outside the Schengen area for at least 90 days before you can seek employment in Norway. :- However, you need a residence permit if you are seeking work as a religious leader/ teacher or an ethnic cook.

The residence permit allows you to seek employment as a skilled worker or specialist in Norway, but it does not entitle you to work. :- The permit can be granted for six months. :- The permit entitles you to repeated entry into Norway for the duration of the permit. :- The permit does not form the basis for a permanent residence permit. :- The permit does not form the basis for family immigration.

The permit is not renewable. A new permit as a job seeker cannot be granted until the applicant has stayed outside Norway for one year.

Once the case has been sent to UDI in Norway, the Embassy has no further bearing on the case. The processing time depends on the work load at UDI at any time, but you can find an average expected processing time for the various types of permits.

Norway Exports is a series of publications that market Norwegian export companies abroad. It covers a number of sectors and is distributed to, among other places, Norwegian consulates, a good number of international trade fairs and through our cooperative partners. Norway Exports carries the Ministry of Foreign Affairs design and seal, and it has been a channel for the Norwegian export industry since 1957. Norwegian companies have the possibility to present themselves to foreign parties in one or several pages in these publications. The Norway Exports publications focus individually on certain sectors and contain industry-related articles.

In order to travel to Norway, Indian citizens need a Schengen visa. A Schengen visa is a document showing that you have permission to enter Norway and other Schengen countries for a limited period of up to 90 days. You may be granted a Schengen visa if you intend to travel to Norway as a tourist, on a family visit, on public business or a business trip, a study visit or other business which does not require a work or residence permit.

A Schengen visa should be applied from the member state where you will spend the most days. If the same amount of time is to be spent in more than one country, applications should be submitted to the country where you are to visit first. A Schengen visa for Norway and the rest of the Schengen countries has a maximum duration of 90 days (in any six months period). The visa cannot be extended once the holder has entered the Schengen area. Exceptions may be made if unforseen circumstances arise after your arrival in the Schengen area. If you intend to work or stay more than 90 days you need to apply for a work/residence permit. A visitor to the Schengen countries is issued on condition that the applicant leaves the Schengen area before the visa expires. If you remain in Norway for longer than the visa period, you may be expelled from the country. You may also encounter difficulties in connection with any future applications for visa or residence permit. A Schengen visa does not entitle you to work in Norway. All nationals who wish to enter Norway must meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules. Before applying for a Schengen visa to Norway, you must make sure that your Passport/Travel document shall have been issued within the previous 10 years and should be valid for 90 days after expiry of the visa with at least two blank pages. A medical travel insurance is required with a minimum coverage of €30.000 which should be valid for 15 days after the return from the Schengen area. Medical health/travel insurance must meets the following criteria: :- It is valid throughout Schengen territory. :- The coverage includes repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical care and/or emergency treatment in a hospital

Norway's weather is warmer than might be expected from its geographical location. Due to the warmth of the Gulf Stream, most of Norway falls within temperate climate. In Norway, the climate varies considerably from coastal to inland areas. The coastal regions have a climate with relatively mild winters and cooler summer months. Inland areas have a continental climate with colder winters, but warmer summertime (for example Oslo). You can also check the current local weather conditions in Norway. The Scandinavian country Norway has a climate that easily fluctuates from year to year, especially in its most northern parts. Those are located at the edge of the global temperate zone. An interesting phenomenon in Norway (and some other parts of Scandinavia) is the seasonal change in the length of day and night. In midwinter, daylight lasts 5-6 hours in southern Norway and in the north, darkness prevails. Those dark days and nights are a Scandinavian phenomenon called the Polar Nights. In midsummer, daylight takes over and there is no night darkness during June and July, even as far south as Trondheim. The name for this is the Midnight Sun.