Special rules apply to residence permits for performers, musicians and artists and any necessary accompanying support staff.
Who can apply for a residence permit as a performer, musician or artist?
You must have received an offer of employment as a performer, musician or artist, or be part of the necessary accompanying support staff. The purpose of the work must be to present culture, for example through music, dance, theatre or circus performances. Dancing where the purpose is striptease is not considered to be culture.
If you are between the ages of 15 and 18, you must have the consent of your parents or another person who has parental responsibility for you. Children under the age of 15 cannot be granted a residence permit pursuant to these rules, but they can apply for residence permits pursuant to the rules for family immigration.
Exemption from the residence permit requirement
Performers, artists, musicians and necessary accompanying support staff do not need a residence permit if their assignment does not last for more than 14 days during a calendar year. However, persons covered by a visa requirement need a visa to enter Norway.
What requirements apply to the employment relationship?
To be granted a permit pursuant to these rules, you must have received a concrete offer of employment. The employment offer is concrete if it contains a description of your job, the number of hours a week you will be working and your hourly pay (plus any supplements).
The main rule is that you must have received an offer of full-time employment. For musicians or dance bands, the working hours must be at least 21 hours a week in order for the work to be considered full-time employment. The offer must concern a specific, continuous period of time, for one or more employers or clients. If you have periods between contracts or assignments where you are not employed, these periods cannot exceed 20 per cent of your total period of residence in Norway.
The pay and working conditions cannot be poorer than those stipulated in the applicable collective agreement or pay scale. If no such collective agreement or pay scale exists, the pay and working conditions must not be poorer than is normal for the occupation and place concerned.
Here is an overview of pay scales for certain large groups:
For contracts with Rikskonsertene, the collective agreement on pay and working conditions for musicians on short-term contracts between the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and the Norwegian Musicians’ Union on the one hand and the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Rikskonsertene on the other, will apply. Other relevant agreements are the orchestra agreement, the theatre agreement and the opera agreement. The agreements are available on the Norwegian Musicians’ Union’s website.
For musicians and circus performers/ necessary accompanying support staff at circuses or fun fairs, it is a requirement that the applicant’s pay corresponds to minimum 82 percent of salary grade 19 in the pay scale for Norwegian state employees, currently NOK 225,910 per year, unless it can be documented that a lower pay is normal for the place and occupation concerned.
Your employer or client must have a place of business in Norway. If your employer does not have a registered business address in Norway, the Norwegian client must guarantee the offer of employment, including the pay and working conditions offered.
How to apply
Check where to hand in your application
- If you are outside Norway you hand in your application at a Norwegian embassy or consulate in your home country or the country where you have held a residence permit for the last six months. In some countries you will hand in the application at the Swedish or Danish embassy instead. Check here where to hand in the application.
- If you are in Norway, you can apply from here if you have held another type of permit for the past nine months. You can also apply from Norway if you have skilled worker qualifications. Read about entry visa for skilled workers. You must be in Norway legally, and you cannot be an asylum seeker.
Learn more about who can apply from Norway
Find out if you should apply online
You should register your application online if you apply from Norway or through a Norwegian embassy You cannot register your application online if you hand in the application at a Swedish or Danish embassy.
If you hand in the application at a Swedish or Danish embassy you must fill in a form on paper and hand it in at the embassy. You can find the form here. The form is also used for renewing a permit
Your employer can not apply on your behalf
What must be enclosed with the application?
When you have visited the embassy or police station and handed in your passport and other necessary documentation we will start to process your application
In addition to the residence permit application form, you must enclose:
- a copy of your passport
- a passport photo/ photo that meets specific requirements
- information about accommodation
- documentation that you have paid the fee.
- In addition, you must enclose a contract of engagement signed by the employer or client and yourself, or by the leader if you are a member of a group or a band. The contract must describe all the rights and obligations between you and your employer, including working hours, place of work and pay, and any other benefits such as free board and lodging. If you apply for a residence permit for contracts with more than one employer or client, you must enclose contracts from all the employers or clients.
- If you are a touring performer or employed at a fun fair or a circus, you must also enclose a tour itinerary.
- If your employer does not have a place of business in Norway, you must provide written confirmation from the Norwegian client guaranteeing the offer from your employer, including the pay and working conditions offered.
As a rule, it is sufficient that you enclose a copy of the documents, but you must present the original documents when you hand in your application. You must also enclose translations of the documents into Norwegian or English.
The documentation requirements vary from country to country and they may change over time. You should therefore investigate in more detail whether any additional requirements apply at the Norwegian embassy or consulate in the country from which you are applying.
How long will it take to process the application?
Residence card to document your permit
If your application is granted, you must get yourself a residence card. This is a proof that you have the right to live in Norway. You will receive a letter which informs you that you must visit the police to have your fingerprints and photo taken. About ten days later the card will be sent to you by post.
Read more about residence cards
The content of the permit
The residence permit concerns a specific job for a specific employer, and you cannot work in another job or for another employer than stated in the permit.
The permit can be granted for one year, but never for longer than the duration of the employment relationship.
The permit entitles you to travel into and out of Norway for the duration of the permit.
The permit does not form the basis for a permanent residence permit.
If you wish to replace any of the contracts connected with the permit with another contract, or if you wish to take over contracts from other people, the police can approve this. To obtain approval, you must contact the police in writing.
The permit is renewable
The permit can be renewed, but it cannot be granted for a continuous period of more than one year. After that, you cannot, as a rule, be granted a new permit as a performer, musician or artist or necessary accompanying support staff before you have stayed outside Norway for three months.
You can appeal the decision
Further information
Read more about the conditions for being granted the permit at the web portal
UDIregelverk.no
