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 jobseeker if you are a skilled worker and are subject to a visa requirement.
Who is eligible for a residence permit as a jobseeker?
- Your purpose must be to seek employment as a skilled worker or specialist in Norway.
- You must be subject to a visa requirement.
- You must be a skilled worker. The term skilled worker covers the following categories:
o 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. Examples include vocational education for plumbers or auxiliary nurses.
o Craft certificate. It must have resulted in the same level of expertise as a Norwegian craft certificate.
o University college or university education. The requirement is a completed degree or study programme, for example a Bachelor or Master’s degree.
o 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.
Who does not need a residence permit as a jobseeker?
- 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.
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. 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
What must you hand in with the application?
Both applicants who register their applications online and those who hand in a paper version need to hand in their passport and other necessary documentation.
- If you apply online, you will at the same time book an appointment for handing in your documents to the police or an embassy. You will not have to wait in line when you turn up for your appointment.
- If are not applying online you need to contact the embassy to find out when to hand in the documents along with the application form.
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 completed application form (online or paper version), you must enclose:
- documentation of your education containing information about the duration of the education, its content and the level of the educational institution
- documentation of work experience containing detailed information from former employers about the duration, tasks and the nature of the activities
- a CV
- documentation that you have sufficient funds for your stay
- documentation of travel or medical insurance
- information about accommodation
- a copy of your passport
- a passport photo/ photo that meets specific requirements
- documentation that you have paid the application fee
As a rule, it is sufficient that you enclose a copy of the documents with your application, but it is a precondition that you present the original documents when you submit in your application. You must also enclose a translation of the documents into Norwegian or English.
NOTE! The documentation requirements vary from country to country and may change over time. You should therefore check what the requirements are with the Norwegian embassy or consulate in the country from which you are applying.
How long will it take to process the application?
See the list of the UDI’s expected case processing times at www.udi.no/caseprocessingtimes.
The content of the permit
- 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.
Is the permit renewable?
The permit is not renewable. A new permit as a jobseeker cannot be granted until the applicant has stayed outside Norway for one year.
You can appeal a rejection
You can appeal the decision. Read about how you appeal at www.udi.no/appeals.
Further information
For more information, contact your nearest Norwegian embassy or consulate, or the UDI’s Information Service.
Read more about residence permits for skilled workers the website UDIregelverk
