In order to be granted a residence permit as a skilled worker, you must be a qualified skilled worker whose expertise is relevant to the job you will be doing in Norway.
Who can be granted a residence permit as a skilled worker?
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 education level, i.e. at least three years. If your were educated abroad, 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 joiners, plumbers or auxiliary nurses.
- Craft certificate. A craft certificate taken abroad 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. Examples include nurses, engineers, Bachelor or Master’s degrees.
- Special qualifications. You must have gained expertise through professional experience of a certain duration, alternatively in combination with other training (courses and similar). If there is a formal education in the field achieved through of such education. Please note that, in principle, a skilled worker permit is only granted on the basis of special qualifications in exceptional circumstances and that thorough documentation is required.
More stringent competence requirements
The competence requirements for religious leaders/teachers and ethnic cooks have become more stringent.
Relevance
Your expertise must be deemed to be relevant to the position. This means that the position you have been offered must be of a nature that requires a qualified skilled worker. You must also possess the expertise in question.
Approval/authorisation requirement for regulated professions
If you are to work in a profession subject to qualification requirements (a regulated profession), you must have been approved or authorised by the relevant specialist authority for your profession. Health personnel, for example, must enclose an authorisation or licence from the Norwegian Registration Authority for Health Personnel (SAFH).
More information about professions regulated in Norway
Additional conditions - work through a staffing enterprise
If you are to carry out skilled work through a staffing enterprise, you must submit a list of the assignments that the client has already planned for you. The staffing enterprise must be registered in the Labour Inspection Authority’s register.
What requirements apply to the employment relationship?
- You must have received a concrete offer of employment from an employer in Norway. The employment offer must state the position you will fill, your hourly wage and the number of working hours per week. The duration of the offer of employment must also be specified.
- As a rule, you must have received an offer of full-time employment for one employer.
- The pay and working conditions must not be poorer than those stipulated in the current collective agreement or pay scale for the industry. 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.
- If the position requires an academic education and is not covered by a collective agreement or pay scale, you must be paid in accordance with the collective agreement for Norwegian state employees, unless it is documented that other conditions are normal for the occupation and place concerned. This means that if you have completed higher academic education, for example hold a Master’s degree, your pay must be at least salary grade 42 in the pay scale for Norwegian state employees, currently NOK 338.900 per year. For lower-level academic education, for example a Bachelor’s degree, salary grade 39 in the pay scale for Norwegian state employees, currently NOK 323.900 per year, is the minimum pay.
- In exceptional cases you can be granted a residence permit even though the employment offered is not continuous.
How to apply
In order to apply for a residence permit as a skilled worker, you must complete the application form for a residence permit in Norway.
You can submit your application to the nearest Norwegian foreign service mission (embassy or consulate) in your home country or in the country where you have held a residence permit for the past six months. If you apply from Norway, you can submit your application either to the police district where you live or at a Service centre for foreign workers.
What must be enclosed with the application?
In addition to the completed application form, you must enclose:
- a copy of your passport
- a passport photo/ photo that meets specific requirements
- an employment offer form signed by yourself and your employer
- a print-out of information about your employer from the website of the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities, www.brreg.no
- documentation of your education containing information about the duration of the education, its content and the level of the educational institution. Documentation of craft certificates must contain the same information.
- documentation of work experience containing detailed information from former employers about the duration, tasks and the nature of the activities
- CV
- for regulated professions, approval or authorisation from the relevant specialist authority
- information about where you are going to stay
- if your employer applies on your behalf, an authorisation form must also be enclosed. No authorisation is required if the employer is covered by the early employment scheme.
- 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 you must be able to present the original documents. You must also enclose a translation of the documents into Norwegian or English with the application.
The documentation requirements vary from country to country and may change over time. You should therefore check what requirements apply with the Norwegian foreign service mission (embassy or consulate) in the country from which you are applying.
Your employer can apply on your behalf
Your employer can also apply for a residence permit on your behalf if you authorise him ot her in writing. You must complete the authorisation section of the application form or give your employer some other form of written authorisation. If your employer applies on your behalf, the application must be submitted in the police district where the enterprise is located.
The employer cannot apply on your behalf without written authorisation.
However, if your employer is covered by the early employment scheme, he/she can apply for a residence permit on your behalf without written authorisation.
The early employment scheme
The early employment scheme means that employers who meet certain criteria can recruit labour directly and let employees start working before their application has been processed. The scheme applies to skilled workers, defined by expertise, and specialists, defined by pay. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that the employee fulfils the conditions to be granted a permit as a skilled worker or specialist. The scheme also covers seconded employees employed by an international company and trainees employed by an international company.
In order to take advantage of this scheme, your employer must be able to submit a tax certificate for value added tax and tax, and a self-declaration of compliance with statutory Norwegian health, safety and the environment (HSE) requirements.
Your employer can apply for a residence permit on your behalf without authorisation. If the employer submits a complete application, i.e. an application with all the necessary enclosures, and a tax certificate and self-declaration as described above, the police can issue a preliminary confirmation that you may start working before the application has been processed. The foreign service mission can issue you an entry visa if required, provided that the police have issued a preliminary confirmation to your employer and you are able to document your identity.
You must meet in person at the police district where the application was submitted within seven days of entering Norway. There, you must document your identity and confirm the application submitted by your employer. The police will then issue you a confirmation that you are entitled to work for the employer in question until your application has been processed. You can start working immediately once you have obtained this confirmation.
If you are not subject to a visa requirement to enter Norway or if you already reside legally in Norway, you can submit the application to the police yourself. If the application is complete and your employer meets the requirements, the police can issue you a confirmation that you are entitled to work for the employer in question until your application has been processed. You can start working immediately once you have obtained this confirmation.
You may not change employers while your application is under processing.
The police can refuse to issue a preliminary confirmation to the employer or a confirmation to you if any of the criteria are not met. You have no right to appeal.
Persons who apply for a residence permit as a religious leader or ethnic cook are not covered by the early employment scheme.
Residence permit during application processing
You can ask the police to issue youa residence permit while your application is being processed. The police can grant this if you are entitled to apply from Norway, and if they believe that your application is likely to be granted.
Change of work or employer
A residence permit as a skilled worker is linked to a specific type of work. This means that you can change employers without submitting a new application for as long as your permit is valid, provided that you carry out the type of work specified in the permit.
If you are to carry out a new type of work, you have to submit a new application for a residence permit.
Can your family move to Norway?
Your family can apply for residence permits in Norway for the period during which you will be working here. Such applications are processed in accordance with the regulations for family immigration.
How long will it take to process the application?
See the list of the UDI’s expected case processing times at www.udi.no/caseprocessingtime.
The content of the permit
- A residence permit as a skilled worker applies to a specific type of work. You may therefore not start working in another type of position than is stipulated in your permit.
- A permit pursuant to the provisions relating to skilled workers can be granted for periods of up to three years, but not for longer than the duration of the employment relationship.
- The permit entitles you to travel in and out of Norway during the period for which it is valid.
- The permit forms the basis for apermanent residence permit in Norway.
You can appeal a rejection
You can appeal a decision. Read more about how to appeal a decision at www.udi.no/appeals.
Is the permit renewable?
The permit is renewable. To be entitled to stay on the same conditions, you must apply for renewal of the residence permit and pay a fee at least one month before your previous residence permit expires. The application for a renewal must be submitted to the police in the place where you live.
Further information
For more information, contact the police, your nearest Norwegian embassy or consulate or the UDI’s Information Service.
You can find more information about the regulations that apply for skilled workers at the website UDIregelverk
