Skilled workers who are employed by a foreign enterprise and who are to provide services in Norway can be granted a residence permit.
Who is eligible for this type of residence permit?
You must be an employee of a foreign enterprise that has entered into a contract with a Norwegian enterprise. 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 in question, then your level of expertise must be approximately equivalent to the level 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.
In addition, your expertise must be relevant to your ability to complete the assignment.
What requirements apply to the employment relationship and the assignment?
- A contract must have been entered into between a foreign enterprise (the contractor) and a Norwegian enterprise (the client).
- The contract must state that you are to provide services of a limited duration in Norway.
- The client’s registered business address must be in Norway.
- You must be an employee of the foreign enterprise.
- As a rule, the offer of an assignment must be for one employer.
- There is no requirement for the assignment to be full time.
- The pay and working conditions must not be poorer than those stipulated in the current 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 in Norway for the occupation and place concerned.
- If the position is not covered by a collective agreement or pay scale, you must be paid in accordance with the government collective agreement, unless it is documented that other conditions are normal for the occupation and place concerned.
- The Norwegian client must ensure that the foreign employer meets the requirement for pay and working conditions during the assignment, and must be able to document this to the supervisory or immigration authorities on request.
How to apply
To apply for a residence permit, you must complete the application form. As a rule, you must submit your application to the Norwegian embassy or consulate in your home country or in the country where you have held a residence permit for the past six months.
However, if you are a skilled worker with legal residence in Norway, you can apply from Norway through the police.
The opportunity to apply for a residence permit from Norway does not, however, apply if you are staying in the country in connection with an asylum application or pending departure after rejection of an asylum application.
Applications from Norway must be submitted to the police district where you live.
See also information about visas to apply for a permit, and information about stays of up to six months to seek employment in Norway.
Your client in Norway can apply on your behalf
The client in Norway can apply for a residence permit on your behalf if you authorise him or her to do so in writing. You can do this by filling in the authorisation section in the application form, by completing an authorisation form or by providing some other form of written authorisation. In this case, the application must be submitted to the police district in which the client has his/her registered business address.
Your employer abroad cannot submit a residence permit application on your behalf, since the employer does not have a registered business address in Norway.
The early employment scheme
The early employment scheme means that clients can allow seconded employees to start performing services before their applications have been processed. It is a requirement that you are employed in an international enterprise abroad and that you are to perform services to a Norwegian branch of the international company.
Your client can apply for a residence permit on your behalf if you authorise him/her to do so in writing.
If your client submits a complete application, i.e. an application with all the necessary enclosures, the police can issue preliminary confirmation that you may start performing services before your application has been processed. The foreign service mission can issue you an entry visa if required, provided that the police have issued preliminary confirmation to your client and you are able to document your identity.
You must contact the police in the police district where the application was submitted in person within seven days of entering Norway. There, you must document your identity and confirm the application submitted by your client. The police will then issue you confirmation that you are entitled to perform services for the client in question until your application has been processed. You can start performing your services immediately after you have obtained such confirmation.
If you do not require a visa to enter Norway or if you already reside legally in Norway, you can submit the application to the police yourself. It is a condition that you have skilled worker qualifications and that you are not an asylum seeker. If the application is complete, the police can issue you confirmation that you are entitled to perform services for the client in question until your application has been processed. You can start performing your services immediately after you have obtained this confirmation.
You may not change clients while your application is being processed.
The police can refuse to issue preliminary confirmation to the client or confirmation to you if any of the criteria are not met. You have no right of appeal.
Permits during the processing of applications
You may not start working until you have been granted a residence permit. The police can issue a permit while your application is being processed if you so request, and if the police are of the opinion that you are entitled to apply from Norway and it is probable that your application will be granted.
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 offer of assignment form, signed by the Norwegian client, the foreign enterprise and yourself as a seconded employee
- a contract between the Norwegian client and the foreign enterprise documenting the nature of the contractual relationship. The contract must also clearly state which services you are to provide and that they are of a limited duration. If you are employed in an international company abroad and you are being sent on assignment to the Norwegian branch of the company, the contract may in exceptional cases be replaced by a confirmation from your employer abroad that you, for a specified and limited period, will work at the company’s branch in Norway
- your employment contract with the foreign enterprise
- a Certificate of Registration for the Norwegian enterprise from the Brønnøysund Register Centre
- documentation of 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
- information about accommodation in Norway
- documentation that you have paid the 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 when you hand in your application. You must also enclose translations of the documents into Norwegian or English.
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 service provider, seconded employee, is linked to the assignment or assignments stipulated in the contract. You may therefore not take other assignments than stipulated by the permit. Nor can you carry out work for an employer in Norway or engage in business activities in Norway.
- The permit can be granted for one year, but not, however, for longer than the duration of the assignment.
- 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.
- Family members can apply for residence permits pursuant to the rules relating to family immigration, provided that your assignment lasts for more than six months. If you are employed in an international company (and you are going to be on assignment for the Norwegian branch of the company), family members may be granted residence permits regardless of the duration of your assignment.
Is the permit renewable?
The permit is renewable, but its duration cannot exceed a total of four years. The permit cannot be renewed after this, nor can a new permit as a service provider, seconded employee, be granted.
You must apply for a renewal of your residence permit at least one month before your previous residence permit expires, and the application must be submitted to the police where you live. A fee must be paid for renewal applications.
You can appeal a rejection
You can appeal the decision. Read more about how to appeal a decision at www.udi.no/appeals.
Further information
For more information, contact your nearest Norwegian embassy or consulate or the UDI’s Information Service for Applicants.
Read more about the conditions for this permit at the website UDIregelverk.no
