Please go to our guide to waiting time in family immigration cases.
Many people want to have an answer to their application quickly. However, very special circumstances are required for your case to be moved to the front of the queue.
You can apply for a visitor’s visa to Norway. However, it is likely that your application will be rejected.
When the embassy processes your application, they will assess whether or not it is likely that you will return to your home country or your country of residence by the time the visitor’s visa expires. Since you have applied for a residence permit in Norway the embassy may find it unlikely that you will return before the visa expires. It may therefore be difficult for you to get a visitor’s visa.
Other rules apply if you are classed as a skilled worker or you have applied for a residence card for family members of EU/EEA nationals. You may then travel to Norway if you have a visitor’s visa. You may also stay in Norway until your application has been processed, even if your visitor’s visa expires while you are waiting.
If you have a valid residence permit in another Schengen country, you may travel to Norway while your application is being processed if you belong to one of the following groups:
You may then stay in Norway until your application has been processed even if you have been in Norway for more than 90 days.
Please remember that if you travel to and from Norway after you have applied for a family immigration permit, you must follow the rules for visiting Norway without a visa. For example, if you have been in Norway for 90 days or more, you will have to stay outside Norway for 90 days before you can travel into Norway again. If you are granted a family immigration permit while you are abroad, you may travel back to Norway immediately.
If you don’t need a visa to visit Norway, you may travel to and from Norway while your application is being processed if you belong to one of the following groups:
You may stay in Norway until your application has been processed even if you have been in Norway more than 90 days.
Please remember that if you travel to and from Norway after you have applied for family immigration, you must follow the rules for visiting Norway without a visa. For example, if you have been in Norway or another Schengen country for 90 days or more, you will have to stay outside the Schengen area for 90 days before you can travel back to Norway.
If you are granted a family immigration permit while you are abroad, you can travel back to Norway immediately even if you haven’t stayed outside Schengen for 90 days. However, we recommend that you fly directly to Norway without a stopover in another Schengen country. If you have a stopover in another Schengen country you may encounter trouble at border control because you don’t have a residence card yet to prove you have a residence permit in Norway.
If you are an EU/EEA national, you may travel to and from Norway without any restrictions.
Persons who need a visa to visit Norway can in some cases be issued an entry visa, so that they can travel to Norway before they apply or while they are waiting for an answer.
To be granted an entry visa, it must be probable that your application for family immigration will be granted. Among other things, this means that you must meet all the requirements for a family immigration permit and you must have submitted all the documents on the checklist.
Please note that you can not apply for such an entry visa (D-visa) from countries where another country’s embassy represents Norway in immigration matters.
You have to report your new address to the National Population Register (external website) as soon as you know you will be moving. The UDI automatically receives your new address from the registry.
If you are in Norway, and you move before your application has been processed, you must notify the police that you are moving no later than one week after you have moved. You can notify the police where you are moving to, or where you lived before.
If you are abroad, and you move before the UDI has processed your application, you must notify the embassy or consulate you applied to. If you fail to do this, you risk not receiving the answer to your application.
In some cases, the right to work depend on if you submitted your application at least one month before the expiry of your previous residence permit. Note that the application is not considered delivered until you have met with the police to deliver your application documents.
Suppose you registered the application online and paid the fee at least one month before the expiry of your permit, and there are long waits to get an appointment with the police so that you did not get an appointment until later. In that case, you still have the right to work while we process your application. You are generally entitled to work on the same terms as your previous permit if you register the application for renewal (or for a permit on a new basis) and pay a fee no later than seven calendar days before the permit expires.