Employees of companies abroad who are going on assignment in Norway


You must apply for this type of permit if you are employed by a company abroad that has a contract with an enterprise in Norway to carry out an assignment in Norway.

Requirements of the employee

Requirements relating to your education/qualifications

You must have one of the following types of education/qualifications

  • a completed vocational training programme of at least three years at upper secondary school level, for example as a carpenter or health worker. There must be a corresponding vocational training programme in Norway.
  • completed education or degree from a university/ university college, for example a bachelor's degree as an engineer or nurse.
  • special qualifications are skills acquired through long professional experience, possibly in combination with courses and education. You must have as high competence as someone who has completed vocational education from upper secondary school. Generally, you must have at least six years of work experience. For example, suppose you have work experience as a painter. In that case, you must present detailed work certificates from previous employers that show that you have learned and can do the same as a person with a professional education as a painter. It takes a lot to get permission in such cases. Many applications are rejected. For those of you who are going to work in the IT industry, the requirements for documentation are not as strict.

We have experienced many incidents where documentation submitted along with applications from certain countries is fraudulent or contains incorrect information. On this background, it may be difficult to obtain a residence permit to work as a skilled worker at a vocational level, particularly within the restaurant, automotive industry, and construction industries. This currently applies in particular to applications for work as a chef, car mechanic, carpenter, painter, bricklayer, or hairdresser where the documentation submitted to attest to educational qualifications or the like were issued in Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Kosovo, Nepal, Pakistan, Türkiye or Vietnam.

Requirements relating to the employment relationship

  • You must be employed by an enterprise abroad that has a contract with an enterprise in Norway to carry out an assignment in Norway.
  • The enterprise in Norway must have a registered business address here.
  • The company in Norway cannot be a staffing company.
  • As a general rule, the offer of work must only be for one company in Norway.
  • The pay and working conditions must not be poorer than is normal in Norway.

Rights and obligations

  • If you are going to carry out assignments other than that described in the contract or for another enterprise, you must apply for a new residence permit.
  • You are not allowed to work remotely unless it is part of the job you have been granted a residence permit to do.
  • You can be granted a permit for two years at a time. You can be granted this type of residence permit for up to six years, then you must live outside Norway for two years before you can apply for a new such permit.
  • It is not a requirement that you stay and work in Norway continously during the period you apply for a residence permit for.
  • The period you have this permit does not count if you later wish to apply for a permanent residence permit. 
  • If your assignment lasts for more than six months or if you are employed in an international company (and are going on assignment for the Norwegian branch of the company), your spouse or cohabitant and your children can apply for family immigration. If your family members apply at the same time as you, you will receive the answer to your applications at the same time.