Political System: Unitary Constitutional Monarchy
Capital: Oslo
Area: 385,155 km sq.
Population: (2011) 4.8m
Currency: Norwegian Krone (NOK)
Introduction
The Kingdom of Norway is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. It is the second least densely populated country in Europe. The majority of the country shares a border to the east with Sweden; its northernmost region is bordered by Finland to the south and Russia to the east.
Norway is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with King Harald V as its head of state and Jens Stoltenberg as its prime minister. Although having rejected European Union membership in two referenda, Norway maintains close ties with the union and its member and is a member of the European Economic Area, the WTO the OECD and is a part of Schengen Area.
Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, fresh water, and hydropower. On a per-capita basis, it is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas outside of the Middle East, and the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the country's gross domestic product. From 2001 to 2007, and then again in 2009 and 2010, Norway had the highest human development index ranking in the world.
Services
We offer the following services in Norway for non-EU citizens:
- Highly Skilled Work Visas /Resident Permit
- Family Reunification
- Intra-Company Transfer
Highly Skilled Worker/Resident Permit (Click here for more information)
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 you were educated outside of Norway, 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 program. 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.
If you are an athlete and are to participate in top-level sports, or are to be trainer for top-level sports, there must be a statement from the national federation subject to the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF), for example Football Association of Norway (NFF).
More Stringent Competence Requirement
The competence requirement for religious leaders/teachers and ethnic cooks have become more stringent. Religious leaders/teachers must, as a main rule, have a master degree or education on master level.
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 license from the Norwegian Registration Authority for Health Personnel (SAFH).
If you are to carry out skilled work through a recruitment agency, you must submit a list of the assignments that the client has already planned for you. The agency must also make clear that you are entitled to a salary relevant to you skills, also in periods when your employer might not have assignments for you. The recruitment agency 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 45 in the pay scale for Norwegian state employees, currently NOK 372.700 per year. For lower-level academic education, for example a Bachelor's degree, salary grade 42 in the pay scale for Norwegian state employees, currently NOK 356.000 per year is the minimum pay.
In exceptional cases you can be granted a residence permit even though the employment offered is not continuous.
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 other than that 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 a permanent residence permit in Norway.
Our Services
- Supplying a checklist for any and all documents to be submitted
- Confirmation of the office where documents must be submitted
- Assistance completing the permit application document properly
- Handling immigration questions received from the authorities and applicants
- General advice/instruction during the application process
- Expediting the process where required due to urgency
- The fees and other required attachments vary from country to country and from embassy to embassy, and they must be checked every time with the embassy/consulate in question.
Family Reunification (Click here for more information)
Our Services
- Supplying a checklist for any and all documents to be submitted
- Confirmation of the office where documents must be submitted
- Assistance in filling the permit application document properly
- Handling immigration questions received from the authorities and applicants
- General advice/instruction during the application process
- Expediting the process where required due to urgency
- The fees and other required attachments vary from country to country and from embassy to embassy, and they must be checked every time with the embassy/consulate in question.
Intra-Company Transfer (Click here for more information)
The Work Permit must be applied for by the future employer, in other words the employee's work permit will not be granted if he does not have a job offer. The permit is tied to a particular position, so if the foreigner changes jobs, the work permit loses its validity.
The sending company must prove a direct link with the host company.
The permit is issued on the basis of an assignment contract between two companies, which confirms that the salary will be paid in the country where the employee is originally employed.
The scheme is generally open to senior management, highly skilled workers, key personnel or participants in a training program. Qualifications certificates must be submitted to the authorities as part of the application process.
We can plan your move to Norway and support you whilst you settle in by offering orientation visits, helping you to find the right schools and with information on the local property market for renting or purchase. We can help you to arrange utilities, to register for health services and to find tradesmen for decoration and repairs. When it's time to depart we can look after the details for you so that all services are cancelled without you having to deal with anyone other than us.
Our Services
- Supplying a checklist for any and all documents to be submitted
- Confirmation of the office where documents must be submitted
- Assistance in filling the permit application document properly
- Handling immigration questions received from the authorities and applicants
- General advice/instruction during the application process
- Expediting the process where required due to urgency