Types Of Visas In Norway: Explained
Venturing to the land of the midnight sun and epic Norse sagas?
Whether you’re drawn by majestic fjords or chasing northern lights, Norway’s array of visa options can match the diversity of its landscapes.
Our guide will illuminate the path through the Viking forest of paperwork, helping you pinpoint the visa that’s your perfect expedition companion.
Let’s dive in!
What Are The Requirements To Enter Norway?
Depending on your country, why you are visiting, and how long you plan to stay, there are different requirements for entering Norway. The following are the standard prerequisites for entering Norway:
- Passport: To enter Norway, you usually need a valid passport. Make sure your passport is still valid for at least three months after the day you want to leave the Schengen Area.
- Visa Or Residence Permit: You may require either a national or a Schengen visa, depending on your nationality, the reason for your visit, and the length of your stay. Verify the visa requirements in your particular circumstance.
- Travel Insurance: It is good to get travel insurance that will pay for medical costs that you may incur while visiting Norway. If you are not protected by the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), this is particularly crucial.
- Sufficient Funds: You want to have adequate cash on hand to pay for all of your expenses while visiting Norway. Although the precise amount needed may change, it is usually vital to have access to funds through bank statements or other documentation of financial support.
- Valid Travel Documents: Make sure you have any supporting documentation for your trip, such as a work contract for job purposes or an invitation letter for family or business visits.
- Criminal History: Possessing a criminal history may make it more difficult for you to enter Norway. Restrictions on admission may result from serious criminal acts.
- Return Ticket: To prove that you intend to stay within your visa, you could occasionally be asked to present a return ticket or plans for future travel.
- Accommodations: If you are staying with friends or family in Norway, you could be required to show proof of your hotel reservations or an invitation letter from the host.
Norway provides several visas, each intended for a particular use and length of stay. The following are the main types of visas for Norway:
What Are The Types Of Norwegian Visa?
Short-Term Visas
Schengen Visa
Norway is included in the Schengen region. This implies that you must apply for a Norway Schengen Visa if you wish to travel to Norway for tourism or any other brief reason (business, family visit).
Otherwise, the Norway Schengen Visa and the Norway Tourist Visa are equivalent. A tourist Schengen visa enables travel to any nation in the Schengen Area for leisure
The holder of a tourist Schengen visa is allowed to stay in the Schengen Area for the period indicated on the visa, up to a total of 90 days during six months and spend time with relatives who are residents of one of the Schengen nations.
You will thus be able to travel to Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Slovakia, Iceland, Denmark, Portugal, Latvia, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Finland, Lithuania, Switzerland, Estonia, Czech Republic, Malta, and Poland along with Norway.
Unless expressly stated otherwise on the given visa, the holder may not work while using the granted visa. Moreover, you will not have any limitations even if you enter and exit a Schengen area more than once.
Schengen visas are appropriate for travelers who want to spend brief visits—typically no more than 90 days during 180 days—in Norway.
The primary purposes of these visas are travel, business, family visits, and conference and event attendance within the Schengen Area.
Different types of Schengen Business Visa for Norway are:
Cultural Visa (Performer, Musician, Or Artist)
If a performer, artist, or their staff member be in Norway for a maximum of 14 days in a calendar year, they do not need a residence visa. Before you enter Norway, you or your client must give written notice to the police.
If British musicians, artists, and support personnel plan to play, compete, or have rehearsals in Norway for up to ninety days during 180 days and do not have an employer there, they do not require a residence permit.
Before you enter Norway, you or your employer must give written notice to the police.
If you want to spend more than 14 days working in Norway, then you must have to pay the application fee that needs to be paid. You had to have got a job offer to work as an artist, musician, performer or as a supporting cast member.
The primary need is that you have gotten a full-time job offer. It typically equals 37.5 hours per week. It is adequate for musicians or dancing bands to work 21 hours a week.
The specific work aims to showcase culture through acts of theater, dance, music, or circus.
The employment offer needs to be valid for a fixed amount of time. If you have periods when you are not employed or have tasks to complete, they cannot make up more than twenty percent of your time in Norway.
You may be able to obtain a residence visa for a stay in Norway for cultural reasons under particular circumstances. The following are some instances of what may qualify as a stay for cultural reasons:
- A Sportsman: You have to be involved in a sport in Norway, and your visit should ideally be required for the establishment or growth of the sport’s respective subset.
- Creative Artist: You must be a well-established artist who can demonstrate how your time in Norway can further flourish your artistic growth since you need particular aspects of the country to create a work of art.
- An Ambassador Of Culture: Spreading awareness of Norwegian culture overseas is a requirement of the permit.
You must have made a name for yourself as a cultural ambassador overseas, and keep up the excellent work once your time in Norway is over.
Student Schengen Visa
The bearer of this kind of visa can remain and pursue education in the nation where the institution has issued enrollment authorization. This visa has limitations, and the bearer cannot live there permanently.
Visitor Visa
A written invitation from the person you intend to visit in Norway—whether a business, organization, or family member—must be sent to you before you apply for a visiting visa.
Transit Visa (Type A)
Norway Transit Visa
In contrast to national and Schengen visas, the transit visa is highly different. It is intended for visitors who must halt briefly in the Kingdom of Norway to catch a train, ship, or airplane out of the nation.
The transit visa’s main benefit is that it is only valid for a few days at most, which is relatively brief. Usually, it is offered to assist travelers and visitors.
Valid for five days, the holder may pass through Norway en route to their ultimate destination outside of it. While waiting for a subsequent flight, train, or ship, travelers with transit visas can enter the country.
Long Term Visas (Type D, National)
Applicants should apply for a residence visa for Norway under one of the following categories or purposes for stays longer than a year:
Family Immigration Visa
A family reunification visa or a family formation visa are other names for family immigration. Those who apply for family immigration are typically the cohabitant, spouse, or child of a Norwegian citizen.
Parents of children in Norway, those who want to marry in Norway (fiances or fiancées), foster children, and full siblings are among the other family members who may be eligible.
Emergency Visa – Visa Issued At The Border
If you enter Norway without a visitor visa and you have to travel for extremely urgent or unanticipated reasons, you can be given an emergency visa at the border. When you arrive in Norway, you must speak with the border control staff if you need to apply for an emergency visa.
An emergency visa can only be obtained by fulfilling highly stringent standards. You run the danger of being deported from Norway when you enter the nation without a valid visa.
You must be traveling to Norway for very significant reasons. Some instances are that a close relative in Norway experienced an accident or you intend to go to a gathering that is highly significant to Norway or your nation.
It could be for seafarers entering or leaving Norwegian territorial waters on a ship. You had to depart quickly, and it must have been challenging to apply for a visa in advance, for example, because the embassy was closed.
In all this scenario, an application fee must be paid, and an application for a visitor visa must be completed. Having a passport that is valid for at least three months after your visit would be ideal.
It would be best if you had enough cash to cover your travel back to Norway and stay there. Typically, you need to have NOK 500 for each day that you are in Norway.
You are not allowed to enter or exit Schengen while you are there, even if you are granted an emergency visa. An emergency visa may only be issued for the required days and never for fifteen days.
When traveling to Norway on a visitor’s visa, you are not permitted to work. Your application for a residence permit will typically be denied if you submit it while in Norway with a visitor’s visa.
Au Pairs Visa
Living with a Norwegian family as an au pair is a great way to get better language skills and learn about Norwegian culture. You will offer your host family services in exchange, such as light housekeeping and child care.
The government has suggested ending the au pair program. A hearing procedure will be used to end the au pair program. Currently, UDI is still waiting to be made aware of any new information on the proposed au pair plan.
Protection (Asylum) Visa
If you are facing persecution or fear persecution or inhuman treatment in your country of origin, you may ask for protection (asylum). You have to make a protection request to the police.
You must be in Norway or at the Norwegian border to request protection.
To request police protection, you can inform the border patrol that you would like to submit an asylum or protection request to appear at the local police station or arrive at the Råde National Arrivals Center.
Visa For Medical Treatment For Nationals Of Non-EU/Non-EEA Countries
You need to apply in advance for a residence permit if you want to stay in Norway for longer than ninety days to obtain medical treatment. Such a residence permit may also be issued to an accompanying person if necessary.
To be eligible, you must obtain a medical treatment offer from a Norwegian medical facility. The cost of your medical care must be covered by either private or public sources in your nation of residence.
The inpatient or outpatient clinic has to attest that your treatment won’t negatively affect the medical care given to patients in Norway. There must be no restriction preventing you from entering Norway or Schengen area.
When your residency permit expires, it must be likely that you will depart from Norway and the treatment should take maximum up to a year. There is no visa fee associated with this type of visa application.
Study Visa/Permit
You must apply for a study residency permit to study in Norway as an international student from a non-EU/EEA nation. To study at a university college or to enroll in a folk high school, you can apply for a residence permit.
Another name for this is a study permit. To get your education recognized in Norway, you can also apply for a study permit if you plan to study Norwegian or are a skilled worker planning to take additional courses.
You need to apply for a study visa if you plan to stay in Norway for longer than three months to study or attend school.
In addition, you will be allowed to work full-time on vacations and up to 20 hours per week while pursuing your studies if you are given a study permit.
Generally speaking, you can only enter Norway once your application process is completed. If you intend to work part-time, you can begin employment once you receive permission. You are also unable to work remotely.
To get through the visa process successfully, an application fee must be paid. You must graduate from an accredited institution or university, and studying full-time is required.
Along with that, you need to have enough cash on hand to cover your living expenses while studying in Norway. It equates to a minimum of NOK 12 537 a month or NOK 137 907 annually for the school year.
If your stay in Norway is limited to a single semester, you need to provide documentation for both the autumn and spring semesters, NOK 62 685 and NOK 75 222.
Norway Work Visa, Specialists (Visa For Employment In Norway)
A residence permit is required to travel to Norway for employment. Finding a job is usually the first step. The kind of visa you should apply for is determined by your level of expertise and the kind of work you intend to start in Norway.
To work in Norway, you must have a residence permit if you are not a citizen of the EU or EEA. To work in the country, you must apply for a residency permit if you do not have one.
A residency permit for skilled laborers, independent contractors, or staff members of nonprofit, charitable, or religious organizations is a few examples of this.
Visa For Seasonal Workers
Plan to perform work only during specific times of the year, such as filling in for a regular employee during the holidays. You may be eligible for a residence visa as a seasonal worker.
Before you apply for a residence permit, you need to be employed in Norway. For the entire time you will be staying there, you must work full-time.
Vocational trainings are optional and not required for this type of visa. Painting, carpentry, and other trades are not considered seasonal jobs.
People Who Can Travel To Norway Without A Visa
- Some citizens of nations with which Norway has an agreement exempting them from needing a visa can enter the country without one. This is true whether you have a special passport or a resident permit.
- Individuals who possess a current resident permit or permanent residency permit in Norway. Bring both your passport and residency card with you.
- Individuals who are permitted to live in a Schengen nation. Their passport and residency card must be brought.
- Crew members and people living around the Barents Region border
- Refugees possessing particular travel documents
- Seafarers who possess specific travel documents
- Special, diplomatic, and service passports
Conclusion
Now that you’ve charted the course through Norway’s visa terrain, the gateways to your Scandinavian adventure await your approach.
With the right visa in your travel quiver, you’re all set to conquer the land of deep winters and endless summer nights. Safe travels, future explorers!
Voyage Vetted!
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