EU / EEA Citizens

On the 1st of January 1994, Norway became a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) which comprises of the EU member states and the three EFTA states: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The EEA agreement secures nationals of the EU and EFTA countries freedom of movement and establishment throughout the area, and a work permit is no longer required.

EEA nationals may stay in Norway for a period of three months (90 days) provided they are financially self-sufficient (EEA nationals who are registered at their local job centre in Norway (http://www.nav.no/) as actively seeking employment, can stay in Norway for up to 6 months without a residence permit, provided they are financially self-sufficient).

Citizens from the old EU countries, as well as citizens from Liechtenstein and Iceland can work during this period. Citizens from the new EU countries must apply for and obtain a residence permit before they can commence any employment. For more information, please click here.

EEA nationals who wish to stay longer than 90 days, need a residence permit. Applications should be lodged at the local Police Station in Norway.

In order to apply, the following documentation must be submitted:

• Application form
• Valid passport
• Two new photographs (please click here for photo requirements)
• Offer of Employment / Employment contract / Other means of subsistence

The residence permit will state that it has been granted in accordance with the EEA provisions and thus gives rights and obligations which differ from residence permits granted under the general provisions.

Work and residence permits

In order to work in Norway, most foreign citizens need a work permit. The permit must be granted before entry, and as a general rule, does not allow you to travel to Norway and wait for a decision.

For general information about Work and Residence Permits in Norway, please click here.

Specific information about special types of permits can be found below:

EEA Nationals

Family Immigration

Seasonal Work

Specialists

Students

Working Holiday (for citizens of Australia, Canada and New Zealand)

Schengen Visa - New Application Procedure

Visa applicants who wish to apply for a visa at the Embassy in London must lodge and pay for their applications on the Internet before submitting their supporting documents at the Embassy. Please read the information below carefully before filling in your application.

The information on this site is only applicable to applicants residing in the United Kingdom. If you do not reside in the United Kingdom, please click here to find your local Norway Portal.

The information below only applies to short-term visas for up to 90 days over a period of up to 5 years). If you intend to work or stay more than 90 days (in any six months' period), please click here or contact the Embassy, as you may need a Work / Residence Permit.

Application procedure

Visa applications to the Embassy in London must be lodged and paid for on the Internet using the secure Visa Portal. Appointments to submit supporting documents at the Embassy can also be booked on the portal. The new procedure will result in shorter processing time as well as making it easier for applicants to re-apply for subsequent visas. Applicants can also check the status of their applications online.

Booking
All first time applicants must book an appointment on the Portal.

Applicants who have had a visa from the Norwegian Embassy in London or the Consulate General in Edinburgh before may either apply in person or send their supporting documents by post / courier (after filling in the application form and paying the visa fee online).

Instead of booking an appointment, applicants who are eligible to send their supporting documents must tick off the box in the Visa Portal confirming that they have an agreement with the Embassy. However, applicants who have received a visa from a Norwegian Foreign Service Mission in the UK before, but intend to submit their supporting documents in person, must book an appointment.

An appointment can be changed or cancelled from 'Previous individual application(s)' / 'Previous group application(s)' (on the Visa Portal). It is not possible to book an appointment without a visa application.

How to apply
The first time you use the Visa Portal, you must register as a user. The system will give you a username and a password. When you have registered, you can make an application and pay for the visa. If you need a Schengen Visa to Norway again, you can simply log on, use your last application as a template and only change details such as travel dates, new visas, etc (providing the country you live in has started using the Visa Portal).

When you have submitted your application and paid the appropriate fee on the Visa Portal, you must either submit the supporting documents in person at the Embassy when you have an appointment (if you have not had a visa from the Embassy in London before) or send the supporting documents to the Embassy (if you have previously had a visa from the Embassy in London). There is no need to send supporting documents in the post if you have an appointment.

Group registration
Applications can be registered individually or in groups on the Portal. A group may consist of 1 - 16 applicants. Registering many applications as a group saves time, however, only individual applications may be copied for subsequent applications in the future. Families or people who always travel together to Norway may therefore want to register all applications individually.

Supporting documents
A number of documents are required in order to process a visa application. Please see the links below regarding documentation for the various categories of visa applicants:

Supporting documents

Supporting documents for family members of EEA nationals

Supporting documents for Specialists


Health insurance
Applicants who have been granted a visa must produce valid travel health insurance.

Processing time
The processing time of a visa depends on each individual case. However, applicants should always apply several weeks before the intended journey.

If the case is considered uncomplicated, it can be handled by the Embassy in London, in which case the processing time is 3-10 days (counting from the day the Embassy receives all the requested documents). If the case is considered somewhat complicated, the case will be handled by the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI). For current processing times at the Directorate of Immigration, please click here.

How do I get my passport back?
If you have received a visa from the Norwegian Embassy in London before, you may send the application by post. If you submit a pre-paid, but not date-stamped, 'Special Delivery' envelope with the application, the Embassy can return the passport to you.

First-time applicants must apply in person at the Embassy in London, but providing you submit a self-addressed, pre-paid, but not date stamped, 'Special Delivery' Envelope, the Embassy can send the passport back to you.

Application fee
The application fee must be paid electronically on the secure Visa Portal after filling in your application. The application will not be sent to the Embassy before the payment has been successfully processed (usuallly within a few seconds).

Applicants who are exempt from paying the visa fee will have their fee immediately refunded (electronically) once the relevant documentation has been produced.

The application fee for short-stay visas to all Schengen states, including Norway, is EUR 60 with effect from 1 January 2007.

The visa fee for nationals of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, FYR of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine is EUR 35.

The fee is waived for visa applicants in the following categories:

• Children under 6 years

• School pupils, students, post-graduate students and accompanying teachers who undertake trips for the purpose of study or educational training

• Researchers from third countries travelling for the purpose of carrying out scientific research, as per specific rules

• Applicants related to (spouse, descendant or dependent ascendant of) EEA citizen on production of relevant certificates (birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc)

• People applying for D visas

In certain cases, the fee may be waived or reduced in accordance with national legislation, when this would serve to promote cultural, foreign policy or development policy interests, other areas of vital public interest, or for humanitarian reasons.

Visiting more than one Schengen country and unsure where to apply?
If you want to visit one Schengen country, apply for a visa at the Embassy or Consulate of that country. If you want to visit several Schengen countries, apply to the Embassy or Consulate of the country of your main destination (i.e. where you intend to spend the most days).

If you intend to visit several Schengen countries, but do not have a main destination (i.e. you intend to spend an equal amount of days in each country), you should apply to the Embassy or Consulate of the Schengen country which is your first port of entry.

No Internet access?
If you don't have Internet access, there are a number of Internet cafes near the Embassy.

General Information regarding the Schengen Agreement
On 25 March 2001, Norway became part of the Schengen co-operation. This had an impact on applications for visas. Generally, a visa for one of the countries in the Schengen area will be valid for a stay in all the other Schengen countries during the period for which the visa is valid. Over a period of six months, you are not permitted to spend more than a total of three months in the Schengen area. A visitor's visa may be granted for a tourist visit, family visit, official business, business trip, study visit or other purpose.

The Schengen member states are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

If you are not sure whether you require a visa to visit a particular Schengen country, please contact the Embassy / Consulate of that particular Schengen country.

The issue of Schengen visas is discretionary and depends on examination of each individual case, including purpose of visit and intention to return. If you intend to visit one of the Schengen countries for business, as a tourist or for personal / private visit, you must first obtain a Schengen visa. This enables you to visit any of, and move freely within, all of the above mentioned countries during one trip within the validity of the visa.

Countries whose citizens do not require visa:

A visa is not required, among others, for:

• Nordic citizens
• Persons with a valid Norwegian immigrant's passport
• Persons with a valid Norwegian travel document for refugees
• Persons with a residence permit in Norway
• Persons with a residence permit in an other Schengen country (max 90 days in any six months period)
• Foreign nationals with a valid passport from countries with which Norway has entered into a agreement waiving the visa requirement

To see a complete list of citizens who are exempt from the visa requirement, please click here.

About Sweden

Why study in Sweden?

It is a big step to study abroad, and the options are almost limitless. So what makes Sweden stand out as a study destination?

For a sparsely populated country in the far north of Europe, Sweden has done remarkably well in establishing and maintaining an outstanding reputation abroad, based on many and varied commercial, technological, cultural and political achievements.

Swedish consumer goods are household names the world over. Swedish cars move people and freight from Alaska to Adelaide. Abba and Pippi Longstocking took the world by storm and continue to enthrall people on all continents. The Nobel Prize is an institution that needs no introduction.

Sweden is a Scandinavian kingdom of 9 million inhabitants, of which almost 2 million live in and around the capital, Stockholm. Urban Sweden is modern, stylish and safe. Rural Sweden breathes tranquility and natural Sweden harbors some of the largest uninhabited expanses in Western Europe.

Sweden is a country where winter is winter and summer is summer. Although the northern tip of the country lies above the Arctic Circle, its climate is tempered by the Gulf Stream.

Despite its natural riches, Sweden is a country built on people. Over the last century, Swedish dependence on timber and iron ore has given way to an emphasis on human resources. Today, knowledge is Sweden's prime asset, with education kept in the public domain and developed to a standard that ranks consistently among the highest in OECD statistics.

Sweden Study Visa

Non-EU/EEA countries

If you are intending to stay in Sweden for less than three months, then you will need a visa if the country that issues your passport is on this list [PDF file]. If your studies in Sweden will take longer than three months, you need to acquire a residence permit before you arrive in Sweden. Permits are issued by the Swedish Migration Board. The Swedish Migration Board has collected what you need to know in this pdf about Residence permits for students.

You can apply for visas and permits at the Swedish embassy or consulate in your home country.

Please remember that you cannot apply for a residence permit unless you have been admitted to full time accredited university studies in Sweden. The application fee, which is not refundable, is SEK 1,000.

When applying for a residence permit, you must prove to the Swedish Migration Board that you will have a guaranteed sum of money at your disposal throughout the entire period of your studies. The amount, SEK 7,300 per month for ten months of the year, is set by the Migration Board. If you wish to bring your family you must show that you have at your disposal an additional SEK 3,000 per month for your spouse and SEK 1,800 per month per child.

If you can prove to the board’s satisfaction that that you will receive free lodging during the whole or part of your study period this sum will be correspondingly reduced. Students who have been awarded a scholarship through the Swedish Institute or another program should supply proof of this. You will also need to show a valid passport and a letter of admission from the institution at which you will be studying. To be sure of obtaining your permit in time you should submit your application 6-8 weeks prior to your departure for Sweden.

Please note that residence permits are limited to the duration of the study period, or to one year, whichever is the shorter. Your permit will be renewed annually provided you receive the number of credit points required and can produce evidence of continued financial support. Renewal requests are processed by your local Swedish Migration Board office. If you have any questions please contact the Swedish embassy or consulate in your home country or country where you currently live. You can also contact the Swedish Migration Board. Also make sure you have adequate medical insurance.

EU/EEA countries

If you are a citizen of a non-Nordic EU/EEA country (Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom) you have the right to reside in Sweden. The term “right to reside” means that an EU/EEA citizen is permitted to stay in Sweden for more than three months without a residence permit. However, you must register with the Migration Board no later than three months after entering the country.

To register you must enclose documents of proof of enrolment on a course or program which is at least at high school level, assurance that you have sufficient funds for your keep and proof that you have comprehensive medical insurance that is valid in Sweden. You can read more about the requirements for registration at the Swedish Migration Board’s website. They have also collected what you need to know in a pdf about Registration for EU/EEA citizens.