Do you have foreign employees?

The employer is responsible for ensuring that the employees have legal residence in Norway. We assist a number of companies in obtaining legal residence for employees / others who will work for them in Norway. Here we give you some key points that are important to keep in mind.

Requirement for a residence permit?

In the question of what requirements must be met to have legal residence to work in Norway, it is natural to distinguish between three groups based on the employee's nationality:

• Nordic citizens do not need a residence permit or the like to work in Norway.

• Citizens from EU / EEA countries outside the Nordic region do not need a residence permit to work in Norway but must register in accordance with a registration scheme if they are to work here for more than three months.

• Non-EU / EEA nationals (including UK and US) must normally have a residence permit for work before they can start working in Norway. There are some exceptions to this requirement and then the main general condition normally is that the assignment / stay in Norway lasts less than three months.

Different types of residence permits

There are a number of different residence permits for work. Common to most is that the employee must have the status of so-called "skilled worker". This means that the person in question must have completed higher education (i.e., bachelor) or completed vocational training (i.e., electrician), alternatively have significantly long work experience in the field in which the person is to work in Norway.

The type of residence permit in question depends on how the employment relationship is organized. For example, whether the person's employer is in Norway or abroad, whether the person in question is to work for the group's Norwegian company or for an external customer, whether the person in question is a special type of employee (i.e., offshore worker), or whether the person is self-employed and where the self-employed’s company actually is registered.

The application process

Once it has been clarified which residence permit is relevant, the application process can start. The first thing that must be done is to collect, write, complete, and possibly get all documentation that must accompany the application translated into Norwegian / English.

The employee must also fill in a digital application and book a meeting with the Norwegian authorities in Norway or abroad to (physically) submit the documentation that must accompany the application. The applicant can normally give others a power of attorney to meet and deliver the documents on their behalf in Norway.

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration processes and approves / rejects the application. The processing time varies, but the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration should normally have looked at the application within eight weeks. If nothing is missing or they need to examine something, the application will normally be dealt with within the eight weeks.

Previously, applicants could receive a written confirmation that they could work in Norway while the application was being processed if they had requested this and it was likely that the application would be granted. In recent years, however, this possibility has been tightened considerably so that the norm now is to wait until the application has been processed. It is only exceptionally, in special situations, that the authorities prioritize one application over others.

Family members of the employee who applies for a residence permit to work in Norway will normally also be able to obtain a residence permit to accompany the person in question during the period he / she works in Norway. It must then be applied for a separate residence permit for each of the family members.

Exceptions from the requirement for a residence permit

As mentioned, there are some exceptions to the requirement that citizens outside the Nordic region and the EU / EEA must have a residence permit to work in Norway. The common denominator for these is that the work lasts less than three months. The most practical exceptions for multinational companies are:

• Persons who are employed in the foreign part of an international company and who are to participate in (not be in charge of) training in the Norwegian department of the company

• Trade and business travelers (i.e., people who will attend meetings, conferences, or contract talks)

• Certain technical experts who will assemble, disassemble, inspect, repair, or maintain machinery or technical equipment. For these experts, a written notification must be sent to the police before the person travels to Norway.

Ukrainian refugees

Norway has now implemented temporary collective protection for Ukrainian citizens who were resident in Ukraine before 24 February 2022 and their close family and for other citizens in Ukraine who have been granted protection before this date and their close family.

Those who have the right to and use collective protection can also work legally in Norway without further application / permission. Others fleeing from Ukraine, i.e., foreign nationals who have worked in Ukraine, cannot work legally in Norway until they have applied for and been granted a residence permit for work according to the usual rules.

***

We assist in assessing what is needed for an employee to be able to work legally in Norway, and with any possible process before the authorities in this connection. If you need more information, please feel free to contact Lise Gran.