Norway · Employment
Norwegian Skilled Worker Permit
Open
Last verified July 2026
Open. Norway has no golden visa and no route to residence through investment of any kind.
Permanent residence in three years is quick by European standards, and Norway has permitted dual citizenship since 2020. But the tax architecture is the real story. Establishing Norwegian residence starts a wealth tax liability on your worldwide net worth. It also starts an exit tax clock on your shareholdings. Very few UHNW families should enter Norway without a modelled exit plan.
Qualifying routes
341.4k NOK
Skilled worker
Minimum gross annual pay applies, and conditions must be no worse than what is normal in Norway.
The facts
- Minimum
- 341.4k NOK
- Total landed cost
- Roughly NOK 6,300 for the application fee.
- Route type
- By employment
- Timeline
- 1–4 months (Faster if the employer uses the fast-track scheme.)
- Physical presence
- Genuine employment and residence.
- Family
- Spouse or cohabitantChildren under 18. Their cases are decided at the same time as the principal applicant's
- Permanent residency
- 3 years.
- Citizenship
- 8 years within the last 11.
- Language test
- Norskprøven B1, spoken and A2 written, plus a social studies test that can be taken in many languages.
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- a completed 3-year upper-secondary vocational programme, a university degree, or special qualifications with typically 6+ years' experiencea concrete job offer, with pay and conditions no worse than Norwegian normsminimum gross pay of about NOK 341,373 a year
What can go wrong
- Norwegian residence brings your worldwide net wealth into the wealth tax and starts the exit tax exposure running. This is the least tax-efficient major European country for a wealthy family to enter casually.
- Duration varies by qualification. Vocational is 1 year, renewable. Degree-holders get up to 3 years, renewable. Assignment workers get 2 years, up to a 6-year maximum.
- No golden visa exists. Norway is not in the EU, it is in the EEA, so a Norwegian permit does not give you EU free movement.
- The B1 oral citizenship requirement comes from secondary sources. UDI does not confirm it, so verify before relying on it.
- Dual citizenship has been allowed since 2020 and requires no notification to UDI. Still, check whether your other country automatically revokes citizenship in this situation.