In order to employ foreign workers, the employer must give the employee a concrete offer of employment. The foreign national can then apply for a work permit as described under “How do I apply for a work permit?”. As the employer, you can also apply on behalf of the employee. NB: Separate rules apply for citizens of EU/EEA countries.
Before a person is able to apply for a work permit, he/she must have a concrete offer of employment. This offer of employment must be issued by you the employer, either on the specific form (Offer of employment) or as a standard employment contract.
In order for you to apply on behalf of the employee, he/she must have given you power of attorney. This can be done by the employee filling out the power of attorney form, or giving their own power of attorney in writing. See Circular 2003-028 for more information about power of attorney.
The application must be submitted to the police district where, as the employer, your business is based. Once the application has been examined, you will be informed of the decision.
The wages and working conditions must be in line with the applicable tariff agreement, wage scale or normal industry standard. See section 2 of the Immigration Regulations for more information. As the employer, you are required to include with the application documentation that the wages are in line with the regulations. This will speed up the processing of the application. As a rule, the application must relate to full-time work.
The rules on granting a work permit for foreign workers can be found in the descriptions of how to apply for each type of work permit (How do I apply for a work permit?).
What has to be included in the application may vary, depending on the type of work permit you are applying for. For more information about this, see the section How do I apply for a work permit? Generally speaking, all applications must include the following:
When you apply for a settlement permit, you will receive automatic notification in the mail that the immigration authorities have received your application. This letter will contain information about how long processing may take.
We urge everyone to allow plenty of time for their application. In order to avoid unnecessary case processing delays, it is important to take care when completing the application form and to include all the requested documentation.
As long as you have power of attorney, you can also submit an appeal on behalf of the applicant.
Every year, the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development sets a quota for the number of work permits which may be granted to skilled workers. As long as the quota has not been filled, i.e. the number of work permits stated in the quota has not been granted, it is not necessary to determine whether the need for labour can be met by domestic workers or workers from the EEA or EFTA countries. This simplifies and speeds up the application process.
NB! The quota was not filled for the period 2002 – 2005.
If the quota has been filled, the Directorate of Immigration will, in the first instance, send each application to the Norwegian Public Employment Service, NAV, for an assessment of the need for labour.
As an employer, you can get your own labour market assessment from the local NAV employment office. This will give you a clear indication of whether it is worth giving a foreign worker an offer of employment. Any pronouncement from the local employment office should be included with the work permit application.
In cases where the employer has not sought a pronouncement from the employment office, the UDI must get its own assessment as part of the application process, which will extend the processing time. A labour market assessment must be included with applications for permits for seasonal workers and workers in the fish processing industry, and for skilled workers/specialists if the quota for these has been filled.
