- This group refers to persons who will be carrying out an activity of a cultural nature. The purpose of the activity must be to convey culture, for example through music, dance, theatre, circus acts or similar. Dance whose focus is stripping is not included, as this is not considered to be conveying culture.
- The applicant must be at least 15 years old, as the work permit is granted on an independent basis. Applicants under 15 can obtain a residence permit in the form of family immigration, but cannot then carry out work as defined in the Immigration Regulations.
- You must have a concrete offer of employment or employment contract.
If you belong to this group and your work does not exceed ten days in any one calendar year, you are exempt from the requirement to obtain a work permit. If citizens of your country require a visa, you must still apply for a visa in order to be allowed to enter Norway.
- As a rule, the application must relate to full-time work. The extent to which the job is a full-time post must be assessed based on what is normal for the professional group in question. For musicians/dance bands, the working hours must be minimum 21 hours per week in order to be considered full-time work.
- The contract must relate to one specified, continuous period with one or more employers. In some cases there may be “gaps” in the contractual period, i.e. periods between contracts where you do not have work. The work permit may still be granted for the whole period, if such “gaps” do not constitute more than 20% of the total period of residence.
- The wages and working conditions must not be worse than the applicable tariff agreement, wage scale or normal standard for the location and profession. For musicians, assessment of this will be linked to the collective agreement on wages and working conditions for musicians, entered into between the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and the Norwegian Musicians’ Union on the one hand and the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO) and the Norwegian Hospitality Association (RBL) on the other. For contracts with Rikskonsertene, consideration will be given to the collective agreement for musicians on short term contracts, entered into between the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and the Norwegian Musicians’ Union on the one hand and the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs and Rikskonsertene on the other. See also the orchestra agreement, theatre agreement and opera agreement, plus the website of the Norwegian Musicians’ Union, www.musikerorg.no, where all the agreements can be found. There are no collective agreements for circus performers/necessary accompanying assistants. For this group, an ongoing assessment is carried out before each season regarding what is considered a normal standard for the location and profession.
To apply for a work permit, you must complete an application form. The application must be submitted from your country of origin or another country where you have been legally resident for at least six months. You may not enter the country and start working before your permit has been granted. The application must be submitted to your nearest Norwegian foreign service mission (embassy, consulate general). You will also be informed of the decision regarding your application via the Norwegian foreign service mission.
Your employer may apply for you
Your employer may also apply for a work permit for you, if you give your employer written power of attorney. In this case, the application must be submitted to the police in the district in which the employer’s business is based.
Temporary permit
You may not start working until you have received a work permit.
The police may, on request, issue a
temporary permit, if they believe it is likely that your application will be granted. In this case, you must meet the conditions for submitting an application from within Norway.
In addition to a completed application form, you must include:
- A completed “offer of employment” form, or an employment contract containing the same information, which has been signed by the employer/client and the applicant, or the principle person if the applicant is part of a group/band. The offer of employment or contract must detail the rights and obligations of both parties, including working hours, workplace and wage, plus any supplements in the form of free board and lodging, for example. If a work permit is required for contracts with several employers, all the contracts must be included.
- Information about housing
- Copy of passport (all completed pages)
- Passport photo/other photo which meets the set requirements
- You must also pay a fee
As a main rule, it is sufficient that copies of the documents are sent with the application. However, you have to produce the original documents when you hand in your application.
All documents attached to the application have to be translated into English or Norwegian.
NB: The requirement for documentation varies from country to country, and may change over time. You should therefore check what requirements currently apply by contacting the Norwegian embassy in the country from which you are applying.
Case processing times vary. For an overview of average processing times for the various types of permit, visit
www.udi.no/caseprocessingtime. You can also
contact the Information Service (OTS) by e-mail or by calling (+ 47) 23 35 16 00.
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.
- The permit may be granted for up to one year, and cannot be extended or renewed. Once the period of residence has ended, there is a quarantine period of three months. This means that when the current work permit expires, you must live outside Norway for at least three months before a new work permit as a musician/performer/artist can be granted.
- Under further guidelines, the UDI may consent to the original contracts on which the work permit is based being replaced with other contracts, or to persons taking over contracts from others. A request for such a change must be submitted in writing to the police where the foreign national is living.
- The permit does not constitute grounds for a settlement permit.
- Family members may come to Norway under the rules for family immigration. If the family’s application is submitted at the same time as the application for the principal person, these will be processed together.
The permit cannot be renewed.
If your application for a work permit is rejected, you may appeal against this decision. If you appeal, your application will be re-examined by the UDI. The UDI may overturn the decision and grant the requested permit. If the UDI upholds the decision, the case is sent on to the Immigration Appeals Board (UNE) for new consideration.
Any questions?
If you are still unsure about anything relating to how you apply for this type of work permit, you can contact your local Norwegian embassy or consulate, or
the Information Service (OTS).
