• If you are granted a visitor visa, the embassy will notify you.
• The visa itself is a sticker that will be attached to a page in your passport.
• The embassy will tell you what to do to get the visa. Normally, you can get it where you submitted your application, but sometimes your passport must be sent to a VFS Global application centre. 

When you get your visa, it is important that you check that all information in your visa is correct.

The visa includes the following information

1. Whether you can visit all Schengen countries or just some, for example just Norway.
2. The earliest date on which you can enter Norway or other Schengen countries.
3. The latest date by which you must leave Norway or Schengen.
4. The total number of days you can stay in Norway or other Schengen countries. You can only remain in Norway or Schengen for the number of days for which your visa is valid. Remember that both the day you arrive and the day you leave count. 
5. Passport number.
6. How many times you can enter and exit the Schengen area (one, two or multiple entries).
7. Your name.
8. Remarks. Remarks are given in codes, in the section below you will find a list of the codes and what they mean.

You may have been granted a visa for fewer days or fewer entries than you have applied for. If you believe this is due to an error or a misunderstanding, you must contact the embassy. If you disagree with the decision, you can appeal to the embassy.

Remarks on the visa

Remarks are codes with further information about your visa, listed under the area marked (8) on the picture above. The coded remarks on the visa have the following meaning:  

NO 1: The visa is issued under ‘Approved Destination Status’ for China.

NO 2: Exempted from the travel insurance requirement.

NO 3: The visa is also valid for the Faroe Islands.

NO 4: The visa is also valid for Greenland.

NO 5: The visa is also valid for the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

NO 6: The applicant has exceptionally been issued a visa even if the passport is not valid 3 months after the last day of validity of the visa, in accordance with Norwegian Immigration Regulation § 3-9 second paragraph.

When we issue a single-entry visa, we always add 15 extra days. This extra period of time is called "period of grace" and is meant to give you more flexibility, not a longer stay. It is important to remember that you cannot stay in the Schengen area for more than the number of days stated on the visa label.

For instance, if you have been issued a visa for 90 days, the to-from date will be 105 days. Remember that you only have permission to be in the Schengen area for up to 90 days during this period.

If you visit Norway and the Schengen area, you can stay as a visitor for up to 90 days per period of 180 days.

For instance, if you have stayed in the Schengen area for 90 days, you must leave and stay outside the Schengen area for at least 90 days before you can return. The visit time can also be divided into several shorter visits.

The 180 days period is "mobile", which means that in any period of 180 days one cannot have spent more than 90 days in the Schengen area.

If you need a visitor visa to visit Norway and the Schengen area again, you must apply for a visitor visa from your home country.

You may use the Schengen calculator to calculate how long you have visited the Schengen area and whether this is within the limit of 90 days during a period of 180 days.

Please note that your visa may be issued for a shorter period than 90 days. In such a case, you cannot stay longer in the Schengen area than the visa allows.

UDI cannot answer when you will receive the decision. We therefore ask you to contact the relevant embassy (external website) or VFS (external website).

UDI cannot answer when you will receive your passport. We therefore ask you to contact the relevant embassy (external website) or VFS (external website).

• When you enter Norway, you must present your passport with the visa sticker.
• You also have to present documentation that you have enough money to cover your stay, for example cash or a credit card. If you have a financial sponsor, you must bring a copy of the sponsorship form.
• The police can also ask to take your fingerprints, which the police will then compare to the fingerprints you registered when you applied for a visa. 
• As long as your visa is valid, you can travel freely around the Schengen area or the countries for which your visa is valid.
• If you travel out of Schengen, for example to the UK, you cannot enter Schengen again. You must then have a visa that is valid for multiple entries or apply for a new visa. 

If you have been granted a visitor visa that is only valid for Norway, this will be stated on your visa. This is called a national visitor visa. The reason why you have been granted a national visitor visa is that you have an important reason for visiting Norway, but you do not meet all the requirements for being granted a visa that is valid for the whole Schengen area.

If you have been granted a national visitor visa, you must note the following:

• You must travel directly into and out of Norway. For example, you cannot stop en route in another Schengen country or travel by car through other Schengen countries on your way to Norway.
• You cannot visit other Schengen countries while you are in Norway.

If you leave Norway, you cannot return until you have been granted a new visitor visa.

It is important that you do not stay in Norway or other Schengen countries for more days than your visa allows.

If you stay too long in the Schengen area:

• you risk not being granted a visitor visa the next time you apply
• there is a risk that other members of your family will not be granted a visitor visa when they apply
• you can be rejected from Norway by the police 
• You can be expelled from Norway and be subject to a prohibition against entry. A prohibition against entry means that you cannot be granted a visa to the Schengen area for a period of for example two or five years.

Please remember

• You cannot work while you are visiting Norway. If you do, you risk being expelled from Norway and being subject to a prohibition against entry.
• If you apply for a residence permit while you are in Norway on a visitor visa, your application will normally be rejected.

If you want to stay longer in Norway or the Schengen area than your visa allows, you must apply for an extension of your visa. Extensions of visas are only granted in exceptional cases, for instance if you have become seriously ill or a natural disaster has occurred.

Visitor visas can never be extended to allow a stay beyond 90 days during a period of 180 days.

You can read more about the requirements for visa extensions, how to apply and where you can submit the application here.