When you receive a decision letter from UDI that you have been granted a residence permit for work, the letter also stipulates a deadline for you to enter Norway.

You may extend the entry deadline if there are extenuating circumstances preventing you from travelling to Norway by the deadline, and provided that the same job offer for which you were granted the residence still stands. The entry deadline will usually be extended by up to six months.

If you no longer have the same job offer, you will have to apply for a new residence permit for your most recent job offer.

How to request an extended entry deadline

When applying to extend your entry deadline, you must explain why you cannot enter Norway by the originally stipulated deadline.

In many cases, UDI will ask you to provide documentation for the circumstances behind your delay. For example, if you cannot meet the entry deadline due to the corona situation you will be required to provide documentation to attest for illness or for travel restrictions affecting you.

You must contact UDI by phone to apply for an extended entry deadline. Based on your explanation, we will assess whether you are eligible for an entry deadline extension, and we will advise you as to which documentation you should provide.

If you are granted an extended entry deadline, the embassy will contact you for you to obtain a new entry visa with a new entry deadline.

Some people must be tested for tuberculosis when they come to Norway.

You must get tested if

• you come from a country with a high incidence of tuberculosis. This means that your country is on The Norwegian Institute of Public Health's list of countries with high and very high incidence of tuberculosis (external website), and
• you are going to stay in Norway for more than three months

What should you do to test yourself?

If you are required to be tested for tuberculosis, you must contact the municipality where you will live. The municipality carries out the testing. You must test yourself as soon as possible after arrival to Norway.

What is a residence card?

A residence card is a credit-card-sized plastic card that proves that you have been granted a residence permit in Norway. The police will order a residence card for you.

If you have applied from Norway, you might receive your residence card without meeting at the police station again. If this applies to you, the police will send you the residence card in the mail. This means that you do not have to book an appointment. Read below to find out when you must book an appointment.

What do you need to do to receive the card in the mail?

• If you are a new postal recipient in Norway: fill in this form (external website, opens in new window) and hand it in at a post office or in-store post office. Remember to bring identification.
• If you are already a registered postal recipient, check that your correct postal address is registered with Posten (external website). The site requires login with BankID or MinID.
• Make sure you have your name on your letterbox, otherwise you will not receive the card. If the card gets lost in the post, it will take some time before you can get a new one.
• You should not book trips abroad until you have received your new residence card.

How long will it take until you get the card?

It will take at least 20 working days from your appointment with the police until you receive the card in the post. 

You must book an appointment to get a residence card

• If you have applied from abroad.
• If you have an expired Norwegian alien's passport or refugee travel document which you have not already given to the police.
• If your application was submitted by another person with a power of attorney (i.e. you must book an appointment with the police yourself to get a residence card).
• If you have applied for a residence permit in accordance with the Brexit regulations (you will be notified to book an appointment after your application has been processed).
• If you have applied for protection for the first time with the police, the police will summon you to class. You do not have to book an appointment yourself.

At the police station, the police will take a photo of you and register your fingerprints.

How to book an appointment?

Booking an appointment electronically

If you filled in and sent the application electronically, you can now log in to book the appointment.

Booking an appointment by phone

If you did not fill in an electronic application form when you applied for a residence permit, you must instead call your local police district to book an appointment. UDI cannot help you to book an appointment.

If you have been granted a residence permit that gives you the right to work, you can start working when you have met with the police, and the police have ordered a residence card for you.

There can be long waiting times with the police to order a residence card. Even if you have not yet received a residence card, you can start studying or working now if you have been granted a residence permit that gives you the right to study or work, and you have booked an appointment with the police to order a residence card. This will not have any consequences for you.

If it is impossible to book an appointment with the police, you must contact UDI by phone or email to report that you are in Norway and starting to study or work. You must still meet with the police to order a residence card when possible.

Please read this message about how you can document that you have legal residence in Norway while waiting for your residence card.

• Your decision letter from UDI states how long your permit is valid.
• If you wish to continue living in Norway, you must remember to renew the permit 2–3 months before it expires.
• If you do not renew your permit, you may experience problems travelling into and out of Norway, lose the right to work in Norway or have problems when you apply for a permanent residence permit or citizenship.

• The decision letter from UDI will tell you whether the time you have this residence permit may be included if you later apply for a permanent residence permit.
• See information regarding the requirements for permanent residence permit.

You are entitled to different types of healthcare (external website) depending on your situation.

Your decision letter from UDI states what type of work you can do and, if relevant, the employer you will be working for.

If you start working for a new employer but work in the same type of position, you do not need to apply for a new residence permit.

If you are going to start a new type of position, you must apply for a new residence permit, regardless of whether it is with the same employer or a new employer. You cannot start working in a new kind of position until you receive a new residence permit.

• After you have been issued your residence card, you can travel in and out of Norway for as long as your residence permit is valid, but you must live in Norway for at least a total of six months each year.
• You must bring your passport and residence card when you travel.
• You can visit the other Schengen countries up to 90 days.

If you move from Norway before your residence permit has expired, you can notify us. UDI can revoke (cancel) you permit from the date you leave Norway. This may be in your interest, because you then will be able to document to other Schengen-countries that you no longer have a residence permit in Norway. If you apply for a visitor’s visa to another Schengen country while you still hold a valid residence permit in Norway, you can risk not being granted a visitor’s visa.

How to notify us:

1. Write a letter and explain that you have moved from Norway. Ask UDI to revoke the rest of your residence permit. Write the date you left Norway and your postal address abroad.

2. Remember to write your full name, and your DUF-number or your Norwegian national identity number.

3. Sign the letter.

4. Send the signed letter by mail or upload the letter to UDI through the form for sending additional documents to UDI.

In some cases, you may lose your residence permit.

Losing a permit means that UDI has decided that the residence permit is no longer valid. It may mean that you are no longer allowed to live in Norway or that you will be granted a new residence permit, and your residence period in Norway will restart.

There may be different reasons why you lose your residence permit, for example, if you:

• do not receive the payment stated in your job offer
• live outside of Norway for more than a total of six months in one year
• work more than what is stated in your employment contract, or work less than what is stated in your employment contract

Here you will find more information about revoking a residence permit.