What's it like for Brits to move to Norway post-Brexit?
British people have been hopping over the North Sea to Norway for work or love forever, but since the end of the Brexit transition period, it's gotten a lot more difficult. Here's what Britons need to know about moving to Norway post-Brexit.
British citizens who weren't already in Norway by the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31st, 2021 are now treated like any other non-EEA citizen.
This means Britons, typically, have two choices: apply to come to join a family member in Norway, or come to Norway for work.
Coming to Norway for work
To get a residence permit on the basis of work you will usually need to classify as a "skilled worker", and you will have to pay the hefty application fee of 6,300 kroner.
This means you needed to have either completed higher education, for example a bachelor's degree as an engineer, completed at least three years of vocational training at upper secondary school level, or have gained special skills through "long professional experience".
You then need in most cases to get a job with a Norwegian company, on at least 80 percent employment, before applying for a work permit.
Pay and working conditions must be "normal" for Norway. This means you need to earn as much as the collective agreement for the industry in which you work. If your industry does not have a collective agreement, you need to earn at least 417,900 kroner a year pre-tax for jobs requiring a bachelor's degree and at least 449,900 kroner per year pre-tax for jobs requiring a master's degree.
You need to have a letter showing you have a firm offer from the company, but do not need to provide a signed contract.
The job you get needs to be a skilled job and you need to have the skills or qualifications which the job requires.
Coming to Norway to look for a job
Like all nationals from countries that do not need a visa to come to Norway, British people who qualify as skilled workers can also get a six-month residence permit for a "Skilled Job Seeker with Visa Free citizenship".
To apply for one of these permits, you need to show that you have total savings of 139,347 kroner with which to support yourself for six months, which must be your own money and must be held in a Norwegian bank account.
If you come to Norway on this route, you can apply for a residency permit as a skilled worker once you get a job.
Coming to Norway as a self-employed person
You can apply for a residency permit if you qualify as a skilled worker and have your own company, based in the UK or another country outside Norway, or plan to establish your own company in Norway.
If you already have your own company it must be established, you must be the sole proprietor and it cannot be a limited company.
Your company must have a contract for a specific assignment for a specific client in Norway and the pay your company received must not be lower than what is normal in Norway.
You can get a residence permit for a skilled worker with a company outside of Norway for two years at time, and you can renew it twice up to a total of six years, after which you need to leave Norway for two years before reapplying.
Coming to Norway for love
If you are married to a Norwegian, have lived with a Norwegian partner for at least two years, or are engaged to be married in Norway in the next six months, you can apply for a residency permit on the basis of family immigration.
This can be fairly pricey.
The fee for family immigration is 10,500 kroner for a first-time application, and the Norwegian partner needs to show that they have an income of at least 300,988 kroner per year pre-tax. The Norwegian partner cannot have received any financial assistance from the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Agency (NAV) for at least a year before the application.
Coming to Norway to join other family members
If you are under the age of 21, you can also apply for a residency permit to come to Norway to join a parent.
If you are over the age of 60 you can apply for a residency permit to come to Norway to join a child over the age of 18, so long as you do not have a spouse, or any parents, children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren in the UK.
If you are the parent of a Norwegian child who is under the age of 18, you can also come to Norway to look after them, so long as you have full or shared parental responsibility, or at least access rights for the child and the child is living with you either on a permanent basis, or at least quite regularly.
This last category is mainly designed for parents of Norwegian children who have separated from the Norwegian partner and want to move to, or stay, in Norway to continue to have access to the child.
What are the extra issues now the UK has left the European union?
From long delays for post-Brexit residency to confused officials at the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration and border guards who still insist on stamping passports, there are a number of issues affecting Brits in Norway after the UK left the EU.
Long waiting and processing times at the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) are among the most common and frustrating issues UK nationals and many other non-EEA applicants face. The Local has reported long waiting times for several permit types, with the issues caused by a mixture of the pandemic and a new processing system.
READ ALSO: What problems have Brits in Norway faced as a result of Brexit?
Some Brits complain that going through Norwegian passport control has become significantly more time-consuming since the UK left the European Union. Many also need clarification among border guards over what needs to be done regarding passport stamping.
Border guards routinely stamp passports on exit and entry to Norway, something that can make it look as if residence card holders have overstayed their Schengen limit as they are not supposed to be stamped in their country of residence.
Staying in contact with loved ones by sending and receiving gifts from the UK has become considerably more expensive too. This is due to the cost of customs duty and processing fees applied to parcels sent from the UK, with the recipients often having to pay more than the value of the goods inside. Parcels clearly labelled as gifts are often taxed, and while you can get the tax paid back from Norwegian customs if you can prove this, it is costly.
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British citizens who weren't already in Norway by the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31st, 2021 are now treated like any other non-EEA citizen.
This means Britons, typically, have two choices: apply to come to join a family member in Norway, or come to Norway for work.
Coming to Norway for work
To get a residence permit on the basis of work you will usually need to classify as a "skilled worker", and you will have to pay the hefty application fee of 6,300 kroner.
This means you needed to have either completed higher education, for example a bachelor's degree as an engineer, completed at least three years of vocational training at upper secondary school level, or have gained special skills through "long professional experience".
You then need in most cases to get a job with a Norwegian company, on at least 80 percent employment, before applying for a work permit.
Pay and working conditions must be "normal" for Norway. This means you need to earn as much as the collective agreement for the industry in which you work. If your industry does not have a collective agreement, you need to earn at least 417,900 kroner a year pre-tax for jobs requiring a bachelor's degree and at least 449,900 kroner per year pre-tax for jobs requiring a master's degree.
You need to have a letter showing you have a firm offer from the company, but do not need to provide a signed contract.
The job you get needs to be a skilled job and you need to have the skills or qualifications which the job requires.
Coming to Norway to look for a job
Like all nationals from countries that do not need a visa to come to Norway, British people who qualify as skilled workers can also get a six-month residence permit for a "Skilled Job Seeker with Visa Free citizenship".
To apply for one of these permits, you need to show that you have total savings of 139,347 kroner with which to support yourself for six months, which must be your own money and must be held in a Norwegian bank account.
If you come to Norway on this route, you can apply for a residency permit as a skilled worker once you get a job.
Coming to Norway as a self-employed person
You can apply for a residency permit if you qualify as a skilled worker and have your own company, based in the UK or another country outside Norway, or plan to establish your own company in Norway.
If you already have your own company it must be established, you must be the sole proprietor and it cannot be a limited company.
Your company must have a contract for a specific assignment for a specific client in Norway and the pay your company received must not be lower than what is normal in Norway.
You can get a residence permit for a skilled worker with a company outside of Norway for two years at time, and you can renew it twice up to a total of six years, after which you need to leave Norway for two years before reapplying.
Coming to Norway for love
If you are married to a Norwegian, have lived with a Norwegian partner for at least two years, or are engaged to be married in Norway in the next six months, you can apply for a residency permit on the basis of family immigration.
This can be fairly pricey.
The fee for family immigration is 10,500 kroner for a first-time application, and the Norwegian partner needs to show that they have an income of at least 300,988 kroner per year pre-tax. The Norwegian partner cannot have received any financial assistance from the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Agency (NAV) for at least a year before the application.
Coming to Norway to join other family members
If you are under the age of 21, you can also apply for a residency permit to come to Norway to join a parent.
If you are over the age of 60 you can apply for a residency permit to come to Norway to join a child over the age of 18, so long as you do not have a spouse, or any parents, children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren in the UK.
If you are the parent of a Norwegian child who is under the age of 18, you can also come to Norway to look after them, so long as you have full or shared parental responsibility, or at least access rights for the child and the child is living with you either on a permanent basis, or at least quite regularly.
This last category is mainly designed for parents of Norwegian children who have separated from the Norwegian partner and want to move to, or stay, in Norway to continue to have access to the child.
What are the extra issues now the UK has left the European union?
From long delays for post-Brexit residency to confused officials at the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration and border guards who still insist on stamping passports, there are a number of issues affecting Brits in Norway after the UK left the EU.
Long waiting and processing times at the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) are among the most common and frustrating issues UK nationals and many other non-EEA applicants face. The Local has reported long waiting times for several permit types, with the issues caused by a mixture of the pandemic and a new processing system.
READ ALSO: What problems have Brits in Norway faced as a result of Brexit?
Some Brits complain that going through Norwegian passport control has become significantly more time-consuming since the UK left the European Union. Many also need clarification among border guards over what needs to be done regarding passport stamping.
Border guards routinely stamp passports on exit and entry to Norway, something that can make it look as if residence card holders have overstayed their Schengen limit as they are not supposed to be stamped in their country of residence.
Staying in contact with loved ones by sending and receiving gifts from the UK has become considerably more expensive too. This is due to the cost of customs duty and processing fees applied to parcels sent from the UK, with the recipients often having to pay more than the value of the goods inside. Parcels clearly labelled as gifts are often taxed, and while you can get the tax paid back from Norwegian customs if you can prove this, it is costly.
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