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WORK PERMITS

Can you start your job in Norway before your work permit is granted? 

To be eligible for a work permit in Norway, you will need a solid full-time job offer, among other things, on the table. Can you start your new role and hit the ground running while your application is processed? 

Pictured is the Barcode business district in Oslo.
Will you be able to start your job before you receive a decision on your work permit? Pictured is the Barcode business district in Oslo. Photo by Carlo Alberto Burato on Unsplash

The wages, work-life balance and office culture, are the key calling cards of working in Norway. Unless you are from the EEA or qualify for a family immigration residence, you will likely need a work permit to move to Norway for your career

Before you start, you will need a solid job offer of either full-time or 80 percent of full-time work. This is in addition to your qualifications being relevant for the job and the pay and working conditions being in line with industry standards. 

Putting in the work permit application after being offered the job can feel like you are stuck in limbo, waiting to start your new role, as work permit applications can take months to process. 

If you want to get an early start and dive into your role and are wondering whether you can start while you wait for your application to go through, you will need to be aware that, typically, this isn’t allowed

“Normally, work immigrants from countries outside the EU/EEA cannot start working until they have been granted a residence permit,” the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) writes on its website

However, there is an exception to this rule. Employees and workers can obtain permission from the police force, where they hand in the application documents for the applicant to start their job before they receive a decision on their work permit. 

Permission for an early employment start is issued by the police rather than the UDI. When the employer or applicant hands in their documents to the police, they will need to ask for an early employment start. 

If the company is handling the application on the employee’s behalf, it will also need to submit a written power of attorney from the prospective worker

Once the request has been lodged, the police can confirm whether the employee may start work early and work for the employer until their residence application has been decided. During this period, the worker cannot change employer or clients. 

Should the employee require a visa to enter Norway, they can get this by heading to their nearest embassy and handing the early start confirmation to embassy officials. 

The application for early employment can only be made before the police send the work permit application for the police for processing. After the documents have been forwarded, it will not be possible to get permission to start the job before the permit is granted. 

Those with other residence applications lodged will need to wait until they receive a decision on their case before they can work (if their permit allows them to work). 

What else to be mindful of

In some rare cases, you can receive an early employment start confirmation but have your work permit rejected. 

This will be because the authorities will determine whether you meet all the criteria when your case is processed. Therefore, you can have your work permit denied because you don’t have the relevant qualifications for the role (for example)

You will be required to leave Norway and likely lose your job when this happens. 

Furthermore, being permitted to work doesn’t mean that you can start work immediately. You will also be required to have a Norwegian identification number. Some employers will also require a Norwegian bank account for the salary to be paid into. Setting these up may take some weeks.  

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For members

WORKING IN NORWAY

How long can you take off work without a sick note in Norway? 

Calling in sick to work in Norway without a doctor's note is possible. However, there are still rules you need to follow. 

How long can you take off work without a sick note in Norway? 

Norway is known for its generous welfare state. But, getting a doctor’s appointment can be a struggle, depending on where you live. 

This may put you in a bit of a bind if you are worried about providing your job with a sick note if you fall ill. 

Thankfully, there are ways to report yourself as sick to your employer without a doctor. In Norway this is referred to as egenmelding, This means self-reporting and describes exactly that – reporting yourself off work sick. 

Still, there are a number of rules regarding self-reporting that you will need to follow. You can only report yourself off sick for three calendar days at a time. 

This means that if you report yourself sick on Friday, then Saturday and Sunday will also count as self-reported sick leave, even if you aren’t meant to be at work over the weekend. 

There are also limits on how often you can issue a self-report. You may typically only use a self-report four times in 12 months. 

You must also report this illness before the end of working hours on the first absence day. 

Furthermore, to have the right to self-report you will need to have been employed for more than two months. 

Once you have used up your self-reporting periods or are ill for four days, then you will need a doctor’s note. 

However, a self-report period isn’t used if a doctor’s note extends the sick leave. A sick note will only kick in from the fourth day, however. 

How to self-report

Each individual employer has its own procedure for self-reporting, so if how to do it hasn’t been made clear, be sure to ask your boss or somebody from the human resources department. 

Some companies may have different self-reporting and allow longer periods (such as eight days). They, alternatively, may allow a total number of days per year without a limit of frequency. 

If you run out of self-report days, you may be able to talk to your employer about using holiday days, welfare days or leave with or without pay. If your children are sick, you can take days to care for them. 

Is there anything else to know? 

You may lose your right to self-reporting if your employer has reasonable grounds to assume that one’s absence isn’t due to illness. 

Your employer must issue a notice if it takes away your right to self-reporting so you can make your argument for why it should be retained. 

If it is removed, the employer must reassess the decision after six months. 

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