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Norway's immigration directorate updates salary thresholds for work permits

Norway's immigration directorate updates salary thresholds for work permits

Local Norway02-05-2025
The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) requires skilled work permit applicants to have received a job offer with pay and working conditions that are in line with what's considered typical in Norway.
Skilled worker permits are available for non-EEA nationals who have a university degree, have completed vocational training of at least three years at upper-secondary school level, or have special qualifications acquired through long professional experience.
Prospective employees who will be working in an industry with a collective bargaining agreement must be paid the collective wage rate.
Meanwhile, those working in an industry with no collective bargaining agreement
must earn at least 469,366 kroner per year pre-tax
if they hold a bachelor's degree.
In some cases it may be possible to earn a salary less than this if the applicant or employer can document that it is the norm for the industry.
For reference, the average annual salary in Norway is 704,700 kroner per year, according to
figures from the national data agency Statistics Norway
.
Those with a master's degree will be subject to a higher wage requirement and will need to earn at least 513,100 kroner per year pre-tax unless they can prove a lower salary than is typical for the role.
The updated earnings requirements were effective immediately upon their introduction on April 11th.
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When applying for a skilled work permit, the applicant's vocational training or higher education needs to be relevant to the job they are applying for.
They must also have a job offer before applying for a permit, and the role must be a full-time position or 37.5 hours per week. The UDI will also grant work permits to those who have been offered positions equivalent to 80 percent of full-time hours.
Some workers must also have their qualifications officially recognised and authorised in Norway.
READ ALSO:
What foreign workers in Norway should know about regulated professions
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