After you have been accepted to a university, college or Folk High School in Norway, you must go through the motions of applying for a residence permit to study in Norway. If you are applying from the United States, you need to submit the following:
- Application form - download
- A letter of acceptance or an invitation from a Norwegian instiution (the original)
- A study plan - download form here
- A financing plan - download form here
- Proof of accommodation, such as a deed or tenancy agreement
- Proof of subsistence, documenting that you have NOK 82,900 at your disposal per study year
Submit the above documentation along with:
- 2 copies of your passport
- 2 passport photos (for photo requirements, go here)
- An application fee (currently $200) in the form of a money order (no personal checks, no credit cards)
The requirements in the residence permit application that poses the largest problems for free moving students are the documentation of subsistence and the documentation of housing. The first one requires you to have the amount of 41,450 Norwegian kroner per semester in an account in Norway by the time you apply for the permit. The college/university you have been accepted to should have an account set up especially for international students that you can transfer the money into. Your contact at the international office will know more about this. If you are an exchange student traveling to Norway as part of a bilateral exchange agreement and will receive federal student loans or aid, you must submit documentation of this funding. As long as this documentation covers the NOK 41,450 required per semester, you do not need to transfer money to Norway.
If you are going to Norway to attend a Folk High School, and will get room and board from the school, the subsistence requirement will usually be covered in what you have paid to the school. You will need to include proof that the school has received your payment. More about Folk High Schools here.
The housing requirement states that you must prove that you have a place to live in order to get the residence permit. If you get housing through your school, they will provide a letter stating that you have housing waiting when you arrive, and this should be submitted with your application. If you do not get housing through the school, you must find a place to live and submit the lease or tenancy agreement with your application. If you are staying with family or friends, you need to submit a letter from them stating that you are allowed to live with them for the duration of your stay, and how much rent you will be paying.
For more information, please see the
Norwegian Directorate of Immigration. If your questions are not answered by the information provided by the Directorate or you need application material, please contact the education coordinator (
contact information here) or your closest Norwegian Embassy or Consulate General.
Send you application to the Consulate General that covers your state. The offices are located in Houston, Minneapolis, New York and San Francisco, and their jurisdictions are as follows:
Houston
The Consulate General in Houston serves Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Florida and Alabama as well as Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Haiti, and Jamaica.
Phone: (713) 521-2900
Fax: (713) 521-9473
E-mail: cons.gen.houston@mfa.no
Minneapolis
The Consulate General in Minneapolis serves Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Phone: (612) 332-3338
Fax: (612) 332-1386
E-mail: cons.gen.minneapolis@mfa.no
New York
The Consulate General in New York serves New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia.
Phone: (212) 421-7333
Fax: (212) 754-0583
E-mail: cons.gen.newyork@mfa.no
San Francisco
The Consulate General in San Francisco serves Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Phone: (415) 986-0766
Fax: (415) 986-3318
e-mail: cons.gen.sanfrancisco@mfa.no
The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, covers the countries in the Eastern part of the Caribbean.
The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico, covers the countries in the Western part of the Caribbean.
Visit The Royal Norwegian Embassy to the Carribean States for more info.