Visitor’s visa and residence permit

A visitor's visa allows you to stay in Norway or other Schengen countries for up to 90 days over a period of 180 days. A residence permit gives you the opportunity to work in Norway and to stay for more than 90 days.

Where to apply

The Norwegian Embassy in Accra is responsible for processing applications completed through a VFS office for Schengen visas and residence permits to Norway for the following countries:

Benin, Burkina Faso*, Cameroon, Cape Verde**, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau**, Liberia, Mali*, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe**, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo

* Norway is represented by Denmark in Burkina Faso and Mali. Applications for visas and residence permits are to be submitted to the VFS Global application centres representing a Danish Embassy.

** Portugal are handling applications for Schengen visas on behalf of Norway in Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, and Cape Verde. Residence permit applications are to be submitted to a VFS Global application centre representing the Norwegian Embassy in Accra.

General information

Citizens of Ghana must hold a visa before entering Norway and other countries in the Schengen area. They need a residence permit to work or to take up residence if their intended stay is longer than 90 days (3 months).

All applications for both visas and residence permits must be handed in at one of our VFS Global application centers in any of the listed locations.

• VFS Global Ghana
• VFS Global Nigeria – Abuja and Lagos
• VFS Global Cameroon
• VFS Global Côte d’Ivoire
• VFS Global Senegal

The processing time for applications is normally up to 15 calendar days after the Embassy has received the application. In some cases, further scrutiny of the application is needed, and the processing time may be extended up to 45 calendar days.

Please allow an additional week from the case is handed in at VFS Global for shipping to/from the Embassy in Accra. It is recommended to apply at least 3-4 weeks before to the intended departure.

VFS Global will forward the applications to the Norwegian Embassy in Accra who will process the visa applications and forward the applications for residence permits to the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) in Norway.

The Embassy will only reply to questions regarding open cases. General inquiries should be directed to the VFS Application centre.