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.
The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Accra handles applications for Schengen visas and residence permits and from applicants residing in the following countries:
Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
In addition the Embassy handles applications for residence permits from Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe. Residence permit applications have to be submitted to a VFS Global application centre representing the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Accra.
Applicants who are not nationals of these countries must document that they are legally in the country where they are residing and must provide justification for submitting the application to the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Accra.
Which country should handle your application?
Please make sure you apply for a Schengen visa from the country that is your main destination. If you would like to visit one Schengen country, apply for your Schengen visa at the Embassy or Consulate of that country. Apply for a Schengen visa from Norway if Norway is your only destination.
If you would like to visit several Schengen countries, apply for your visa at the Embassy or Consulate of the country of your main destination in terms of length of stay or the purpose of stay. If you intend to visit several Schengen countries, but do not have a main destination (i.e. you intend to spend an equal amount of days in each country), you should apply at the Embassy or Consulate of the Schengen country which is your first port of entry.
Case processing time
According to Visa Code Art 23 1st paragraph, the normal processing time for a visa application is 15 days. However, according to Visa Code Art 23 2nd paragraph, that period may be extended up to a maximum of 45 calendar days in individual cases, notably when further scrutiny of the application is needed.
If you submit your application in Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria or Senegal, please allow extra time for shipping to and from the Embassy in Accra. This can take up to a week in each direction. It is recommended to apply at least 4 weeks before the intended departure.
Contact
The Embassy will only reply to questions regarding open cases. General inquiries should be directed to the VFS Application centre.