If you wish to visit Norway for a short period of time, you must obtain a visa prior to entry if you come from a country with a visa requirement for entering Norway as a general rule. You may submit your application up to six months before the start of the intended visit, or up to nine months for seafarers., and no later than 15 calendar days before the start of the intended visit. Appointment for handing in the application can be made electronically at the VFS website and you will be given an appointment within two weeks.
A visa is only intended to allow a foreign national to visit Norway and the Schengen area for a limited period of time (maximum of 90 days). If you wish to reside in Norway for an extended period of time (exceeding 90 days), you need to apply for a long-term visa (Student and Work Permit and Family reunification).
When you apply for a visa, the application will be sent to the Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi for processing. All cases are considered individually to see if the conditions for a visa are fulfilled.
To read more about the criteria and conditions that must be fulfilled in order to be granted a visa, please refer to the website of Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) www.udi.no
Please also find the Visa Code at www.europa.eu Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code) (europa.eu)
Please note that when citizens of certain countries apply for a visitor visa, we must consult other Schengen Member States before granting a visa. This process may take up to seven days and applies no matter where you currently live. Please visit the www.udi.no for detailed information on which nationalities countries must undergo a consultation process as part of the visa application.
Where to hand in your application
The Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi handles applications from applicants residing in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan. Applicants who are not nationals of these countries or not residents, must document that they are legally in the country where they apply from and must provide justification for lodging the application to the Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi. Applications may be submitted at our locations with the VFS in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Please make sure to apply your Schengen visa from the country of 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 your 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.
Travel medical insurance
When applying for a visa, your travel medical insurance must cover the days of your intended stay in the Schengen area. Failure to hold an insurance that covers the actual stay may lead to problems at the airport or entering the Schengen area. The travel medical insurance must meet the following criteria: It is valid throughout the Schengen area; it is valid during the entire period that you will be in the Schengen area; the coverage is at least EURO 30.000; the coverage includes repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical care and/or emergency treatment in a hospital and assistance in case of death.
Visa fee
Applicants shall pay a visa fee of EUR 80. Children from the age of six years and below the age of 12 years shall pay a visa fee of EUR 40. The payment is done online when you register your application in the UDI Forms application portal.
Biometric identifiers
At the time of submission of the first application, the applicant shall be required to appear in person. At that time, the following biometric identifiers of the applicant shall be collected: — a photograph, scanned or taken at the time of application, and —10 fingerprints. Where fingerprints collected from the applicant as part of an earlier application were entered in the VIS for the first time less than 59 months before the date of the new application, they shall be copied to the subsequent application.
Supporting documents
According to Visa Code Art 14 the applicant shall present several documents with the application in order for the competent consulate to verify the fulfilment of the conditions for granting a visa. Please refer to our webpage for detailed description of the document requirements: Visitor's visa - Norway in India. Applicants may be asked to provide copies of the biodata page of the travel document.
Admissibility
If you have lodged the application within the period referred to in Visa Code Article 9(1) and the application contains an application form, a travel document, a photograph, biometric data of the applicant and visa fee, the application is admissible. Please note that in addition to these mentioned basic elements of your visa applications, further requirements of supporting documents must be handed in.
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.
Decision
As soon as a decision has been made by the Embassy, the Embassy will send the passport in a sealed envelope to the VFS center where the applicant applied. VFS will then notify the applicant through SMS service(optional) or one can use the tracking service on the VFS website.
If rejected: In cases where an application is rejected, the applicant will receive a letter stating the reason for the rejection and how and where you may send the appeal. Please note that if you appeal you must appeal within three weeks from the date you were notified about the decision or from the date on which you should have obtained knowledge of the decision.
We have also ensured that you are able to submit service complaints to VFS or the Embassy regarding conduct of staff or the application process. Please find more in information on this on websites of VFS or the Embassy.
Duration of stay and the right of entry
Your stay in the Schengen area cannot exceed the number of days in the “duration of stay” field in the visa sticker. However, when we issue a Schengen-visa, we will add 15 days to the validity of the visa to allow you some flexibility regarding when to enter and exit the Schengen area, but the total number of days you are allowed to stay in the Schengen area remains the same.
According to Visa Code Art 30, holding a visa does not give you an automatic right of entry to the Schengen area. When you enter the Schengen area, you will have to present: your passport with the visa sticker; proof that you have enough money to support yourself during your stay (e.g. cash or a credit card). If you have a sponsorship form, you should also bring a copy of this with you. You might also have to document the purpose of your visit.