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.

Regional handling of applications 

The Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi is responsible for processing applications for visas and residence permits from Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, South-Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Comoros, Nigeria, and Cameroon. In addition, the Embassy receives applications for residence permits from Yemen, the Seychelles and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Applications must be submitted in person at one of the VFS Global application centers in either Nairobi, Kampala, Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Yaoundé, Lagos or Abuja, which works in partnership with the Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi. Please visit the VFS Global website to book an appointment online. Please note that it is also possible to submit your application at a VFS application center on walk-in basis from 08 am till 11 am from Monday to Friday.

If you are a close family member of an EU/EEA citizen residing in EU/EEA family members can apply directly at the Embassy in Nairobi and pay no visa fee. Please check the UDI website to see if you fall under these specific rules.

Please visit VFS's website for more information. 

Please follow the step-by-step process as described in the "Visitor's visa" and "Residence permit" section below depending on what type of permit you would like to apply for.

For information about the application procedures and requirements for applicants outside of Kenya, please select your country of residence from the list on www.norway.no

Who to contact if you have questions

If you have general questions regarding Schengen visas, family immigration, work or study permits, you can find further information about the application procedure, documentation requirements and case processing times on the UDI website. 

If you have applied for a residence permit and your application has been forwarded to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI), kindly contact UDI if you have questions about the status of your case.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway has a global agreement with VFS Global regarding receiving applications for visa and residence permits, as well as answering phone calls and e-mails on behalf of Norwegian embassies. Therefore, if you have any visa or migration related questions, you can contact VFS Global via email or telephone. 

• VFS Global in Nairobi, Kenya
• VFS Global in Kampala, Uganda
• VFS Global in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• VFS Global in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• VFS Global in Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria
• VFS Global in Yaoundé, Cameroon

If you have further queries that VFS is unable to answer, you can contact the Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi by sending an email to visum.nairobi@mfa.no. Kindly note that the Embassy in Nairobi does not answer visa and migration related queries by telephone.

In your request, you must mention your full name as written in your passport, your date of birth, and passport number. If you have already applied, please also submit your reference number (DUF number), or application receipt number from UDI's application portal. Kindly note that if this information is not included in your request, you will not receive an answer from us.

Emails will be replied to within 5 working days.

Applications will not be processed without a passport.

Important information notice from Schengen Member States

According to Article 12 (a) of the Regulation (EC) No. 810/2009, commonly known as “Visa Code”, the validity of a travel document shall extend at least three months after the intended date of departure from the territory of the Schengen Member States.