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 Norwegian Embassy in Pretoria is responsible for processing applications for Schengen visas and residence permits from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi and South Africa. Residence permit applications from Angola, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

All applications must be submitted through the services of VFS Global in South Africa.

For information about the application procedures and requirements for applicants outside South Africa, kindly select your country from the list on www.norway.no.

New and important information as of 26th January 2024. Please click this link.

Family members of EU/EEA nationals

If you are a close family member of an EU/EEA citizen residing in Norway, or a Norwegian citizen who is living in another EU/EEA country on a permanent basis and you are going to travel together with, or visit, this person, you will normally be given a visa. EU/EEA family members can apply directly at the Embassy and can book an appointment by email.

By close family member means:

• spouse/partner/cohabitant
• child who is under the age of 21 or supported financially by the parent
• parent who is supported financially by their child

For more information, please visit Directorate of Immigration's (UDI) website.

Diplomatic and official passport holders

Holders of diplomatic and official passports from South Africa are exempt from the visa requirement.

PERMANENT CLOSURE OF VFS APPLICATION CENTRE FOR NORWAY IN LILONGWE 

We regret to inform that the VFS Visa Application Centre for Norway in Lilongwe has been permanently closed.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to applicants residing in Malawi. Please refer to our updated guidelines below for alternative application options.

Applicants residing in Malawi who wish to travel to Norway, Finland,  Germany, Iceland, Switzerland and Malta may now submit their visa applications at the VFS Visa Application Centre for Norway in Pretoria.

This also applies for holders of diplomatic and service passports residing in Malawi, who are travelling to Switzerland.

Those intending to travel to other Schengen countries should contact the appropriate visa application centre or the embassy/consulate of the country they plan to visit.

IMPORTANT NOTICE for Visa Applicants from Malawi and those travelling to South Africa to submit their visa applications- requirement to submit passport together with the visa application

Please book an appointment at the VFS application centre before travelling to South Africa-  Attend a centre | vfsglobal

Visa applications submitted without a passport will be rejected.

The Embassy must retain the passport to conduct mandatory document verification before processing the application.

Applicants—particularly those planning to travel to South Africa—are advised to allow for a minimum stay of two working days. This period is necessary for the Embassy to complete the required document checks and return the passport, especially if the applicant needs to depart South Africa before a decision on the visa application has been finalized.