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 either in South Africa or in Malawi.

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

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.

NORWAY VISA APPLICATION CENTER IN MALAWI TEMPORARILY CLOSED

The Norway Visa Application Centre (VFS Global) in Lilongwe has been temporarily closed since March 24, 2025, until further notice.

The Embassy will inform the public once it reopens.

If you are travelling to Norway, you can submit your visa application at the VFS Visa Application Center in Pretoria or Cape Town after registering your application in the application portal and booking and appointment.

If you are travelling to another Schengen country represented by Norway in Malawi, you will have to contact the relevant visa issuing mission or application center of that country for information.

The Embassy apologizes for the inconvenience caused.

Visitor's visa

Holidays, visits to family and friends, business

Residence permit

Work, studies, family immigration

Representation agreements

A Member State may agree to represent another Member State that is competent in accordance with Article 5 of the Visa Code for the purpose of examining and deciding on applications on behalf of that Member State.

Norway represents the following Schengen countries in Malawi: Austria, Belgium, Denmark (visa and residence cases), Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland (diplomatic and service passport holders).

If you apply for a visa to one of the countries represented by Norway, the rules and routines are the same as if you apply for a visa to Norway.

Norway is representing Denmark in visa and residence cases in Malawi. If you apply for residence permit to Denmark, you can find the routines on the Embassy’s website.

Norway is also represented by other Schengen countries for visa applications:

Finland is representing Norway in Namibia
The Netherlands is representing Norway in Zimbabwe
Sweden is representing Norway in Zambia
Portugal is representing Norway in Angola and Mozambique
Switzerland is representing Norway in Madagascar

Please note that when a visa application is processed by another Schengen country in representation, it is handled according to their rules and regulations.

Service complaints