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.
UPDATE FOR APPLICANTS RESIDING IN MALAWI
The VFS Application center in Lilongwe, Malawi is open again in a new venue, from 1. September 2025.
Applicants residing in Malawi who wish to travel to Norway, Austria, Belgium, Denmark (visa and recidence permit), Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland (only Diplomatic and Service passport holders) may now book appointments and submit their visa applications at the VFS Visa Application Centre for Norway in Lilongwe, Malawi: Welcome to VFS Global | vfsglobal.
APPOINTMENTS ONLY.