Visitor's visa
A visitor's visa allows you to stay in Norway or other countries in the Schengen area for up to 90 days over a period of 180 days.
Citizens of Thailand must apply for a visitor’s visa.
Family members of EU/EEA nationals may be entitled to an accelerated visa procedure free of charge if you meet the following criteria:
- You are a family member of an European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) citizen;
- and that EU/EEA citizen is travelling to or is residing in a member state other than that of which he/she is a citizen;
- and you are accompanying the EU/EEA citizen or planning to join him/her in the Schengen State of destination.
- If you think you are entitled to an accelerated visa procedure you will need to show proof that you meet these criteria when you submit your visa application. For more information, please click here.
- Family members of EU citizens can submit their short-term Schengen visa application directly at the Embassy, after making an appointment. you can also submitt your visa application at a VFS application centre.
A Schengen visa is generally issued for a single entry.
- If you plan to travel outside the Schengen area and return within the period of the visa, the box for “Two entries” or “Multiple entries” must be ticked off in the visa application form.
- You should also document why two or more entries are required. We will then assess if there is a genuine need for a multiple entry visa.
- If only one entry is required, and this is your first trip to Norway and/or the Schengen area, we encourage you to apply for a "single entry" visa.
Multiple entry visas with a validity from 1 to 5 years
- Frequent travellers with a positive visa history can be granted multiple-entry visa with a gradually increasing validity period from 1 year to a maximum of 5 years.
- Your fulfilment of entry conditions will be thoroughly and repeatedly verified in all cases, and only persons with a positive visa track record will be issued multiple-entry visas with a long validity.
- Provided that the applicant fulfils the entry conditions, multiple-entry visas with a long validity shall be issued for the following validity periods, unless the validity of the visa would exceed that of the travel document:
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- for a validity period of one year, provided that the applicant has obtained and lawfully used three visas within the previous two years;
- for a validity period of two years, provided that the applicant has obtained and lawfully used a previous multiple-entry visa valid for one year within the previous two years;
- for a validity period of five years, provided that the applicant has obtained and lawfully used a previous multiple-entry visa valid for two years within the previous three years.
- Multiple-entry visas allow the holder to travel repeatedly to the Schengen area during the period of validity of the visa.
- Even with a multiple-entry visa with a validity from 1 to 5 years, the applicant cannot stay in the Schengen area more than 90 days within any 180 day period.
All questions regarding your application must be directed towards the VFS GLOBAL office where you applied. You should only direct your questions toward the responsible embassy if VFS requests it, or if they cannot answer your question.
When you are going to visit Norway, you must show that you have enough money to finance your stay here and for the return journey.
You must document that you have at least NOK 500 per day during your stay in Norway and the Schengen area. If you do not have enough money yourself, you must have a financial guarantee from the person you are visiting. In this connection, the person you will be visiting will have to provide a sponsorship form.
For more information, please visit the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration website.
If you want someone to act on your behalf in connection with your application, you must authorise this person to do so. Please visit the UDI website for more information and the relevant form.
If you give a person Power of Attorney, all communication regarding your application will go to him/her and not to you, the applicant.
Before you apply
- You should apply well in advance and as a rule no later than 15 days before you plan to travel. Due to the courier sending of documents in some countries, we recommend that you apply at least 4 weeks prior to your planned departure.
- You may submit your application up to six months before your planned departure, or up to nine months for seafarers.
- We recommend that you do not buy your ticket until a visa has been granted.
- You must register your application online before you can hand in the required documentation.
- When you hand in your application, you will be asked to provide fingerprints, unless your fingerprints have been collected within the last 59 months.
- Travel to Svalbard requires you to apply for two or more entries.
In order to apply for a visa from Thailand you must either be a citizen of Thailand, Cambodia or Laos, or legally reside in Thailand.
Please note that only applications where Norway is the main destination of the travel may be submitted at the VFS Global Visa Application Centers. In order to apply for a visa you must either be a citizen of the country you apply from or legally reside there. Applicants who are not nationals or residents of any of the countries we are responsible for, must document that they are legally in the country where they apply from and must provide justification for lodging the application to the responsible embassy.
Gather the necessary documentation
The checklist gives an overview of the documents you need to hand in to start the application process.
Other countries in our responsible region:
Additonal information:
When applying for a visa, you need travel insurance.
The 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:
- valid throughout the Schengen area;
- 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.
When you are going to visit Norway, you must show that you have enough money to finance your stay here and for the return journey.
You must document that you have at least NOK 500 per day during your stay in Norway and the Schengen area. If you do not have enough money yourself, you must have a financial guarantee from the person you are visiting. In this connection, the person you will be visiting will have to provide a sponsorship form.
For more information, please visit the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration website.
Family members of EU/EEA nationals may be entitled to an accelerated visa procedure free of charge if you meet the following criteria:
- You are a family member of an European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) citizen;
- and that EU/EEA citizen is travelling to or is residing in a member state other than that of which he/she is a citizen;
- and you are accompanying the EU/EEA citizen or planning to join him/her in the Schengen State of destination.
- If you think you are entitled to an accelerated visa procedure you will need to show proof that you meet these criteria when you submit your visa application. For more information, please click here.
- Family members of EU citizens can submit their short-term Schengen visa application directly at the Embassy, after making an appointment. you can also submitt your visa application at a VFS application centre.
All questions regarding your application must be directed towards the VFS GLOBAL office where you applied. You should only direct your questions toward the responsible embassy if VFS requests it, or if they cannot answer your question.
Online registration and payment
Before you can hand in your passport and other documentation, you must register your application online and pay the fee. If this is the first time you are registering an application in the portal, you will need to create a user account first.
Once you have completed the application form online and paid the fee, you will receive confirmation by email with a copy of your application form (schengen.pdf), application summary and payment receipt attached. You need to print the application form (schengen.pdf) and submit it together with the other required documentation
Application fee
The visa fee is EUR 90. Children under six years do not pay a fee. Children from the age of six years and below the age of 12 years shall pay a visa fee of EUR 45. Please visit the UDI website for information about other groups exempted from the visa fee.
Please note that you pay the fee when registering the application in the portal. Applicants exempted from the visa fee requirement will have the fee refunded.
If you are a applying for a visa as a family member to an EU/EEA citizen you are not required to pay the application fee.
Service fee at VFS Global (the Norway Visa Application Centre)
Please note that the Norway Visa Application Centre (VFS Global) charges a service fee. The fee is paid directly to VFS Global when submitting the application. For more information see the VFS website.
Booking an appointment to hand in your application and supporting documents
Please note that you will be required to create a separate username and password for the VFS booking system. If you encounter any difficulties with the online booking system please contact VFS Visa Call Center on +66 (0) 211 87 004
Hand in your documents
You must bring with you:
- a printout of the application form (schengen.pdf) received by email;
- the checklist and the documents listed.
- Your passport (must be valid for at least three months after your planned departure from the Schengen area)
- Photograph (must comply with international standards)
- Your travel health insurance policy
- You should be covered for at least EUR 30 000, including expenses in connection with repatriation for medical reasons, treatment in medical emergencies and/or emergency hospital treatment, and death
- Your insurance should be valid in all Schengen countries
- It should cover the whole of your planned stay in the Schengen area
- It should as a rule be purchased in your home country. If this is not possible it may be purchased in another country.
The application process will start once all the required documents have been submitted.
Please find your local VFS application office: Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos (via Bangkok), Malaysia, Myanmar, Brunei (via Malaysia), the Philippines, Australia and Fiji.
Waiting Time
The processing time for applications is normally up to 15 calendar days after the embassy or consulate has received the application. In some cases, applications are sent to the Directorate of Immigration (UDI), and the processing time in these cases may be up to 45 calendar days.
In Thailand, you will in most cases get the result of your application within 15 days, or sooner, after the embassy has received the application and all supporting documents through the Norwegian Visa Application Center.
For citizens of certain countries we cannot grant a visa before we have consulted other Schengen member states. This process takes up to seven days. For information on which countries such prior consultation applies to, please click here.
Apply well in advance of your travel
We recommend that you apply at least 4 weeks prior to departure. You may register and submit your application 6 months before your planned trip.
The processing time is counted from the day the application is received at the Embassy until the passport is picked up by the VFS courier in Bangkok. Therefore, please also take the extra courier/transport time between VFS Bangkok and the Embassy into account.
The result of your application
Applicants will be notified by e-mail, and SMS if the applicant has opted for this service, when the application has been processed.
The applicant's passport can be picked up at the VFS where the application was submitted, or can be delivered by a courier service, if the applicant has opted for this alternative.
If a visa has been granted, it will be affixed to the passport.
Please check the following information on the visa sticker:
- That name and surname is correctly spelled
- The visa's period of validity
- Permitted number of entries
- Permitted duration of stay
- Passport number
If there is an error on the visa sticker, please contact the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Bangkok.
Appealing a decision
The appeal must be signed by you, your authorized representative or your lawyer, and should contain information about which decision you are appealing and why you believe the decision you have received is incorrect. The appeal must be written in Norwegian or English. If you have any new information or documentation, you must enclose this.
You must submit the appeal to the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Bangkok via the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration's (UDI) document upload service: Send documents to UDI - UDI.
Processing time for an appeal is currently approximately 12 weeks.
We will review your appeal. We can either overturn our decision or forward the appeal to the UDI for consideration. If your appeal is sent to the UDI, they will review your appeal again and either reject your appeal or overturn our decision. If the UDI also rejects your appeal, there are no further possibilities of appeal.
If the application was rejected by the UDI, you must also use the document upload service.
More information about the appeal process and processing times can be found on the UDI website.
On arrival
When you cross the border into 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 guarantee form, you should also bring a copy of this with you.
- documentation showing the purpose of your visit, such as an invitation, hotel reservation, etc.
- a return or round trip ticket if you are visiting the Schengen area for tourist purposes or private reasons
You may be asked to provide fingerprints by the border control officer, in which case these will be compared with the fingerprints provided when you applied for your visa.
As long as your visa is valid, you can travel around freely in the Schengen area, or in the specific Schengen countries covered by the visa. If you leave the Schengen area, for example to visit the UK or Svalbard, you will need a multiple entry visa.
Your short-stay visa allows you to travel to Norway and to other Schengen States, but the final control of the entry conditions is done when you cross the Schengen border.
A visa does not automatically entitle you to cross the Schengen border. It is therefore recommended that you carry with you copies of the documents which you presented when you applied for the visa.
When applying for a visa, you need travel insurance.
The 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:
- valid throughout the Schengen area;
- 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.