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.

UK citizens holding UK passports do not need a visitor's visa to travel to Norway. Non-UK citizens holding UK travel documents (blue or black) must apply for a visitor’s visa to Norway. 

How to submit your application

All applications for visa or residence permits to Norway must be handed in at one of our application centers in the United Kingdom, either at VFS London or VFS Edinburgh. Please see below if you have an application that can submit without prior appointment, or if you need to book an appointment via the VFS booking portal.

Groups of applicants who do not need a prior appointment 

If you are applying for a residence permit (family immigration, work permit, study permit), you can hand in your application at VFS without prior appointment. Please check VFS for opening hours for walk-in submissions. 
 
If you are applying for a Schengen visa, you can submit your application without an appointment with VFS if you are travelling to Norway: 

• For business purposes  
• To attend a cultural event ( i.e participate in Norway Cup or attend the MELA festival)  
• To visit an organization ( i.e Red Cross Norway)  
• To visit a close family member who is a citizen of another EU/EEA country than Norway and is staying 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.
• To visit a family member or romantic partner in Norway. An invitation/sponsorship form from the host in Norway stating the purpose of the travel and the relationship will be need to document this.

Groups of applicants who need a prior appointment  

You need to have a prior appointment at VFS to submit your application if you are travelling to Norway: 

• to visit friends in Norway
• to visit Norway for tourism purposes

We are currently realeasing appointments at VFS booking portal in London and Edinburgh for November and December. If you are unable to make an appointment via the VFS booking portal, you will have to wait until more appointments are made available unless you belong to a category that can hand in their application without prior appointment.  

Any errors in the VFS booking portal must be addressed directly to VFS.

Please check VFS website for opening hours. 

Emergency travel

If you have an urgent need to travel due to strong welfare considerations, i.e. death in the family or serious illness, or you need to travel to Norway for an important event that cannot be rescheduled, please contact us in writing at emb.london.visa@mfa.no and explain and document your situation. Ordinary leisure travel will not be considered an emergency regardless of prebooked tickets for travel. 

Please note that it is not possible to hand in your application directly at the embassy or via postal services. 

Do you need your passport during the processing time? 

All applicants must submit their passport when handing in their application. If you need your passport during the processing time, the embassy can return your passport once the embassy has done the necessary document controls. To request your passport, you can use a form at VFS, or send an email to the embassy at emb.london.visa@mfa.no. Temporary passport return will not speed up your application process.