Work as an OT in Norway

Applicants from the EEA/EFTA countries

Citizens from the EU/EEA countries, as well as citizens from the EFTA countries, have the same rights as Norwegians regarding employment, wages and working conditions in Norway. Citizens from these countries may come to Norway to stay and work for a period of 3 months. Employment may be acquired before or after arrival to Norway. Work applicants may stay for 6 months without a residence permit.

There is no period of quarantine for persons from the EU/EEA and EFTA countries who have returned to their home countries.

Residence permit

In order to stay in Norway for more than 3 months, or for more than 6 months applying for work, a residence permit is required. The applicant is obliged to present a documentation of a specific working condition of a certain duration.

Documentation required is:

• a fully completed form of application followed by 2 passport pictures (form of application is available at the local police station in Norway or at a Norwegian foreign service mission)
• documentation of employment (form of employment certificate is available at the local police station in Norway or at a Norwegian foreign service mission)
• the travel documentation that was presented at the arrival (passport or other acceptable legitimation)

A residence permit is also giving admission to work, usually for a period of 5 years at a time.

Form of application of residence permit with enclosures should be delivered to

• the police at the place of residence in Norway
• or to a Norwegian foreign service mission

For further information, please contact:

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration:
(Utlendingsdirektoratet)
Address: P.O. Box 8108 Dep., N-0032 Oslo, Norway
Tel.: + 47 23 35 15 00
Web: www.udi.no
Information telephone: 47 23 35 16 00 (answers questions about individual cases).

Transitional rules for new EU members by the 1st. of May 2004:

Norway has introduced transitional rules for employees from eight of the ten new EU states – Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Slovenia – who apply independently for an EU/EEA permit. These applicants must have a concrete offer of employment for a full-time job that complies with pay and working-condition requirements. They must also submit a fully completed confirmation of employment form, or a contract of employment with item 5 of the confirmation of employment form filled in and signed by both the employer and employee. Additionally, persons from these countries may not start working before a residence permit is granted. Employees from Cyprus and Malta do not come under this transitional scheme.

Applicants from the outside the EU/EEA/EFTA area

A work permit may be granted to a person from countries outside the EU/EEA/EFTA area who is a skilled worker or has special qualifications. Where particular considerations so indicate, higher-lever training is required. The knowledge and the qualifications of the applicant must be regarded as necessary by the Norwegian employer. The duration of work must be no less than 1 year.

Documentation required by all persons applying for work permit:

• an actual offer of employment (the employer must fill out a special form from the Employment Office)
• a documentation of sufficient economic support
• a documentation of having a residence in Norway
• a documentation of education

Applications for work and residence permit must be submitted from abroad. The applicant must await the result of the application before travelling to Norway. A work permit is usually linked up to a special employer and a special position.

Applications being submitted from abroad should be delivered to

• the Norwegian foreign service mission in the home country
• or to the Norwegian foreign service mission in the country where the applicant has possessed a work and residence permit for the last 6 months

The applicant will, when the handling of the application is finished, receive a message from the foreign service mission to which the application was submitted. Handling the application may take a good span of time!

Casually, skilled workers may submit an application while being in Norway. Information on these special conditions, and further information, may be obtained at the Norwegian foreign service missions, or by contacting:

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration:
(Utlendingsdirektoratet)
Address: P.O. Box 8108 Dep., N-0032 Oslo, Norway
Tel.: + 47 23 35 15 00
Web: www.udi.no

Information telephone: 47 23 35 16 00 (answers questions about individual cases).

Autorization as an OT in Norway

Applicants being citizens in an EU/EEA country, and being educated in an other EU/EEA country than Norway, are being included by the EEA rules on mutual acknowledgment of education and authorization. Applicants educated in Switzerland shall be treated in the same way.

Applicants educated in Sweden, Finland, Denmark or Iceland are being included by the agreement of a common Nordic labour market, this regarding to veterinaries and certain occupational groups within the health sector. Occupational therapists are being included by this agreement.

Applicants educated beyond the EU/EEA countries are embraced by the Health Personnel Act. The evaluation will consider whether their education holds the same level as the present Norwegian education.

It is necessary to apply for authorization as an occupational therapist in Norway. Applicants educated in Norway and foreign countries must apply for a Norwegian authorization as an OT at this address:

The Norwegian Registration Authority for Health Personnel (SAFH)

Address: Postboks 8053 DEP, N-0031 Oslo
Phone: + 47 21 52 97 00
Fax: + 47 21 52 97 03
E-mail: postmottak@safh.no
Web: www.safh.no

OT from Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland must enclose:

• a certified true copy of diploma as an occupation therapist
• a copy of documented authorization/registration in the country of education
• a copy of the passport
• a documentation of practice as an occupational therapist (if the education is older than 5 years)

Applicants from all other countries must also enclose:

• detailed schedules from the College of Occupation Therapy
• demanded by applicants educated in an EEA country only:
  A “good standing”-certificate from the health authorities in the home land, confirming that the applicant owns the right to execute the profession (this not being demanded for newly educated OTs)
• documented practice as an OT, if the education is older than 5 years

The handling of a case will take 4-6 weeks for applicants educated in Norway or another Nordic country. The handling period will vary for applicants educated in other than the Nordic countries, this due to the application being sent to an officer for professional evaluation.

Ability to speak Norwegian is not required by Norwegian authorities to grant a residence permit, nor is knowledge of Norwegian rules about the applicants´s profession required. However, employers normally require knowledge of the Norwegian language.

Norwegian occupational therapy
The Norwegian Association of Occupational Therapists (NETF)
Occupational Therapy in Norway
Occupational Therapy Training and Education
Occupational Therapy Specialist