Many people are interested in working in Norway for several reasons. But how many people were issued Norway work visas or registered to work in the nation in 2021?
What is the number of foreign workers migrating to Norway?
Figures issued this week by the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) show how many people were either given worker’s residence permits or registered with officials as having traveled to Norway for employment.
Employees from outside the European Economic Area (EU nations and Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) are typically awarded work permits. Still, individuals traveling to Norway for employment from inside the EEA are needed to register with the police as residing in Norway.
Last year, 24,507 EEA residents registered with the police, with 14,429 moving for employment.
Over one-third of EEA nationals who migrated to Norway for employment were Poles, with a little over 5,000 foreigners registering with the police in 2021. Lithuanian nationals were the second-largest group to register for jobs in Norway, with over 2,000 registrations.
Romanians were the third most significant group of people to register for employment, trailed only by Spaniards, Latvians, Germans, Italians, Portuguese, and French. Bulgarian citizens were the tenth-largest group of people who reported to work in Norway.
In terms of work permits, the UDI granted 7,348 residency cards in 2021. However, the numbers did not specify whether these were first-time permit applicants or those reapplying for residency.
Skilled worker visas were the most common residence permit given by the UDI in 2021, with 4,145 awarded. If you have finished higher education or vocational training, you can qualify as a skilled worker. However, before filing for a skilled worker visa, a skilled worker must also demonstrate job experience.
British nationals who were not legal citizens of Norway by the end of 2020 would have to apply for a residence permit under the same procedures as non-EEA nationals to migrate to Norway in 2021. This is evidenced in the fact that British citizens made up the largest group of third-country residents given work permits, with the UDI approving over 1,321 residency applications.
More than 1,300 British citizens were awarded work permits, 456 for skilled employees, 83 for seasonal workers, and 782 for other reasons.
With 1,112 work permits awarded, Indian people were the second-largest group of third-country nationals to be given residency for employment. However, 762 were for skilled employees, 349 were for other purposes, and only one was for seasonal labor.
Citizens from Ukraine, the United States, and the Philippines were the third, fourth, and fifth most numerous groups to be given work visas, respectively. US residents were third in terms of the largest group awarded residency as a skilled worker, with the UDI issuing 296 of the 435 work permits to Americans.
