List of industries

Professions:

• Veterinary surgeon
• Aqua medicine biologist
• Veterinary nurse
• Artificial insemination technician

In order to work in one of these professions, you must have authorisation or a licence.
Authorisation will be granted if you fulfil the requirements to fully practise the profession. A licence is issued for a limited period or area within the profession.

Recognition authority: Mattilsynet (Norwegian Food Safety Authority)

Application process
Applications for authorisation or a licence to practise as a veterinary surgeon, aqua medicine biologist, veterinary nurse or artificial insemination technician should be sent to Mattilsynet. Different rules and regulations apply for the recognition of educational qualifications inside and outside the EU/EEA. You can read more about these rules and the application procedure on Mattilsynet’s website

Professions:

• Air technician
• Flight attendant
• Pilot

Recognition authority: Luftfartstilsynet (Civil Aviation Authority – Norway)

Recognition authority: Statens bygningstekniske etat (BE)(National Office of Building Technology and Administration)

Field: National authorising body for enterprises in the building and construction industry.

The system of national authorisation is voluntary. An enterprise may apply for national authorisation of (foreign) enterprises assuming responsibility for building projects. This saves a great deal of time for both the enterprise and the local authority (municipality) if the enterprise wishes to apply for local authorisation to assume responsibility for a specific building project. This means that the enterprise need not document that it fulfils the authorisation requirements for every single building project, and the local authority need not assess the application each time.

The purpose of the authorisation system for enterprises is to ensure that enterprises assume responsibility under the Norwegian Planning and Building Act and that they are sufficiently qualified to fulfil the requirements of the planning and building legislation.

The assessment of qualifications is based on:

• an overall assessment of the enterprise’s organisation
• the enterprise’s system of management
• the enterprise’s professional management and their educational qualifications, competences and experience

National authorisation is not a system of professional recognition or authorisation, but a pre-qualification system. The municipality in which the building project is to be carried out must nevertheless assess whether there is conformity between the national authorisation and the project for which authorisation is sought.

Not all types of working area qualify for national authorisation.

For more information, see the website of Statens bygningstekniske etat
or contact:

Statens bygningstekniske etat
Avdeling for sentral godkjenning

Phone: (+47) 22 47 56 00
Fax: (+47) 22 47 56 11
E-mail: be@be.no
Postal address: Postboks 8742 Youngstorget, NO-0028 Oslo, Norway
Street address: Møllergata 16, Oslo

Professions:

• Deacon/verger
• Cantor
• Catechist
• Priest/parson in the Church of Norway

Recognition authority: Kirkerådet (Church of Norway National Council)

If you wish to work in one of the professions listed below, you must send an application to Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap (DSB). DSB will assess and, if satisfied, recognise your foreign professional qualifications and work experience. There are separate rules for EU and EEA citizens.

If your education and professional experience differ significantly from the qualification recognition requirements to work in Norway, you may demonstrate by undergoing an adaptation period at work or taking an aptitude test that you have acquired the education and experience required. You can obtain more information about this from DSB.

NB! The amount and type of professional experience required are different if you are applying to pursue the right to practise your profession as a specialised electrician or if you are applying to establish an undertaking/business that you will head.

Only authorised electrical installations contractors are permitted to establish and manage an electrical undertaking/business in Norway. Specialised electricians may only apply to pursue the right to practise their profession in Norway and to work under the professional management of an electrical installations contractor.

Professions:

• Electrical installations contractor
• Specialised electrician – Process control electrician
• Specialised electrician – Electrician
• Specialised electrician – Repairer of electrical equipment
• Specialised electrician – Electrician for high tension electricity power lines
• Specialised electrician – Lift electrician
• Specialised electrician – Power station electrician Group B
• Specialised electrician – Repairer of electro medical equipment
• Specialised electrician – Train electrician

Recognition authority: Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap (The Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning)

NB! The recognition authority for Electro-automation officer (ship’s electrician) is Sjøfartsdirektoratet. 

Application process
Electrical installations contractors
Electrical installations contractors are responsible for the work carried out on electrical installations. Only authorised electrical installations contractors may employ authorised specialised electricians in their undertakings. In order to work as an electrical installations contractor, you must do the following:

1. Send a written application in the form of a letter concerning:  Possibility of assuming responsibility for electrical installations in Norway to Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap, DSB

Email: postmottak@dsb.no  
Postal address: Postboks 2014, NO-3103 Tønsberg, Norway

You will receive a reply from DSB to let you know what your application must contain with regard to documents as evidence of your educational qualifications and professional experience.

The amount and type of professional experience required are different if you are applying to pursue the right to practise your profession as a specialised electrician or if you are applying to establish an undertaking/business that you will head. You can obtain information about this from DSB.

If your education and professional experience differ significantly from the qualification recognition requirements to work in Norway, you may demonstrate by undergoing an adaptation period at work or taking an aptitude test that you have acquired the education and experience required. You can obtain more information about this from DSB.

All documents must be translated into either Norwegian or English by an officially authorised translator. (This does not apply to applications from Swedish or Danish nationals.) Check the information about general documentation requirements here.

2. Register your undertaking (register your business) in the Registeret for virksomheter som prosjekterer, utfører og vedlikeholder elektriske anlegg (Register of undertakings that plan, undertake and maintain electrical installations).

You will find information about the obligation to register and the registration form (HR-135) on DSB’s website.

3. An undertaking (business) that wishes to carry on an electrical installation activity in Norway must also be registered in the Enhetsregisteret (Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities) in Brønnøysundregistrene (Brønnøysund Register Centre) and have its own Norwegian business enterprise organisation number. You will find information about this on the website of Brønnøysundregistrene (Brønnøysund Register Centre).

Read more about the application process concerning Electrical contractors

Specialised electrician (see list above)
As a specialised electrician, you are permitted to carry out work on electrical installations under the management of an authorised electrical installations contractor. Both you and the electrical installations contractor must be authorised by DSB to practise your professions in Norway.

In order to work as a specialised electrician, you must do the following:

1. Send a written application in the form of a letter concerning: Possibility for working independently on electrical installations in Norway to Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap, DSB

Email: postmottak@dsb.no  
Postal address: Postboks 2014, NO-3103 Tønsberg, Norway

You will receive a reply from DSB to let you know what your application must contain with regard to documents as evidence of your educational qualifications and professional experience.

The amount and type of professional experience required are different if you are applying to pursue the right to practise your profession as a specialised electrician or if you are applying to establish an undertaking/business that you will head.

If your education and professional experience differ significantly from the qualification recognition requirements to work in Norway, you may demonstrate by undergoing an adaptation period at work or taking an aptitude test that you have acquired the education and experience required. You can obtain more information about this from DSB.

All documents must be translated into either Norwegian or English by an officially authorised or sworn translator. (This does not apply to applications from Swedish or Danish nationals.) Check the information about general documentation requirements here.

Read more about the application process concerning specialised electricians

There are 29 groups of regulated professions in the Norwegian health system. In order to work in one of these professions, you must have professional recognition of your qualifications (authorisation or licence). Authorisation will be granted if you fulfil the requirements to fully practise the profession. A licence is issued for a limited period or area within the profession.

Statens autorisasjonskontor for helsepersonell (SAFH) awards professional recognition to health professionals.

Professional recognition entails a pre-employment check of qualifications (that you have the necessary professional knowledge and skills) and aptitude (that you have the personal qualities required to be a health professional) before you are permitted to work in the profession.

Professions:

• Audiologist
• Care worker/second level nurse
• Chiropodist
• Chiropractor
• Clinical nutritionist
• Dental health secretary
• Dental hygienist
• Dental technician
• Dentist
• General nurse
• General practitioner
• Health care worker
• Medical/biomedical laboratory technician
• Medical secretary
• Midwife
• Occupational therapist
• Optometrist
• Orthopaedic technician/prosthetist
• Orthoptist
• Paramedic/Ambulance nurse
• Perfusionist
• Pharmacist
• Pharmacy technician
• Physiotherapist
• Prescriptionist
• Psychologist
• Radiographer
• Second level nurse
• Social educator/child care worker

Recognition authority: Statens autorisasjonskontor for helsepersonell (SAFH) (Norwegian Registration Authority for Health Personnel)

Application process
The application procedure for authorisations and licences is as follows:

1. Registration of application.
2. A request for payment of a registration fee is sent to the applicant.
3. The applicant pays the fee (if the fee is not  paid within four months after the request for payment is sent, the application will be deemed to have lapsed).
4. The administrative procedure starts in the department responsible for applications from Nordic nationals or in the department responsible for other international applications, depending on where they come from.
5. If processing the application is likely to take more than one month after the fee is paid, SAFH will send a provisional reply estimating the time it will take to deal with the application.
6. If the application is incomplete or lacking in any other way, SAFH will send a letter requesting the applicant to rectify the matter (usually a request to send any missing documents or for attestation of documents that are missing or that are not accepted). This letter often accompanies the provisional reply from SAFH.
7. When the application is complete, it will be assessed whether the conditions for granting authorisation or issuing a licence are fulfilled.
8. If necessary, the application will be sent to an external academic adviser (usually at a school/university college/university). This applies mostly to applicants with educational qualifications from outside the EEA.
9. A draft decision is written and discussed by the team dealing with the application and in some cases also by the management of SAFH, and a decision is taken.
10. The authorisation or licence is sent to the applicant, or the applicant is informed that the application has been refused.
11. The case is closed.

You will find more information on SAFH’s website.

Professions:

• Lawyer/barrister/solicitor/advocate
• Legal adviser

Recognition authority: The Supervisory Council for Legal Practice (Tilsynsrådet for advokatvirksomhet)

Application process
If you have a law degree or the right to use the professional title “lawyer” or equivalent from an EU/EEA country, the following possibilities are open to you to practise as a lawyer (advokat) in Norway:

You have the professional title of lawyer from an EU/EEA country and you are a citizen of an EU/EEA country. You then have two possibilities for practising as a lawyer in Norway

1. You can register as an EU/EEA lawyer in Norway. This will allow you to practise law in Norway, but you must use the professional title in use in your home country. Read more on the website of The Supervisory Council for Legal Practice
2. You can apply for a Norwegian certificate to practise as a lawyer. You can do this in two ways:
   a) You take an aptitude test This test consists of a language component and a component covering Norwegian law and legal subjects. Read more on the website of The Supervisory Council for Legal Practice
   b) You must be able to demonstrate that you have practised as an EU/EEA lawyer in Norway for three years and also document that you have practised Norwegian law. Read more on the website of The Supervisory Council for Legal Practice

You have a law degree, but not the professional title of lawyer from an EU/EEA country and wish to obtain a Norwegian certificate to practise as a lawyer
To gain a Norwegian practising certificate, you must first have completed a law degree in an EU/EEA country on which basis the professional title of lawyer is granted in the country in which you took your degree. Following this, you must have been a trainee lawyer/legal assistant for two years in Norway and have completed a course in litigation, legal proceedings and ethics. You will need to find a Norwegian employer who will apply on your behalf for authorisation as a trainee lawyer and who will put up a financial guarantee for you (see under common requirements below). Read more on the website of The Supervisory Council for Legal Practice

You hold the professional title of lawyer from a country outside the EU/EEA and you wish to practise as a lawyer in Norway
With this background you can apply for authorisation as a foreign lawyer in Norway. However, this means that you may only practise international law and the law of your home country. You will not be able to practise Norwegian law. You will also be required always to use your professional title from your home country and to indicate the name of your home country. Read more on the website of The Supervisory Council for Legal Practice

Common requirements for becoming a lawyer in Norway

You must:

• Provide a guarantee of NOK 5 million to cover claims for damages
• Pay contributions to Tilsynsrådet and the disciplinary board
• Engage an accountant
• Own or carry out your work in a registered business enterprise in Norway

Regulations for advocates
Read more about the titles in the legal profession in Regulations for advocates with comments, chapter 9 (pdf).

Responsibility for the professions in this sector is divided between two different authorities: Arbeidstilsynet (Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority) and Sjøfartsdirektoratet (Norwegian Maritime Directorate).

Arbeidstilsynet

Professions:

• Diver (including reserve diver and diver 1st class)

Recognition authority: Arbeidstilsynet

Application process
You must send an application for a licence to undertake commercial diving in Norway to Arbeidstilsynet Vestlandet. You must enclose your attestation of competence/ commercial diver’s certificate with your application. You must supply a translation of the documents if they were issued in a language other than English or one of the Nordic languages. In the application you must state the postal address of the person who will receive the letter of authorisation (preferably your employer).

Email: post@arbeidstilsynet.no 
Fax: (+47) 55 59 82 30
Letter: Arbeidstilsynet Vestlandet, Postboks 4720 Sluppen, 7468 Trondheim

Authorisation
In most cases where you can provide good documentary evidence of the training received in your home state, or Arbeidstilsynet is able to obtain information concerning this, you will receive a letter of authorisation.

The letter of authorisation that Arbeidstilsynet sends out can be used as valid documentation in addition to the original attestation of competence/commercial diver’s certificate. In addition, you must present a valid medical certificate to your employer.

If your documents are inadequate or Arbeidstilsynet has difficulties in obtaining information about the training you received in your home state, Arbeidstilsynet Vestland will advise you about what supplemental training is required in order for you to be granted authorisation and where you can obtain such training.

Sjøfartsdirektoratet

In order to work in one of the following professions in Norway, you must apply to Sjøfartsdirektoratet for recognition of your professional qualifications.

Professions:

• Assistant technical manager (mobile oil drilling rig)
• Control room operator (mobile oil drilling rig)
• Marine engineering officer Class I
• Marine engineering officer Class II
• Marine engineering officer Class III
• Marine engineering officer Class IV
• Platform manager (mobile oil drilling rig)
• Sailor
• Sailor (operator of fast-rescue/MOB boats)
• Ship’s cook
• Ship’s deck officer Class I merchant marine
• Ship’s deck officer Class II/1st mate
• Ship’s deck officer Class III/2nd mate
• Ship's Electrician
• Ship’s engineer/engineering watch/mechanic
• Stability section manager (mobile oil drilling rig)
• Technical section leader (mobile oil drilling rig)

Recognition authority: Sjøfartsdirektoratet

Application process
An application for endorsement of a foreign Certificate of Competency must be sent to Sjøfartsdirektoratet. The endorsement is a valid document which under these regulations entitles the holder of a foreign Certificate of Competency to serve on Norwegian merchant ships, fishing vessels and mobile offshore units.
 
Sjøfartsdirektoratet does not recognise your educational qualifications, but your Certificate of Competency. Certificates of Competency that may be recognised must have been issued by or under the authority of a state that is a party to the STCW Convention. Documentary evidence must be presented to show that the requirements as to qualifications, the issue and endorsement of certificates, and registration, have been completely fulfilled.

How you make your application will depend on which profession you are seeking endorsement for and whether or not you or a citizen of an EU/EEA country. You will find information about this on Sjøfartsdirektoratet’s website

Professions: Check List of professions

Recognition authority: Helsedirektoratet (The Directorate of Health)

Professions:

• Television technician (KIA)
• Telecommunications-electronics installer (TIA)
• Telecommunications-electronics installer (TIB/TEA)
• Radio technician (RIA/RIB/REA)

In Norway, undertakings (businesses) that carry out installation and maintenance of electronic communications networks must be authorised by Post- og teletilsynet (Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority). The undertaking must be registered in the Enhetsregistret (Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities) in Brønnøysundregistrene (Brønnøysund Register Centre) and have its own Norwegian business enterprise organisation number.

Recognition authority: Post- og Teletilsynet (Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority

In order for the undertaking to be granted authorisation, it must have at least one full-time employee (qualified person) who fulfils the requirements in the regulations governing educational and professional qualifications and professional experience.

Application process
An application for authorisation must be sent to Post- og teletilsynet. The application must contain documents as proof of the qualified person’s educational and professional qualifications and professional experience. The educational and professional qualifications and professional experience required to practise the above professions are the following:

Television technician

1. Technical qualifications corresponding to successfully completed upper secondary school course for service electronics technician or telecoms installer.
2. Successfully completed course in TV/cable TV technology or corresponding theoretical competence.
3. One year’s relevant professional experience.

Telecommunications-electronics installer

1. Technical qualifications corresponding to successfully completed tertiary vocational course in electronics.
2. One year’s relevant professional experience (relevant vocational education can replace up to six months’ professional experience).

Radio technician

1. Technical qualifications corresponding to successfully completed course in electronics at an engineering college.
2. One year’s relevant professional experience.

Copies of diplomas, certificates and attestations of relevant educational and professional qualifications and professional experience must accompany the application. It is extremely import that the documents fulfil the requirements, otherwise the application may be delayed or refused. Read more about the documentary requirements here.

Send your application to:

Post- og Teletilsynet 
Postboks 93
NO-4791 Lillesand, Norway

Phone (switchboard): (+47) 22 82 46 00
Fax: (+47) 22 82 46 40
E-mail: firmapost@npt.no

Authorisation
You will find a description of the authorisation process on Post- og teletilsynet’s website

Professions:

• Tax adviser/Accountant
• Real estate agent
• Debt-collector
• Accountant/Auditor

Recognition authority: Finanstilsynet (Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway)

Professions:

• Driving instructor
• Emergency service vehicle operator
• Instructors for courses awarding driver certificate of professional competence to emergency service vehicle operators
• Professional head of driving school
• Technical head of auto repair garage
• Technical head of control body for periodic vehicle checks

Recognition authority: Vegdirektoratet (Norwegian Public Roads Administration)

As of 2008, official recognition of your professional qualifications is prescribed by law in a permanent employment as one of these professions:

Professions:

• Educational head or manager of kindergarten
• Mother-tongue teacher
• Teacher in primary, lower secondary and/or upper secondary school

Those who intend to work in a temporary employment, do not need an authorisation.

Recognition authority: Utdanningsdirektoratet (Norwegian Directorate for Training and Education)

Application process
Different criteria apply to the recognition of educational and professional qualifications obtained inside and outside the EU/EEA.

You will find information about the rules and regulations, the application procedure and an electronic application form on Utdanningsdirektoratet’s website on the pages devoted to Professional qualifications from countries outside Norway.

Recognition of professional qualifications is not obligatory if you wish to apply for a job as:

• Assistant in school or in supervised after-school activities
• Kindergarten/nursery school/pre-school teacher
• Special teacher (exception: teacher specialised in special needs education)
• Speech therapist
• Staff in supervised after-school activities