Work in Norway as a foreign doctor, nurse or AHP (2026)

• HelsedirektoratetNorwegian Directorate of Health (Helsedirektoratet)

  Authorisation and licences for doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and the other authorised health professions; specialist approval

  Read the registration guide

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   1. Check your profession and your level of education

   Use Helsedirektoratet's online guide to choose your profession and see the documents, fee and processing time that apply. Check that your qualification matches the Norwegian one: the Norwegian nursing education is a bachelor's degree, and the Directorate advises applicants whose nursing education is below bachelor level to apply as a health care worker (helsefagarbeider) instead. If you trained in the UK, a different set of rules applies.
2. 2

   2. Start learning Norwegian now

   Norwegian at B2 is required for authorisation and is also the entry requirement for the national course and the fagprøve, so it comes first. Helsedirektoratet recommends starting before you apply, because the three-year deadline for the additional requirements can be too short otherwise. The HK-dir Norwegian test cannot be taken abroad, so most people take it after moving to Norway.
3. 3

   3. Gather and translate your documents

   You need your diploma and transcript; doctors also need an official document showing teaching hours in theory and practice, clinical hours and any compulsory practical training after the degree. You may be asked for a curriculum, your licence to practise and employment certificates on letterhead with a manager's signature (not employment contracts). Documents not in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English must be translated by an authorised translator, and scans must be in colour; photographs of documents are not accepted.
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   4. Verify documents where required

   Doctors must verify their diploma and transcript with hours through DataFlow Group; existing ECFMG verification is accepted until 1 January 2027, after which only DataFlow is accepted. All applicants with documents from Pakistan must verify them through DataFlow, which replaced HEC attestation. Nurses from some countries, including Nigeria, the United States and Hong Kong, must have their institution post the transcript directly to Helsedirektoratet, and Chinese degrees need CSSD verification.
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   5. Apply in Altinn and pay the fee

   Apply through the Altinn form for authorisation and licence, attach a colour scan of your passport and make sure your names match the passport exactly. The fee is NOK 1,665, paid in Altinn when you submit. If you have worked with full rights in an EEA country for at least three consecutive years, say so in the form and attach proof, because your case is then handled under EEA rules.
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   6. Wait for the equivalence decision (step 1)

   Helsedirektoratet states a processing time of 23 months for applicants educated outside the EU/EEA, longer if documents are missing. If your education is found equivalent, or you are found to have the necessary competence, you receive a decision telling you to complete the additional requirements within three years. Following up by phone or email before the processing time has passed will not speed it up.
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   7. Pass Norwegian at B2 and the national courses

   Pass the HK-dir Norwegian test at B2 on all four parts, or document B2 in another approved way. Then complete the course in Norwegian health services, health legislation and society (kurs i nasjonale fag) with Folkeuniversitetet, the only approved provider, held each spring and autumn. Doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists also complete the course in safe handling of medicines, which is run with the national course.
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   8. Pass the fagprøve (doctors, nurses and dentists)

   Doctors sit a three-part test at the University of Oslo (written, clinical oral and OSCE), nurses a two-day test at USN Campus Vestfold, and dentists a test at the University of Oslo. Each is held once in spring and once in autumn, places are limited, and you need the Helsedirektoratet decision and proof of B2 to apply. You have three attempts in total at each test and course.
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   9. Send your documentation and receive authorisation

   You do not reapply. Email proof of all completed requirements to [email protected] with your case number in the subject line; Helsedirektoratet processes this within 3 months and prioritises applicants who finish within the deadline. Once authorised, you appear in the HPR. If you miss the three-year deadline you must apply again, pay a new fee and wait the full processing time, and earlier failed attempts still count.
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    10. Find a job and apply for a residence permit

    With a concrete job offer you apply to UDI for a skilled worker residence permit. UDI requires authorisation for health personnel where the job needs it, a full-time position (at least 80% is accepted), and pay and conditions no poorer than normal in Norway. Your employer usually has to confirm the job offer online before you can submit.

• Norway's language requirement is Norwegian, not English. Under the regulation on additional requirements, every applicant educated outside the EEA and Switzerland must pass a Norwegian language test at B2 on the CEFR scale, or document equivalent knowledge of Norwegian, Swedish or Danish. Helsedirektoratet gives no exemption from the language requirement.
• The main test is Norskprøven from the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), with B2 on all four parts: reading, listening, writing and oral. Combinations of partial results from different tests are not accepted.
• Norskprøven is held at most test centres four times a year and cannot be taken outside Norway. HK-dir says the municipality sets the price, from about NOK 400 for one part to no more than about NOK 2,500 for the whole test. There are three test centres that take candidates who live abroad, but you still sit the test in Norway.
• Other accepted proof includes "Test i norsk, høyere nivå" (the Bergen test) if you have already passed it, completed Norwegian lower or upper secondary school, Norwegian at VG3 level with grade 4 or better, level 3 Norwegian for foreign students at a university with grade C or better, 60 credits of Norwegian language and society with grade C or better, IB Norwegian A or B with grade 3 or better, and some complementary programmes for nurses and dentists. Helsedirektoratet says the Bergen test has been discontinued but earlier passes are accepted.
• B2 is also the entry requirement for the national course at Folkeuniversitetet and for the fagprøve at the University of Oslo and USN, so you cannot complete the other requirements first.
• No English test is required. Documents can be submitted in English, and any not in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English must be translated by an authorised translator.

• Skilled worker with an employer in Norway

  The usual route for health professionals. UDI requires a concrete job offer from one employer, a job that needs skilled worker qualifications (a university degree such as nursing counts), normally full time (at least 80% is accepted) and pay and working conditions no poorer than normal in Norway. Where the job needs authorisation, UDI says you must have it, and names Helsedirektoratet authorisation as the example.

• Confirmation of the job offer

  If you apply yourself from abroad, your employer must first submit a confirmation of the job offer to UDI and give you a code to enter in your application form. UDI introduced this to reduce fraudulent job offers.

• Fee, duration and permanent residence

  UDI's fee list in September 2026 showed NOK 6,300 for a residence permit for work for an applicant over 18, including renewals; check the current fee before you apply. For a job that needs a university degree you can normally get a permit for up to three years at a time, and after three years you can apply for permanent residence.

• Changing jobs and losing a job

  You can change employer without a new permit if you stay in the same type of position, but you must notify the police within seven days. A new type of position needs a new permit before you start. If you lose your job, you can stay up to six months to look for a new one, as long as your permit is valid.

• Family members

  Your family can usually apply to live with you, and if they apply at the same time they get their answer at the same time. UDI's September 2026 fee list showed NOK 11,900 for a first family immigration application for an adult and NOK 5,950 for a child under 18.

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens

  You do not need a UDI residence permit, but you still need authorisation to practise. With an EU/EEA qualification, Helsedirektoratet assesses you under the Professional Qualifications Directive (2005/36/EC) with a three-month processing time and no Norwegian test from the Directorate, although employers expect Norwegian. Helsedirektoratet does not answer visa questions: contact UDI.

Norway has no single government pay scale for health professionals; pay is set by employers and collective agreements and varies by employer and role. The figures below are Statistics Norway (SSB) wage statistics, table 11418, for full-time employees in all sectors in November 2025, published August 2026. Monthly earnings in this table cover basic salary, variable additional allowances and bonuses; overtime pay is counted separately. They are averages across all experience levels, not starting salaries.

• Nurses

  NOK 56,660 a month (median)

  SSB table 11418, full-time, 2025. Average NOK 56,720.

• Midwives

  NOK 67,530 a month (median)

  SSB table 11418, full-time, 2025. Average NOK 68,040.

• Generalist medical practitioners

  NOK 78,850 a month (median)

  SSB table 11418, full-time, 2025. Average NOK 91,590.

• Specialist medical practitioners

  NOK 107,940 a month (median)

  SSB table 11418, full-time, 2025. Average NOK 110,460.

• Dentists

  NOK 75,410 a month (median)

  SSB table 11418, full-time, 2025. Average NOK 79,910.

• Pharmacists

  NOK 62,760 a month (median)

  SSB table 11418, full-time, 2025. Average NOK 65,950.

• Physiotherapists

  NOK 54,500 a month (median)

  SSB table 11418, full-time, 2025. Average NOK 54,920.