Healthcare Professionals for Norway
Doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and allied health professionals: Norwegian authorisation, the skilled worker permit and the move to Norway in one pathway.
Healthcare jobs in Norway start with authorisation
Health and social services is the largest industry by number of jobs in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Tromsø, Drammen and Fredrikstad, with 80,756 jobs in Oslo alone (Statistics Norway, SSB, 4th quarter 2025). But a foreign approval does not give the right to use a protected Norwegian health title: you first need authorisation or a licence from the Norwegian Directorate of Health (Helsedirektoratet).
Authorisation is also the gating step for the permit: the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) requires health personnel applying as skilled workers to enclose their Norwegian authorisation or licence. Nordic Relocators guides you through the authorisation pathway alongside the work permit, Norwegian language training and relocation.
Helsedirektoratet's processing time is currently 3 months for applicants educated in the EU/EEA or the UK, and 23 months for applicants educated outside the EU/EEA, also for applications already received (October 2026). After a positive assessment of their education, applicants educated outside the EU/EEA have three years to pass the additional requirements, starting with Norwegian at level B2.
Roles we recruit
Doctors
GPs, hospital doctors and specialists across the major medical specialities.
- Internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics, psychiatry, anaesthesia.
- Emergency medicine, radiology, oncology, gynaecology.
- Specialist approval needs Norwegian authorisation first; a field licence (fagområdelisens) is possible only in special cases.
Nurses
Registered nurses for hospitals, municipalities and private providers.
- General medical/surgical nurses.
- ICU, emergency, theatre, paediatric and psychiatric nurses.
- Community, home-care and nursing-home nursing.
- Professional test at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN) for nurses educated outside the EU/EEA.
Dentists
General dentists and specialists.
- General dental practice.
- Orthodontics, oral surgery, periodontics.
- Professional test at the University of Oslo for dentists educated outside the EU/EEA.
Pharmacists
Community and hospital pharmacists.
- Pharmacist roles in pharmacies.
- Hospital pharmacy and clinical pharmacy roles.
- Pharmaceutical industry roles (regulatory, QA).
- Course in safe handling of medicine for pharmacists educated outside the EU/EEA.
Allied health
Therapists and technical health professionals.
- Physiotherapists, occupational therapists, chiropractors.
- Radiographers, biomedical laboratory scientists, lab technicians.
- Speech, language and audiology specialists.
- Authorisation from Helsedirektoratet where the profession requires it.
Care professionals
Skilled care roles in elder care and disability services.
- Health care workers (helsefagarbeider) for municipal home care and nursing homes.
- Specialist roles in dementia and palliative care.
- Nursing education below bachelor level: Helsedirektoratet recommends applying as a health care worker.
The end-to-end pathway
- 1
Eligibility check
We review your education, professional experience and language level against Helsedirektoratet's rules for your profession and country of education.
- 2
Authorisation application
Filed online through Altinn with scanned documents, authorised translations where needed and the fee. For some countries, transcripts must come directly from the institution or through a named verification service.
- 3
Norwegian to B2
Applicants educated outside the EU/EEA must reach Norwegian level B2 before the other additional requirements. Norskprøven cannot be taken abroad, so we plan the test dates with you.
- 4
Courses and professional test
The course in national subjects, the course in safe handling of medicine where it applies and the professional test, all within three years of the decision on your education.
- 5
Employer match
Once your authorisation route is clear, we match you with employers in Norway: hospitals, municipalities and private providers.
- 6
Work permit
Skilled worker application to UDI with your authorisation or licence enclosed, a concrete job offer and Norwegian pay and conditions.
- 7
Relocation
Housing, the police appointment for the residence card, national identity number, tax deduction card, bank account and family immigration, followed up in the portal.
- 8
Onboarding
First-day support with your employer, who checks your authorisation in the Health Personnel Register (HPR).
Norwegian authorisation requirements (overview)
Final requirements vary by profession and country of education. Common steps:
- Equivalence assessment: Helsedirektoratet compares your education with the Norwegian one in level, scope and content, or assesses whether you otherwise have the necessary competence. Education for doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives and pharmacists from the EU/EEA is harmonised and recognised under Directive 2005/36/EC, which applies through the EEA Agreement.
- Documents: Diploma, transcript and passport. EU/EEA-educated nurses, for example, also need a certificate of conformity and a certificate of current professional status (CCPS) no more than three months old. Documents not in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English need an authorised translation.
- Norwegian language: Level B2 for applicants educated outside the EU/EEA, with no exemption; Swedish or Danish at the same level can also be documented. EU/EEA-educated staff cannot be required to pass a standardised test, but must have the language skills needed for safe practice.
- Course in national subjects: Norwegian health services, health legislation and society: required for all professions educated outside the EU/EEA, held each spring and autumn by Folkeuniversitetet, the only approved provider.
- Professional test: A practical and oral test for doctors and dentists at the University of Oslo and for nurses at USN. Doctors, dentists and nurses with full rights to practise in another Nordic country can be exempt.
- Three-year deadline: All additional requirements must be completed within three years of the decision on your education, with three attempts per course and test. You pay the costs.
Official processing times
Helsedirektoratet's published processing times (page updated 27 October 2026) and UDI's waiting-time guide (updated 29 October 2026). Times change, so check the current figures before you plan.
Authorisation, educated in the EU/EEA or the UK
3 months
Authorisation, educated outside the EU/EEA
23 months, also for applications already received
Educated outside the EU/EEA, with at least three years of full practice in an EEA country
3 months
Field licence for doctors educated outside the EU/EEA
4 months
Authorisation after completed additional requirements
3 months
Specialist approval, harmonised EEA specialty
Up to 3 months (other specialties up to 12 months)
Skilled worker permit (UDI), first application
Up to 1.5 months before UDI starts looking at the case
What we deliver
- Authorisation pathway: Case support through every step with Helsedirektoratet: documents, translations, the Altinn application and the additional requirements.
- Norwegian language plan: A realistic route to B2, planned around the test periods and your work.
- Ethical recruitment: Helsedirektoratet recommends that employers and recruitment agencies follow the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, and particularly discourages active recruitment from developing countries with critical shortages. We explain what this means for your recruitment plans.
- Employer placement: Introductions to hospitals, municipalities and private providers across Norway once your authorisation route is clear.
- Work-permit filing: Skilled worker application with UDI, with your authorisation or licence enclosed.
- Family immigration: Applications for your spouse or cohabitant and children prepared in parallel.
- Full relocation: Housing, national identity number, tax deduction card, banking, schools and integration support.
FAQs: Healthcare professionals
Do I need to speak Norwegian to work in Norwegian healthcare?
Yes. If you were educated outside the EU/EEA, you must document Norwegian at level B2 (CEFR) before the other additional requirements, with no exemption: Norskprøven at B2 in every part, Test i norsk, høyere nivå (formerly Bergenstesten) passed in both the oral and written parts, or Swedish or Danish at the same level. If you were educated in the EU/EEA, a standardised language test cannot be a condition of authorisation, but Helsedirektoratet recommends that everyone hired in Norwegian health services can document B2, and employers may ask for more.
Is a job offer enough for a work permit?
Not on its own. UDI publishes no shortage-occupation list, and for health personnel UDI requires the Norwegian authorisation or licence to be enclosed with the skilled worker application. The job must also be normally full-time, with pay and working conditions that are not poorer than normal in Norway.
How long does authorisation take?
Helsedirektoratet currently needs 3 months for applicants educated in the EU/EEA or the UK and 23 months for applicants educated outside the EU/EEA (October 2026). If your education is from outside the EU/EEA but you have practised with full professional rights in an EEA country for at least three years, the time is 3 months; state this in the form and document it.
Will my education be recognised?
Helsedirektoratet first assesses whether your education is equivalent to the Norwegian one in level, scope and content. If you were educated outside the EU/EEA, you then have three years to pass the additional requirements, with three attempts at each: Norwegian at B2, the course in national subjects, the course in safe handling of medicine (doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists) and a professional test (doctors, nurses and dentists). Work experience alone is not enough for an exemption, although doctors with at least three years of full practice in an EEA country may be exempt. If your nursing education is below bachelor level, Helsedirektoratet recommends applying as a health care worker.
What does it cost?
Helsedirektoratet's application fee is NOK 1,665 if you were educated abroad, in the EU/EEA, the UK or elsewhere, and NOK 3,500 for a field licence for doctors educated outside the EU/EEA (2026). You pay all costs of the language test, courses and professional test yourself. UDI's fee for a skilled worker permit is NOK 6,300 for applicants over 18 (2026).
Can I bring my family?
Yes. Your spouse or cohabitant and children can apply together with your skilled worker application, and applications submitted together are decided together. You must expect income of at least NOK 436,957 a year before tax (from 1 May 2026). A family member aged 18 or over with a family immigration permit can work in Norway without a separate work permit.
Can I appeal if authorisation is refused?
Yes, within three weeks of receiving Helsedirektoratet's decision, through Altinn. If Helsedirektoratet upholds its decision, the appeal goes to Helseklage, the national appeals body for health services. Appeals take up to 4 months for applicants educated in Norway, the EU/EEA or the UK, and up to 12 months for applicants educated outside the EU/EEA.
What is the WHO safeguards list?
Norway has committed to the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, and Helsedirektoratet recommends that employers and recruitment agencies follow it. The WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List (SSL 2026) names countries with fewer than 49 doctors, nurses and midwives per 10,000 people and a universal health coverage index below 50; WHO recommends refraining from active international recruitment from them. The list is voluntary and not legally binding, and it is not part of the authorisation rules.
Start your healthcare career in Norway
Whether you are a healthcare professional planning to move or an employer in Norway looking to recruit, we guide the authorisation, work-permit and relocation pathway from start to finish.
Healthcare recruitment delivered with our group company Future Concerns AB.
Disclaimer: This page gives general information, not legal advice. Authorisation rules, fees and processing times change: check helsedirektoratet.no and udi.no before you apply. Nordic Relocators is not a law firm and cannot shorten the processing times of Helsedirektoratet or UDI.