Software Engineers for Norway
Pre-vetted software engineers sourced through our group company Future Concerns: backend, frontend, mobile, full-stack and DevOps. Hire them directly under your Norwegian entity or through a fixed-scope project team.
Engineering talent that ships in Norway
Information and communication is one of the five largest industries in Oslo, with 55,386 jobs in the 4th quarter of 2025 (Statistics Norway, SSB). Hiring engineers from abroad for those teams means meeting the pay levels of the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI), the Norwegian tax and registration steps, and strict rules on who may employ and hire out workers. Nordic Relocators handles that for you: we source pre-vetted engineers, prepare the skilled worker application with you and manage the move, so they can be productive on your codebase as soon as possible.
Our engineering pipeline is operated by Future Concerns AB, the group's global manpower and recruitment company. Every candidate is technically screened, English-tested and checked against the Norwegian permit rules before they reach you.
Early employment start: for an engineer with at least a three-year higher education and a complete skilled worker application, the local police district can confirm that the engineer may start working for you before UDI decides. It must be requested when the application is handed in to the police; the Service Centres for Foreign Workers (SUA) and embassies cannot issue it, and it is not available to citizens of Iran or North Korea.
Stacks and seniorities we cover
Backend
Node.js, Python, Java, Kotlin, Go, .NET, Ruby, PHP.
- Microservices and event-driven architectures.
- PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, Kafka.
- API design (REST, GraphQL, gRPC).
Frontend
React, Next.js, Vue, Angular, Svelte, TypeScript.
- Design-system implementation (MUI, Tailwind, shadcn).
- Server components and edge rendering.
- Accessibility (WCAG) and i18n at scale.
Mobile
iOS (Swift), Android (Kotlin), React Native, Flutter.
- App Store and Play Store submission experience.
- Native module integration (camera, BLE, payments).
- Performance profiling on low-end devices.
DevOps & Cloud
AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, Terraform, GitHub Actions.
- CI/CD pipelines, IaC, observability stacks.
- Cost-optimisation and FinOps reviews.
- Security hardening and compliance (ISO 27001, SOC 2).
Data & ML
Python, dbt, Airflow, Spark, BigQuery, Snowflake, PyTorch.
- Data engineering and warehouse design.
- ML pipelines, feature stores and model serving.
- LLM integration and prompt-engineering workflows.
Engineering management
Tech leads, engineering managers and staff engineers.
- Hands-on architecture, hiring and roadmap ownership.
- Experienced with distributed teams and async-first.
- Comfortable in flat, consensus-driven organisations.
How candidates are vetted
Every engineer we put forward has cleared a structured screen.
- Resume + portfolio review: Real shipped systems and verifiable employment history.
- English assessment: Working-level fluency, written and spoken (minimum CEFR B2).
- Technical screen: 60 to 90 minute live coding plus a system-design discussion.
- Reference checks: At least one technical and one managerial reference.
- Relocation readiness: Permit eligibility, degree documents, family situation and notice period mapped up front.
- Compensation calibration: Salary expectations checked against Norwegian market pay and UDI's pay levels: at least NOK 545,400 a year before tax for positions that require a bachelor's degree and NOK 624,700 for a master's degree, where no collective agreement applies (UDI, 2026).
How we fill an engineering role
- 1
Role brief
We map the stack, seniority, salary band, work location and start date with your hiring manager.
- 2
Shortlist
Pre-vetted candidates delivered with screen recordings and notes.
- 3
Your interview loop
You run your own technical and culture interviews, typically 2 to 3 rounds.
- 4
Offer
We coordinate the offer, salary structure and relocation package. For non-EU/EEA engineers the offer is normally made on UDI's offer of employment form.
- 5
Work permit
Skilled worker permit applied for online with UDI. If the engineer applies from abroad, you first confirm the job offer to UDI and pass on the code it gives you; or you apply on the engineer's behalf with a written power of attorney.
- 6
Relocation
Housing, the police appointment for the residence card, national identity number, tax deduction card, bank account, BankID and school places, all followed up in the portal.
- 7
Onboarding
Day-one checklist, equipment shipping and a 30-day check-in with your manager.
Engagement models
- Direct hire: The engineer becomes your employee under your Norwegian company or branch. We charge a recruitment fee plus relocation services.
- Your own Norwegian entity: No entity in Norway yet? A foreign company can register a Norwegian branch (NUF), which has no minimum capital, or set up a limited company (AS) with share capital of at least NOK 30,000, both with the Brønnøysund Register Centre (Brønnøysundregistrene).
- Employer of Record: An EOR arrangement where you lead the work counts as hiring-in of labour in Norway. The EOR must then be a staffing agency approved by the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (Arbeidstilsynet), hiring-in is lawful only on limited grounds, and UDI grants permits to staffing-agency employees for up to one year at a time. We check whether it can work for you before you commit.
- Project team: A fixed-scope team delivered against milestones under a genuine contract for services, where the provider leads the work and is responsible for the result. Engineers from outside the EU/EEA who work in Norway for a foreign provider need UDI's permit for employees of foreign companies on assignment: up to two years at a time and six years in total, not counting towards permanent residence.
- Direct hire with probation: Hiring in through an agency is allowed only on limited grounds in Norway, so a trial period on someone else's payroll is rarely an option. Instead, hire directly with a written probation period of up to six months (Working Environment Act, arbeidsmiljøloven § 15-6).
FAQs: Software engineering hires
How long does it take to hire and relocate an engineer?
EU/EEA engineers need no permit: they can start work at once and, if they stay longer than three months, must register with the police (Politiet) no later than three months after arrival. For non-EU/EEA engineers, UDI says it may take up to 1.5 months (45 days) before it starts looking at a first-time skilled worker application (October 2026). Early employment start can let a qualifying engineer begin work before the decision.
Do candidates speak Norwegian?
Most international engineers do not at first, and Norwegian is not a condition of the skilled worker permit. Work immigrants from outside the EU/EEA have a duty to take Norwegian training under the Integration Act (integreringsloven), which the municipality must offer but may charge for, and permanent residence later requires an oral Norwegian test at level A2 or higher. Norwegian lessons can be added to the relocation package.
Which work-permit scheme applies?
The skilled worker permit (Immigration Regulations, utlendingsforskriften § 6-1). Where no collective agreement applies, pay must be at least NOK 624,700 a year before tax for a position that requires a master's degree and NOK 545,400 for a bachelor's degree (UDI, 2026). UDI publishes no fast-track scheme for employers and no shortage list. Permits for positions that require higher education are normally granted for up to three years at a time.
Can engineers bring family?
Yes. With written authorisation, you can apply for the engineer's spouse or cohabitant and children. UDI's fee for a first-time family immigration application is NOK 11,900 per adult and NOK 5,950 per child under 18 (2026), and the engineer must expect income of at least NOK 436,957 a year before tax (from 1 May 2026).
What does the recruitment fee cover?
Sourcing, vetting, candidate management and offer negotiation. Permit, relocation and any payroll services are quoted separately. UDI's own fee for a skilled worker permit is NOK 6,300 for applicants over 18 (2026).
Can the engineer change employer later?
Yes, within the same type of position: a skilled worker does not need a new permit to change employer if pay and conditions are not worse than normal. A different type of position needs a new permit before the engineer starts. A skilled worker may not run their own company or freelance on the same permit.
Can we hire one engineer or do we need a team?
Either. You can start with a single senior hire to test the model and grow to a team once the first engineer is settled.
Get a vetted engineering shortlist
Send us a role brief covering stack, seniority, salary and start date, and we will come back with a shortlist plan and the permit route for each candidate.
Engineering candidates sourced by Future Concerns AB, our group company for global manpower and recruitment.
Disclaimer: This page gives general information, not legal advice. Pay levels, fees, processing times and the rules on hiring in labour change: check udi.no and arbeidstilsynet.no before you act. Nordic Relocators is not a law firm.