Working Permit/Visa without a degree? (Canada to Norway)

Will Faucher

Hi.
So I have a job lined up in Norway. Everything has been sorted out, I successfully passed an art test the studio gave me, and they want me on their team. The last remaining step is getting my work visa application accepted.

My only issue is that I do not have a Bachelors (or equivalent) degree. I have over 6 years of experience in the Games Industry (in Canada) however. This seems to be the one thing I have on my side. The studio will be helping me out with this process, fortunately, but there's only so much they can do I believe.

Does anyone have any experience dealing with work visas/work permits of the sort? Have any of you successfully been granted this visa without having a degree? Do I have a snowballs chance of getting this dream job opportunity?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Kwramm

congrats! I don't know about the degree, but I remember that the Norwegian authorities are usually quite relaxed. Sometimes they were a bit slow, but they weren't the kind that try to make life difficult for you.

The main issue in Norway is that they have to prove that they cannot find someone locally with equal skill. Norway has 4 million people and they are NOT part of the EU, so it's quite likely that the number of competitors for your job is very small. Not sure if they give preference to other Scandinavian citizens though, but those countries aren't big either.

Hope that makes you feel a bit more relaxed about it

Also, where you're heading? Just curious... I lived in Oslo for a couple of years while working for Funcom.
Anyway, fun country, as long as you don't drink too much.

Savannakhet

It's not EU, but it is EEA and Schengen so there's a lot of Europeans (like myself) living and working here without the need for work permits. I don't know about visa rules for non-Europeans I'm afraid.

I would book an appointment with Skattateen (The norweigian tax authority) through their website for a few days after you arrive in Norway, that way you can get the magical Tax-ID number as soon as possible. It's a pretty simple process, a few forms to fill out etc. But a Tax-ID number is mandatory if you want to open a bank account or buy a SIM card, get paid etc.