There’s a beautiful Norwegian saying, “That which is loved is always beautiful.”. No wonder the saying is from Norway, this Scandinavian country filled with life and ebullience. Norway attracts more than a million tourists each year, both first-time visitors and quite a few regular visitors who found their inner soul here. Many tourists applied for the visa and got it in the first attempt, and many got rejected even twice. As we want you to have a hassle-free vacation, check out the process to apply for a Visa of Norway for Indians and also our Norway holiday package for a seamless experience.
What is Schengen?
Let’s settle the dust around it first. The Schengen Area is the group of 27 European countries. They have abolished all passports and other border controls at their mutual borders to allow free movement of people into countries. They follow a common visa policy and a single jurisdiction for international travel. In whichever country you go to in this Schengen region, you can stay for a maximum of 90 days. If you’re on a short-term visa, it allows the tourist to enter the Schengen area from any country and leave from any of the 27 Schengen countries. You can visit any Schengen country once you get the visa of Norway or any other Schengen country for that matter.
Now, let’s start off by taking you through the procedure of visa application, its fees, necessary documents, etc. Depending on the duration of your visit and the purpose, there are two types of Visa for Norway. One is a short-term visa that is for a stay of a maximum of 90 days or less. For when you are visiting the country to meet your relatives, travel with your friends and family, or go on a honeymoon. The other visa is a long-stay visa, which is for a longer duration for people who wants to study or set up a business in Norway.
Schengen Visa For Indians
Indian citizens definitely need to apply for a visitor’s visa for Norway/Schengen Countries. However, Indian diplomatic passport holders do not need a visa to visit Norway on an official visit. The visa application process can take a maximum of 21 working days in the peak season.
If you want to apply for a visa from India, you should be a citizen of India, Nepal or Bhutan. In case you don’t belong to any of these three countries, then you will have to provide a justification of applying for a visa from India.
If you’re visiting Norway with your family, then the embassy would initiate a provision to apply together as a group. This will help in saving time for both the parties, you and the authorities. For this, you need to register as a group in the visa application portal of Norway. The prerequisites for applying as a group are as follows:
- The applicants applying together must share the same itinerary.
- They should submit their application at the same VFS Centre (Visa Facilitation Services).
- A minimum of 2 people and a maximum of 16 people can register as a group on the portal.
- All the people travelling to Norway for the first time have to provide their fingerprint and photograph at the VFS centre.
- The entire group has to go together on the same day to the same VFS centre for this purpose of documentation and fingerprint scanning.
Now comes the checklist of the documents which are very necessary in this entire process of visa application. Failure to provide any of these documents during the process will lead to rejection of your visa application. Here goes the list of documents for the tourist visa.
Norway Visa Requirements For Indians
- Original passport currently being used which has been issued within previous 10 years, with at least 2 empty pages, and valid for at least 3 months at the date of applying. All previous passports (if any) has to be submitted.
- The passport size photograph of the applicant with a white background which must not be older than 6 months.
- The signed cover letter received over email from the online application portal Norway.
- Take a print and answer all the questions present in the questionnaire for C-Visa (Short-Term visa). Don’t forget to submit it with the visa application.
- Confirmed booking with travel itinerary of the round trip with valid travel and health insurance for the stay.
- Certificate from the travel agency confirming the booking and itinerary of the trip with payment confirmation from the travel agent.
- Documents of employment, leave permission, copy of bank statement of the last 6 months. NOC from the employer and ITR form also needs to be carried.
- Proof of civil status, which contains marriage certificate, birth certificate of children, death certificate of spouse, ration card etc.
- If a person less than 18 years is travelling alone, then a copy of a consent letter from both parents. Copy of this letter from the other parent, if one of the parents is accompanying the person on the trip.
- If you’re travelling as a group and have applied as a group of 2 or more people, then don’t forget to get a front letter from the travel agency. It has all the details of the trip (number of days of stay, travel route, countries etc.) Also, confirmed booking from the hotel, including the name and date of birth of the travellers.
- If it’s a business trip then the invitation letter from the Norwegian company with its address and date of visit.
- Along with that, proof of previous trade relations between the two companies (if applicable). Business bank statement of the past 6 months also should be provided here.
Note :
All these documents must be submitted in original and certified copies. The original documents will be verified and returned after diligence, and the copies will be retained by the authority. The documents must be submitted in English or Norwegian, and no other language is accepted. Otherwise, the documents must be translated by an authorized translator to either English or Norwegian. Take a printout of all the documents on the checklist and tick off the documents that you have submitted. Attach that document checklist with your application and deliver the application.
Next on Norway visa for Indians, register on the application portal, and for that, you need to create an account on the portal. If you are registering for the first time, the confirmation mail will come on your registered email ID with a cover letter attached. This confirms your application form and the fees. You need to print this cover letter and submit it together with the above-mentioned documents.
Norway Visa Fees for Indians
Now comes one of the most important parts, which is the application fees. The visa fee for adults is 60 euros, and for children falling in the bracket of 6–12 years, it is 35 euros. Children under 6 years of age do not require visa fees.For Indian researchers travelling for research-related work, holders of diplomatic passports, up to 25-year-old representatives of a non-profit organization, etc., there is also a service fee of 20 euros to VFS, which is an external service provider.
The visa application processing time is between 15-20 days, depending on the season and number of applications. In some special cases, where the applications are sent to the Directorate of Immigration (UDI), it might take up to 30 days for processing. UDI can also take a maximum of 60 days to take the decision. Also, if you’re based in Delhi, due to courier services, it might take 2 additional days after 15 days, and if you’re from any other city, it might take 4-6 additional days. Thus, it is advisable to apply for a visa well in advance, at least 4 weeks prior to the date of travel. You can check the status of your application and track it online on the VFS portal.
Pickyourtrail offers a smooth visa process, so don’t worry if it’s your first time or you’re a regular traveler. We totally understand that Visa is a key to our dream travel, and we will fulfil every traveler’s dreams! Start planning your Norway honeymoon package, family or solo trip, and make memories of a lifetime!