Norway visa guideThe Norway business visa is the Schengen visitor's visa (type C) issued for business: meetings, negotiations, conferences, trade fairs and training, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. You register and pay on the UDI portal, lodge the file at VFS Global, and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi decides, normally within 15 days of receiving it.
Norway's business checklist is specific. It wants an invitation from the Norwegian company that says what you will do, whom you will meet and who pays, a letter from your Indian company with a named contact person, and your company's Memorandum of Association.
Do Indians need a visa for a business trip to Norway, and which one?
Yes. Meetings, negotiations, conferences, trade fairs and training in Norway all use the Schengen visitor's visa, type C, with business as the purpose. It allows up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the Schengen area. You register and pay on the UDI portal (UDI is Norway's Directorate of Immigration), lodge the file at VFS Global, and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi decides.
A business visa is for business visits, not jobs. Business visitors may not take up employment or supply services on this visa; paid work in Norway needs a work permit, which is a different application altogether.
Norway business visa in brief
- VisaMeetings, conferences, trade fairs, training
- Schengen type C, business purpose
- Stay allowed
- Up to 90 days in any 180
- Decided bySome cases go to UDI in Norway
- Royal Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi
- Letters neededPlus your company's Memorandum of Association
- Two: Norwegian host and Indian company
- Who paysNot needed if you document NOK 500 a day yourself
- Sponsorship and invitation form
- Urgent tripOnly when no VFS appointment is available
- Email the Embassy's visa section
Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi and VFS Global, checked 14 Oct 2026
Norway is cautious with multiple entries. The Embassy will not issue a multiple-entry visa unless the need is documented, and you do not need one to visit several Schengen countries on one trip. If your work brings you back to Norway several times in a short period, or takes you out of Schengen and back, prove it with the contract, the meeting schedule or the bookings, and ask for it.
Where do applicants from Punjab apply?
VFS Global receives Norway's visa applications in India. The Chandigarh centre serves most of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, and New Delhi serves Delhi firms. Norway's other centres are in Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune, all working Monday to Friday. Every file travels to the Embassy in New Delhi, and the Embassy tells Chandigarh applicants to expect 4 to 6 courier days on top of its processing time, against about 2 days in Delhi.
What a business applicant should know about the submission:
- The portal comes first. Register on the UDI portal, fill in the form and pay. Print the schengen.pdf form emailed to you and sign it.
- Appointments are mandatory, and VFS says one is given within two weeks.
- Travelling as a delegation? The Embassy recommends applying as a group when two or more business partners travel together. You register 2 to 16 people at a time under "Visa group" on the portal, share one itinerary and use the same VFS centre. VFS can arrange a group appointment by email.
- Fingerprints. First-time applicants appear in person for a photo and 10 fingerprints. Prints taken for a Schengen visa less than 59 months earlier are copied across.
- No slot before an urgent trip? The Embassy says business travellers who must travel urgently and cannot get an appointment can write to its visa section, Visum.New.Delhi@mfa.no. That address is for urgent cases only.
For a picture of how business-visa dates are moving, see our Norway appointment availability page.
Which documents depend on your situation?
The standard documents are listed further down this page. The business part of Norway's checklist is unusually specific about what each letter must say.
The Norwegian side: an invitation letter. It states your identity, the purpose of the trip, and the period and place of the stay. Norway also wants it to describe the activities you will perform, who you will meet in Norway, and who will bear the travel and living costs.
The Indian side: a letter from your company. It gives your identity and the company's contact details, meaning a contact person, email and telephone number. It states your position, the purpose of the trip, the activities, the people you will meet in Norway, and the company's confirmation that you will return.
Company papers. The checklist asks for the Memorandum of Association of the Indian company, with one photocopy of its first three pages.
What else depends on who you are:
Employee sent by an Indian company
- What to add
- The company letter above, your appointment or salary papers, and leave approval for the dates
Director or owner
- What to add
- The Memorandum of Association, company registration, and recent company bank statements
Costs paid by the Norwegian company
- What to add
- Its sponsorship and invitation form, digital or paper
Costs paid by you or your employer
- What to add
- Proof of at least NOK 500 per day per person, through bank statements or wage slips for the past six months
Attending a conference or trade fair
- What to add
- The organiser's invitation, with the dates and venue matching your bookings
Every document must be in English or Norwegian, handed in as originals with A4 copies, without staples or pins. ITR acknowledgements are not named on Norway's business checklist, but they back up the income in your statements, so add the last two if you have them.
How much is the Norway business visa fee for Indians?
The visa fee is €90, the same for every Norwegian short-stay visa, with €45 for a child aged 6 to 11. You pay it online when you register on the UDI portal. VFS charges its own service fee at the counter, and the two official pages differ: VFS lists €8 per applicant, and the Embassy's visitor-visa page lists €20. Both were live on 14 October 2026, so carry enough for €20. VFS extras such as courier (€9.9) or SMS updates (€5.5) are optional. None of it is refunded if the visa is refused or the application withdrawn. Our filing fee is shown at the top of this page.
How long does it take, and when should you apply?
The Embassy normally decides within 15 days of receiving the file. Cases that need closer scrutiny, or that are sent to UDI in Norway, can take up to 45 calendar days. Add courier days on top: about 2 for Delhi and 4 to 6 for Chandigarh.
For a business trip:
- Apply at least 4 weeks ahead, the Embassy's own recommendation, and never later than 15 calendar days before you travel.
- Do not go too early. Applications are accepted up to six months before the trip, but the Embassy's processing section says you may register three months before it. Staying within three months satisfies both.
- Delegations should plan further out. For larger groups the Embassy suggests applying three to four months ahead.
- Hold the ticket. Book a confirmed round-trip itinerary, but do not buy the ticket until the visa is granted.
Why do Norway business visas get refused for Indian applicants?
Norway applies the Schengen Visa Code, and business files tend to fail on the business story itself. These are the weak points, and the fix for each.
Letters that leave out the facts Norway asks for
A two-line invitation that says "business meetings" does not tell the officer what you will do, whom you will meet or who pays. Norway's checklist names each of these. When they are missing, the purpose of the trip is not justified, which is a standard refusal ground.
A visit that looks like work
If the activities read like a job, or like delivering a service for pay, the officer will see work, not a business visit. Describe meetings, training received or negotiations, and keep the stay in proportion to the agenda.
Two letters that disagree
The Norwegian invitation and the Indian company letter should give the same dates, place, purpose and payer as your flight booking and hotel. Remember that the visa will be issued according to the dates on the flight bookings, so a mismatch can cost you the visa or shorten it.
A file without company proof or translations
The checklist warns that the application may be rejected if necessary documents are missing. A director who forgets the Memorandum of Association, or a company whose papers are not in English, has handed the officer a reason to refuse.
Our Schengen refusal reasons page explains each standard refusal ground.
Tips for a stronger file
- Brief the Norwegian host. Send them the checklist wording so the invitation covers the activities, the people you will meet and who bears the costs.
- Put a contact person on your company letter. Norway asks for the name, email and telephone of someone the Embassy can reach in India.
- Show the relationship. Recent invoices, a purchase order, a contract or earlier correspondence with the Norwegian company make the purpose believable.
- Match every date. Invitation, company letter, itinerary, hotel and insurance should agree to the day.
- Ask for entries you can prove. One entry unless your schedule shows repeat visits or a trip outside Schengen.
- Keep money proof simple. If the company in India pays, show its letter and your NOK 500 a day through statements; if the Norwegian side pays, include its sponsorship form.
- Insurance. Valid in all Schengen countries for the whole trip, at least €30,000, as a rule bought in India. See our Schengen travel insurance explainer.
- Carry copies to the border. A visa is not an automatic right of entry. Have the invitation, the sponsorship form copy if you have one, and proof of funds such as a credit card.
Can a Norwegian company sponsor my business trip?
Yes. When a private person or an inviting company in Norway covers your travel and stay, they fill in Norway's sponsorship and invitation form, and it goes in your file. Since 13 January 2025 there has been a digital version. Company representatives sign in through Ansattporten with their Norwegian electronic ID, but to act as a sponsor for a business they need permission in Altinn from the business administrator. The paper form remains available alongside it.
You can skip the form when you can document at least NOK 500 per day per person yourself, through bank statements or wage specifications for the past six months. You may still include it if it strengthens the file. Carry a copy when you fly, because Norway's border guidance tells sponsored travellers to bring it.
If the Embassy refuses, the letter gives the reasons and the appeal route. You have three weeks to appeal through the Embassy to UDI. For holiday or family trips, see the Norway tourist visa guide and the Norway family visit visa guide.
Official sources
- Visitor's visa and residence permit, Norway in India (Royal Norwegian Embassy)
- VFS Global Norway India: Schengen visitor visa information
- VFS Global Norway India: visa application centres
- VFS Global Norway India: digital sponsorship and invitation form
- VFS Global Norway India: home and news
- Visa Code, consolidated text (EUR-Lex)
