Minimum Salary Level Increased

The situation

Effective July 19, 2018, the minimum annual salary for foreign workers in Norway has increased to NOK 391,800 for positions requiring a Bachelor’s degree and NOK 421,700 for positions requiring a Master’s degree, up one percent from last year.

A closer look

• Initial applications. Employers of foreign nationals seeking to obtain or renew a work permit on or after July 19, 2018 must increase the foreign national’s minimum salary to comply with the new rule.
• Renewal applications. For foreign nationals seeking to renew an existing work permit, the worker’s salary must be at least the minimum salary level from the year that their permit was initially filed.
• Pending applications. Employers of foreign nationals with pending work permit applications as of July 19, 2018 are not required to increase the foreign national’s minimum salary to comply with the new rule. 
• Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be rejected.

Reminders on other requirements

• Collective agreement. As before, applicants working in industries with collective agreements must be paid the collective wage rate.
• Market salary rate. As before, applicants working in an industry with no collective agreement cannot be paid lower than the normal pay for local workers in the same position.
• Benefits and allowances. As before, benefits and allowances cannot be included.  
• Currency. As before, employers are required to guarantee the salary in NOK regardless of payroll location and/or exchange rate fluctuations.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].