What Norwegian level do you need to work in Norway? It depends on the job

There is no general required level. According to HK-dir, only some professions have formal Norwegian requirements, for example in health and education; for unregulated jobs the employer decides which level to ask for when hiring.

Employers cannot ask for just anything, though. Norway's anti-discrimination law treats language as part of ethnicity, so the required level must be proportionate to the tasks of the job and no higher for immigrants than for native speakers. HK-dir even recommends setting different levels per skill: for example, B1 spoken and A2 written.

• gode norskkunnskaper

  good knowledge of Norwegian

  A very common phrase in job ads.

• norsk muntlig og skriftlig

  spoken and written Norwegian

• stillingsannonse

  job advert

• lovregulert yrke

  regulated profession

• arbeidsgiver

  employer

In healthcare, if you were educated outside the EU/EEA, Helsedirektoratet requires B2 in all parts of Norskprøven (or another accepted test) before it grants authorisation. If you were educated in the EU/EEA, that rule does not apply in the same way, but your employer must make sure your spoken and written Norwegian is good enough for safe patient care, and the recommendation is B2. We cover this in detail in the Norwegian level for nurses guide.

For primary and secondary school teachers, HK-dir does not require a Norwegian test to approve your teaching qualification: the school that hires you judges whether your Norwegian is enough for the post. Other regulated professions have their own rules; check HK-dir's list of regulated professions.

It depends on the job, but for customer-facing or paperwork-heavy roles it is common to see «gode norskkunnskaper» (good Norwegian) and, when a level is named, B1 or B2 on Norskprøven. Because Norskprøven gives a level for each skill, you can show exactly what the job needs, for example your speaking result.

• Customer service, retail, care work: you are expected to hold a conversation comfortably, often around B1–B2 spoken.
• Office, admin and report-heavy jobs: written Norwegian tends to matter more.
• Even when it is not required, Norwegian helps a lot in the interview, with colleagues and in understanding contracts and safety rules.

Yes, in some cases: some international companies, technical or research teams and certain seasonal jobs use English as their working language. But it is not a rule, it depends entirely on the employer, and without Norwegian you will have fewer jobs to choose from. If you plan to stay, start learning early: permanent residence and citizenship have Norwegian requirements too (see the Norwegian citizenship language requirements).

Free Norwegian and social studies tuition is for people with a right and duty under the Integration Act, mainly refugees, people with a residence permit on humanitarian grounds and some reunited family members, aged 18 to 67. Refugees and their families usually take it as part of the introduksjonsprogram, a municipal qualification programme.

If you only have a duty, the municipality can charge you for the course. The rules change often and depend on your type of permit, so confirm your case with your municipality or IMDi before signing up.

Not for the right to work: as an EU/EEA citizen you can live and work in Norway without a language requirement, and you have neither a right nor a duty to Integration Act tuition (you can pay for a course yourself). Regulated-profession and employer requirements apply to everyone, though. If you are wondering how long B1 or B2 might take, see how long it takes to learn Norwegian.