Introduction of myself

Hi Shereenmak,

Welcome to Expat.com and thank you for your introduction

For a good start, i invite you to have a look at the Living in Norway guide , it might help you.

You will also find some articles about visa in the same guide.

Thanks,

Priscilla 

Hi, What visa is your husband holding?

Your first visa is important if  you wish to pursue permanent residence permit later on.  The reason is if it is a skilled worker permit, you only need 300+ hours of norwegian classes to apply for PR or pass a test.  If it is a Family unification permit, you will need 600+ hours of norwegian classes to apply for PR or pass the test.

To hold a skilled worker permit, your academic must be a minimum of a degree. but the visa will restrict you to only be able to look for jobs relating to your academic field.  Example if you holds a marketing degree, you can only look for marketing job.  Another thing to note is if you change your job/employer, you may need to reapply for a new permit because skilled worker permit is linked to the job you are having.

But family unification can let you to work in ANY jobs as long as someone is willing to employ you.  if anything happen to the sponsor of the family unification visa (example your husband), then you can be immediately deported because your visa is no longer valid.  It happened to a friend of a friend. She is malaysian and married to a norwegian man.  She was in Norway under family unification, no child and did not apply for Permanent residence permit.  Her husband has no other family members in Norway. Her husband suddenly died of heart attack and she was not allowed to stay in Norway.

Hello Fornight,

Thank you so much for your reply.  My husband should be holding a skilled worker permit (It is currently handled by his company). As for now I don't think I will able to apply for the skilled worker permit as I am not able to find any job in Stavanger. If my husband also Malaysian only holds a skilled worker permit and, am I also able to apply for a family unification visa? If yes, how long will it take usually?