Qualified interpreter
If you have a foreign education or professional qualification and wish to practice your profession in Norway, you generally need approval or authorisation. You will find information about documentation requirements, the application process and regulations here. The competent authority will assess whether you meet the requirements to practice the profession and use the professional title in Norway. If you intend to establish in Norway and work permanently in your chosen profession, the rules below apply to you. However, if you wish to work in Norway for shorter periods of time within your chosen profession, the rules for temporary provision of services apply.
If you do not already have a Norwegian national ID-number, you will need to register a user account for the Altinn services. Please access the registration procedure here.
Find the form at tolkeregisteret.noAbout this form
The application can only be submitted by professionals/individuals with professional qualifications in interpreting where Norwegian is included as one of the interpreting languages, to the Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDi).
Establishment:
If you wish to establish yourself or work for an extended period in Norway within your profession, you must apply for recognition from the competent recognition authority before you can practice this profession in Norway.
Temporary provision of services:
You can work temporarily in this profession if you are already legally established in an EEA country or Switzerland and can practice the same profession in that country. You do not need to appply for recognition in order to work temporarily in this profession in Norway.
Establishment:
- Diploma or similar documentation issued by foreign educational institutions with a list of interpreting subjects the interpreter has taken and passed exams, with associated grades and/or credits. It is not a requirement that the education is approved by the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills or NOKUT.
- If the interpreter has certification as a certified interpreter or other authorization to work as an interpreter from another country, he/she can submit it. IMDi will consider the foreign certification as proof that the professional is a certified interpreter in another state, and he/she will possibly be placed in a corresponding category in the National Registry of Interpreters where a Norwegian certification is required (category from A to C). Certification as a certified interpreter issued by foreign authorities can not be equated with a Norwegian certification. In order to become a certified interpreter in Norway, the interpreter must obtain an interpreter certification according to the provisions of the Interpreting Act § 18. A certification must be issued by IMDI to persons who are of legal age under Norwegian law and who have passed the state certification examination in interpreting at one of the Norwegian educational institutions that offer the examination (Oslo Metropolitan University ). It is only the certification issued by IMDi that gives the right to use the title state certified interpreter in Norway.
- Additional documentation can be required.
Comments
All copies of submitted documents must be certified by a public officer with the inscription "Correct copy/The copy is in accordance with the original", signed by the official and stamped with a public stamp. If one or more of these documents are not attached or are incomplete, we will not process the application until the applicant has sorted out the deficiencies. If the applicant submits documentation from a country outside the EU/EEA, the documentation must be apostilled if the country that issued the documentation is a member of the Apostille Convention.
If the documents issued by a foreign educational institution are in a language other than English, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic or Finnish, they should be translated into Norwegian or English. IMDi recommends that the professional use a sworn translator.
Language requirements: Yes. See documentation requirements above.
Criteria/conditions for recognition:
The statutory qualification requirements related to the practice of the profession are stipulated in the Regulations to the Interpreting Act (the Interpreting Regulations), Section 12.
The statutory requirements for being entitled to recognition of professional qualification from abroad are stipulated in the Act on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Professional Qualifications Act) and the Regulation on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Professional Qualifications Regulation).
Case processing deadlines:
The competent authority must acknowledge receipt of your application within one month of receiving it and inform you of any missing or incomplete documentation.
Following the submission of a complete application, the competent authority should complete processing your application within three months.
Fees:
The Directorate for Integration and Diversity (IMDi) does not charge a fee for processing applications for recognition.
Right of appeal:
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the decision, you may appeal in writing, pursuant to Chapter VI of the Public Administration Act. If your application is processed in accordance with the Professional Qualifications Act, the right of appeal also applies if the competent authority has exceeded the case processing deadlines (see Case processing deadlines above).
Competent authority
Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDi)
P.O. Box 672
NO-8508 Narvik
E-mail: post@imdi.no
Phone: (+47) 24 16 88 00
