Expat Community > Norway

wankerness
Joined 2005
Posts: 1

Moving from the US to Norway?

19 years ago

My main goal at this point in my life is to move to Norway. I currently am a college student (I'm getting a degree in english lit, which I figure will probably not help me much at all in the job market in Norway), and will graduate in March of 06. I then may or may not wait for my girlfriend to graduate in the spring of 07, and would like to get there as soon as possible either way. She also wants to move to Norway, but depending on the social climate here she may or may not want to graduate college before coming. This desire to move is largely based on a complete lack of faith in the direction the US is taking, and the fact that Norway gets nearly all of its power from hydroelectricity. We have both been to Norway and consider it to be the most beautiful country we've ever been to, also. My father lived here for a few years earlier in his life and also heavily endorses this move, and if we become established here he and my mother very possibly will want to move here too (and might move in with us, depending on where we live).

Basically my situation is this: I have no Norwegian language background, and there is really no way for me to acquire any here except through buying language books and tapes. I would obviously take any language courses I could afford upon my arrival there, but is it possible to get a job before having taken these? It seems that you can't get a work permit there without having a solid job offer, but it seems extremely difficult to look for work without living there also. If there are any immigrants there that could give me some advice on this, it would be EXTREMELY appreciated. I saw a post from someone who'd apparently gotten work there as a bartender with only an English background...if you are still around, how did you get this job?

I really honestly will take any job I can get, as long as I can afford to live there, and my girlfriend feels the same way. With this sort of approach to it, would it possibly be best to get a visa for an extended vacation and then go job hunting like mad instead of trying to find one beforehand? I would like to live there for the rest of my life if at all possible, this is not a temporary desire. Can one get a residence permit by having an extremely low-level job (most of my work experience here is simply from things like catering and bussing in restaurants, and would be fine with doing that as long as it kept me there)? Can one afford an apartment or any other sort of housing from such work?

Would it also be worth trying to get accepted at a folk highschool? I have noticed that many other countries are easy to get into if you become a student there, and was wondering if this was also the case in Norway. If this would be a good idea, then what would be the approximate cost? I am not exactly wealthy at this point in my life, and would not expect myself to have more than a few thousand dollars saved by the time I would like to move there, though I may be able to get a loan of several thousand from my grandparents/parents before attempting any such move if it would be necessary.

Overall, I would like to know the easiest and fastest way to get into the country that would also allow me to remain there indefinitely. I desperately want to live there, and I feel that time is of the essence (the way the US economy is going, it will be extremely difficult to get out of this country at all in a few years, so I don't want to stick around and try to raise more funds).

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