Katriina

Hi Everyone, I'm new here but I would like some advice on moving to Norway.
Firstly, a bit about me.
I'm a 24 female with my partner living in Norway. I am in the final year of my degree, about to complete a BSc (hons) in Pharmaceutical Science.

So basically, I've started making a checklist of things I need to ensure I do before, during and after moving... but I know I have some gaps.
Looking for somewhere to live won't be a problem until I actually get a job in Norway, his family have space so that we can have our own flat within their home for us to stay in whilst I am job hunting. We may also continue renting this for some time (paid of course) until we find somewhere decent to live.
Which leads me on to my next concern, looking for a job. I've pretty much accepted that a lot of big companies won't want to take me on as they will just see a young girl who has moved for her boyfriend and may leave in a few months. Similar thing happened when I was 17, I moved out of my parents home to another city about 4hrs away. No one wanted to employ me as they expected me to get home sick, and it didn't happen! This said, his aunt and mum run a store, and he has some close contacts of the people who run the local Rimi store, as does his father have places at the place he works. Although none of these are jobs I would keep permanently, I'm happy to take them as a base to get my foot in Norway.

Now the tough part, moving over. I've heard so many different things about what I need to do and quite frankly, I am confused. I've heard that I need to declare my belongings when I come through customs etc. I also have two rabbits who I want to bring with me, and have not had any luck getting information about moving rabbits over. They have less restrictions than carnivore animals such as dogs and cats. The process of moving everything isn't an issue, as I have this sorted. I am also mentally throwing away stuff which I know there is no point taking over as I can just get cheap replacements once I move.

tl;dr - Moving to Norway, who do I need to contact in the UK and Norway? Also moving with rabbits, need advice on this.

Gordon Barlow

Your boyfriend is in a much better position to find out about rabbits than you are, I would think.

AnnieAnnie

Can't help much at this stage but will be moving hopefully next year as boyfriend is from there. I have put my cv on a couple of council websites and made some enquiries with recruitment agencies re jobs. Depends on where you are moving and what sector you work in. I have been told I must speak norwegian in order to get work in my area. Not the same in all areas of employment and the country though. Are you shipping any stuff? So expensive so might take my stuff in a van and then the ferry from Essex to Denmark then Denmark to Norway. Good luck! Oh and re the rabbits, maybe ask a company that deals in dogs and cats as they might know the rules.

Paracletus

Tell the taxman in the UK, register with the tax office in Norway. BUT, before you you register, and I'll double stress this, the day you register as a jobseeker, you have 6 months before you need to be out of the country if you don't find a job. You can take a day trip to sweden and come back and re-register. But if you wait to reigster until you find work, you'll miss out on a lot of hassle.

Also, speak norwegian yet? Because there isn't much going without it. Remember you are competing with norwegians and the copious and endless amount of swedes, who speak the language and know the culture. Also, network..remember, 70% of jobs are never advertised, and this is very apparent in Norway.

As for your rabbit, get intouch with 'tollvesenet' or 'mattilsynet', they deal with animal imports.

But seriously..speak the language, or you're pretty screwed. You can always sign up for language classes once you get there..shipping and the o&g industry are about the only guaranteed directions to go.

scot47

Tow work as a pharmacist you will certainly need a high level of Norwegian. Have you started learning, or are you already fluent ?

Starna

I moved to norway over a year and a half ago from England. The first thing you need to do is fill in forms from the police department declaring you want to stay then they will decide your case. From there you need go to the tax office, register again and register your details (that's how I got my paperwork out of the way.) You cannot open a bank account without those papers!

MrsEgeland

I wouldn't worry about them not giving you a job because of the fact that you have moved to norway to be with your boyfriend, I did that and I got a cleaning job part time quite easily at the time. I do advice strongly that you learn norwegian because as Paracletus said the job market here is chock a block with swedes and other norwegians, when I moved here 7 years ago it was much easier to get work without norwegian but in the subsequent years there has been a shift and now its almost impossible to get work without it. I would start learning before you move! The paperwork as a british citizen, though time consuming isn't too hard. If you want free norwegian lessons when you arrive then apply as someone who is reuniting with boyfriend/fiance, it will make all the paperwork twice as long but its something to consider. I applied as a jobseeker and when I tried to get free norwegian lessons I realised I would have to go through a huge amount of paperwork getting my application changed and then there's is a lot less stability as you have to reapply after a few years.