Work Visas: Apply only through Norwegian government

I have posted before on some scams - fraudulent companies - that are trying to sell work visas to Norway. I asked UDI (Department of Immigration) in Norway about this and here is their response:

"It is unfortunate that genuine persons wishing to migrate to Norway are being lured and deceived into spending a lot of money to get a visa or a permit to Norway.

The Norwegian directorate of Immigration (UDI) does not require that huge sums of money be paid in order to acquire a Norwegian visa or a residence permit. We only require that the applicant pay the official case processing fee in order to submit an application. The normal procedure to apply for a Norwegian permit is to contact the nearest Norwegian foreign service mission (embassy or consulate) in the applicant's home country. The case processing fee is paid directly to the Norwegian embassy or consulate. We highly advice that an applicant submits an application through our Norwegian embassy or consulate and not through any cooperate company, bureau, agency or the like.

Neither the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) or the Norwegian government sells visa through third party organisations.

Please follow this link from our website for more information on the various permit available to Norway : http://www.udi.no/-residence-permit/

Best regards,

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI)
P.O. Box 8108 Dep, N-0032 Oslo , Norway 
Telephone: +47 23 35 15 00

E-mail: [email protected]"