Visa Process Hampering Higher Education

While some countries eased their visa requirements to attract international students, the problems in the issuance of visas in Norway still continue. The number of foreign students enrolled at Norwegian colleges and universities appears to be on the rise, but restrictive visa policies have a dampening effect on students and scholars coming to the country. International students have experienced delays at both the consulates in their countries and during the renewal of residence permit in Norway. In an open-ended survey done on international students by The Nordic Page, 76 percent of the respondents expressed that they had to wait for a long time to get an answer about their visa application status. Also, 40 percent of them said that concerns about whether they would obtain a renewal residence permit somehow prevented them from attending to classes or concentrating on their studies.