Recognition of public accountants with foreign qualifications

Public accountants who are recognised within the EEA (European Economic Area) to perform statutory audit, can be mutually recognised as Norwegian public accountants after passing an aptitude test requiring knowledge of Norwegian legislation. The aptitude test is arranged by the Finanstilsynet (The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway).

There are no mutual recognition agreements with states other than EEA countries. Accountants from other countries may apply for the possibility of receiving credit for foreign diplomas.

Recognition of Foreign Degrees and Transfer of Credit
The International Recognitions Unit at The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) is responsible for dealing with applications for general recognition of foreign qualifications. NOKUT decides applications for general recognition of foreign qualifications, i.e.

Students who have completed university studies outside Norway may apply to have these studies evaluated for possible credit within the Norwegian degree system. This is generally done after the student has been accepted for studies and is enrolled at a Norwegian university or college.

All applications for transfer of foreign credits are evaluated individually and mainly in relation to the corresponding subjects in a Norwegian degree programme. Foreign students applying for transfer of credit must document:

degree diplomas, certificates, transcripts (mark sheets or relevé de notes)
course descriptions (syllabuses or course catalogues), including information on length of courses and extent of studies, total hours of instruction, form of examination, and grading system
reading lists

Copies of degrees, diplomas, certificates, transcripts, etc. accompanying the application must be officially certified by the registrar of the issuing institution. If the original language of the records is not English, French, German or a Scandinavian language, a certified translation must be attached to the original documents. The translation should be literal rather than interpretive, and the actual names of all degrees, diplomas and certificates should appear in the translation. A translation alone will not be accepted.

Further information is available at www.nokut.no. You may also contact the The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) on e-mail: postmottak@nokut.no, or by phone + 47 21021860.