The extension means that Polish and Lithuanian applicants can download a document from NOKUT’s website that shows that their qualification is automatically recognised in Norway without the need to apply to NOKUT for a formal decision.

“Our goal is to give an immediate answer to as many applicants as possible”

This gives the applicant immediate clarification of the status of their qualification in Norway, which can be useful when applying for a job or further study.

NOKUT confirmed that the scheme will apply to degrees corresponding to a Norwegian bachelor’s or doctoral degree, however, master’s degrees are not yet included as the countries have several types of master’s degrees that are not easily comparable to Norwegian ones.

Poland and Lithuania are among the countries with the highest number of applicants for recognition of higher education in Norway, making up 15% of the total number of applications to NOKUT. About half of these will be eligible for the automatic recognition scheme.

NOKUT’s CEO Terje Mørland said the scheme will eventually be expanded to more countries.

“At the same time, we are continuing to digitalise our application processes and improve our information on who needs to apply and how to do it.

“Our goal is to give an immediate answer to as many applicants as possible. And applications that still require manual processing will be processed significantly faster than today”, added Mørland.

The higher education ministers from the 48 countries participating in the Bologna Process have adopted a common goal of automatic recognition of comparable degrees within the European Higher Education Area.

The EU has also launched a similar initiative to ensure automatic mutual recognition between member countries of higher education qualifications, upper secondary education diplomas and the outcomes of learning periods abroad.