evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

Oslopolitan — Oslo Region's coordinated international talent attraction and integration programme

Norway · Oslo · See the Norway profile · See the Oslo profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 29% 76/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Oslo&Co's multi-strand talent programme: Oslopolitan talent pool (64-municipality Oslo Region Alliance), Digital Wallet visa pilot (37-week permit processing cut to 3 days, 2023), partner-integration support, and annual Oslo Connect Talent Summit (300+ attendees, 2023).

37 weeks
Standard residence-permit processing time
~3 days
Residence-permit processing time under the Digital Wallet Visa Pilot (2023)
300+ attendees
Oslo Connect Talent Summit attendance (2023) (2023, across 4 days and 8 events)
Oslopolitan — Oslo Region's coordinated international talent attraction and integration programme

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Oslo Business Region (Oslo&Co) / Oslo Region Alliance
Period
2021–present
Region (NUTS)
NO01
Keywords
Talent attraction, regional economic development, immigration innovation

Context

Oslo Business Region (Oslo&Co) coordinates the Oslopolitan talent initiative across 64 municipalities in the greater Oslo region in eastern Norway, serving more than 2 million residents, partly in response to a projected shortage of roughly 6,000 ICT professionals by 2026.

Objectives

The programme seeks to attract, onboard and retain international professionals, entrepreneurs and investors across the Oslo region through a coordinated set of digital and support services, including targeted support for the professional and social integration of employees' partners — a documented retention barrier.

Activities

The initiative combines a regional job board (the Oslopolitan Job Board), a 2023 Digital Wallet Visa Pilot run with pre-approved employers, a partner-integration programme ('lovepat'), an 'Onboarding Oslo' introduction programme, and an annual multi-day Oslo Connect Talent Summit. It is co-funded by the Oslo municipal budget and national grants from IMDI, the Directorate of Integration and Diversity.

Results

The 2023 Digital Wallet Visa Pilot reportedly cut residence-permit processing to about 3 days, down from a standard of 37 weeks, for participating pre-approved employers. The 2023 Oslo Connect Talent Summit drew more than 300 attendees across 4 days and 8 events. Beyond these figures, the evaluation notes limited published adoption or outcome metrics, with the ICT shortage figures presented as forward projections rather than measured results.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — Co-funded through the Oslo municipal budget and national IMDI grants; involves a dedicated regional agency plus digital tools (job board, visa-processing pilot) and an annual multi-day summit; no total budget figure is given on the page.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Oslo Business Region operates as a long-standing agency; the Digital Wallet Visa Pilot specifically dates to 2023 and is still described as a pilot.
Staffing & skills
Oslo Business Region (Oslo&Co) coordination team, Partnership with pre-approved employers for the visa pilot, National-level partnership with IMDI (Directorate of Integration and Diversity)

Conditions for success

  • Multi-level governance and coordination across 64 municipalities
  • Pre-approved employer partnerships to enable fast-track visa processing
  • Dedicated support for partners/families of international employees to address retention barriers
  • Combined municipal and national (IMDI) funding

Common failure modes

  • The visa fast-track pilot depends on pre-approved employer partnerships, limiting its reach beyond participating firms

Where it fits

Governance type
regional/multi-municipal public agency
Scale
regional (64 municipalities, 2M+ residents)
Income level
high-income (Norway)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

Similar practices you may find useful