Catch 22 for Foreign Students

The Norwegian Council for Higher Education has sent a letter to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) asking that the requirements for foreign students coming to Norway be simplified. Current regulations require that foreign students that are not part of an exchange problem open a Norwegian bank account with 80,000 prior to registering as students in Norway. This sum is to satisfy the «requirement of subsistence» which needs to be fulfilled in order to obtain a residence permit. The problem facing foreign students is that they cannot open a Norwegian bank account without a Norwegian national identity number – which, in turn, they cannot apply for before being in possession of a Norwegian residence permit.

UiO\'s hiring policy illegal?

The University of Oslo\'s Labour Party division has filed a complaint against the University of Oslo with the Gender Equality Ombud regarding the University\'s failure to advertise positions outside of the University. As a result of the complaint, a report has been made concerning the University\'s hiring policy, showing that 87% of the positions that were not advertised outside of the University went to men. Dag Harlem Stenersen, the local leader of the Labour Party\'s local division, hopes that the University\'s hiring policy will be made illegal.