Commercial Driving Regulations of Photography Workshops and Other Tours in the Lofoten Islands and Norway

Beginning on November 1, 2020 changes to Norwegian transport laws require all small scale tourism operators (photo workshops, northern lights tours, climbing/kayak/ski guides, etc) to be in possession of a taxi license – løyve / drosjeløyve or dispensation from taxi license (applies to Nordland) for the transport of commercial clients.

This article will be a brief summary of the rules and regulations for Norway. As most of the information is only available in Norwegian, I thought I would provide an overview in English, as I think many (international) commercial guides are not aware of the rules which exist in Norway. These regulations are mainly for the driving and transport of paying commercial clients, in which photography workshops are considered a part, even the smallest of groups.

As the rules currently exists: Only Norwegian residents with a valid kjøreseddel driving a Norwegian registered vehicle with a valid løyve – dispensation from løyve are allowed to transport paying clients.

In Norway, all persons offering (paid) commercial transport of clients must have two things:

Kjøreseddel – Commercial Driving License

This applies to the driver of the vehicle. All drivers must have a valid Kjøreseddel when transporting clients. A Kjøreseddel is only available to Norwegian residents.

In Norway, the Kjøreseddel is obtained from the police after filling out some paperwork and submitting a health check from the doctor. From Nov 1, 2020, obtaining a kjøreseddel also includes completing education and exams as a taxi driver. Other EU commercial driving licenses are not currently valid in Norway for passenger transport.

A kjøreseddel has no fee to receive.

Further information can be found at: www.politiet.no/tjenester/forerkort-og-kjoreseddel/kjoreseddel-for-yrkessjaforer

Løyve – Dispensation from løyve – Transport/taxi License

This applies to the vehicle/business used for transport of paying clients. All vehicles must have a valid Løyve or dispensation from løyve, and follow a series of other regulations as well. This is given out by the county in which one operates and applies only to that county. If one wishes to operate in several counties, then valid paperwork must be obtained for each.

In 2025 Nordland county has switched from requirement of a løyve to a ‘dispensation from løyve’ licensing system for small tourism buisnesses. While it is more or less the same, a dispensation now allows the use of rental vehicles, eliminates the requirement of vehicles to be registered as taxis, and no longer needed to be owned by the business itself.

In summary, only a Norwegian registered business with a Norwegian registered vehicle can offer transport of commercial clients within Norway. And the driver of said vehicle must be an owner/employee of the business with the løyve – dispensation from løyve for that specific vehicle. **

The processing fee for a løyve from the county is 3700 NOK (2023)

Dispensation from løyve is obtained from the county in which one lives or operates their business. In the case of Lofoten, this is Nordland county.

Further information can be found at: www.nfk.no/tjenester/kollektiv-og-veg/transportloyver/drosjeloyve

More information from the Norwegian road agency here: www.vegvesen.no/kjoretoy/yrkestransport/transportloyver-og-tillatelser

All persons/companies possessing a valid transport løyve – dispensation from løyve can be found here: www.transportloyve.no

In the event of a traffic control, the lack of either of these two documents will result in the immediate loss of driving privileges within Norway.

Unfortunately, these regulations make it impossible for non-Norwegian based guides/businesses to legally operate photo workshops, hiking tours, skiing trips, etc., within Norway, unless additionally utilising a licensed transport company. Furthermore, there are very few licensed operators within the greater Lofoten area; much less than current demand would be during the height of the photo workshop season in February and March. With expected increased enforcement in the coming years, it will have a very negative effect on tourism in Lofoten – especially during winter, when a majority of tourists are via photography workshops.

As I wrote above, this article in mainly so these Norwegian rules can be found in English and to bring attention to new rules which kind of slipped by while the world was focused on Covid and most photo guides saw a complete collapse of their business. And, as I’ve experienced over multiple contacts with the responsible authorities, even they are not always fully understanding their own regulations. So this is just a basic summary of how the rules currently exist in January 2023.

**There are exceptions if a vehicle like a tour bus which has more than 16 passengers, but that is different than the purpose of the explanation here.

UPDATE – FEBRUARY 2026

Heavy enforcement of the driving regulations has finally come to Lofoten and northern Norway as a whole. There are now regulator controls looking for illegal commercial operators and so far dozens have been arrested, fined, and in the case of non-EU nationals, deported from Norway so far this winter.

I have written a series of follow up articles with a better overview of the current situation:

Guiding in Norway Part 1 – Commercial Driving Regulation Enforcement Begins on Lofoten