Norway - Apply for Citizenship

ProcedureEdit

Register your application for citizenship online through the Application Portal Norway: https://selfservice.udi.no/
When you register your application online, you pay the fee at the same time and book an appointment to hand in necessary documents to the local police.
Applicants who cannot register their applications online must fill in a form. The form must be handed in to the police together with necessary documents.
In larger towns there is often a special police office for such requests. Please contact the police to ask where and when you can hand in the documents and application form. To contact the police: http://www.udi.no/Norwegian-Directorate-of-Immigration/Contact-UDI/How-to-contact-the-police-/
You pay the fee online when you register your application or to the police when you hand in the documents.
Once your application has been submitted, the police will check if it has been completed correctly and that the papers are in order, and they will then send the case to the Directorate of Immigration for a decision.
You will be automatically notified by post that the immigration authorities have received your application. The notification will contain information about the case-processing time.
If your application for citizenship is rejected, you may appeal the decision. Appeals against rejections shall be sent to the same place you submitted the application. The Immigration Appeals Board is the appeal body.

Case Procedure - Norwegian Nationality by Application: http://www.udi.no/upload/info/norwegian_nationality_by_application.pdf

Required DocumentsEdit

Follow link to view checklist of requirements to apply for Norwegian citizenship: http://www.udi.no/Norwegian-Directorate-of-Immigration/Central-topics/Citizenship-/Checklists-citizenship/

Office Locations & ContactsEdit

Please list down the office locations that can be approached for applying. External links can also be used for specifying office locations.

EligibilityEdit

General Requirements to Obtain Citizenship

If you hold a valid residence permit in Norway, you can apply for Norwegian citizenship. In order for your application to be granted, you must, among other things:

be older than 12 years of age (see the exemptions below)
have documented or clarified your identity. As a rule, you must have a valid passport when the Immigration Authority decides about your application.
be a resident in Norway and intends to continue to living in Norway and meets the conditions for a permanent residence permit (see the exemptions below)
have stayed in Norway for a total of seven years during the past ten years on permits, each of which must have been granted for at least one year (see the exemptions below)
have completed 300 hours of tuition in the Norwegian language or have documented sufficient skills in Norwegian or Sami (Note: applies to applications submitted after 1 September 2008 and to persons between the ages of 18 and 55, If you are the requirements are that:
- you have completed approved tuition in the Norwegian language, or
- you can document that you have sufficient knowledge of Norwegian or Sami.
have been released from your original citizenship (unless it automatically expires when you become Norwegian)

NOTE: If you do not have a permanent residence permit, it is very important that you make sure that you have a valid residence permit the whole time while you are waiting for a decision on your application for citizenship. If your residence permit is about to expire, you must renew it as normal.

Residence requirement and the calculation of period of residence

To become a Norwegian citizen, you must in principle have resided in Norway for seven years during the past ten years. Stays in Norway more than ten years ago are irrelevant.

You must have stayed here on work or residence permits that were each valid for at least one year. You must be permanently resident in the country when you apply for Norwegian citizenship and when your application is being processed.

If you were granted a permit before you entered Norway, or if you are a Nordic national, your period of residence will be reckoned from the date on which you arrived in Norway. If the date is unknown, your period of residence will be reckoned from the date on which you were registered with the police or in the Population Register, or from the date on which you can document in some other manner that you arrived in Norway.

If you were granted a permit after entering Norway, your period of residence will be reckoned from the date on which you applied for a permit.

Illegal stays in Norway will not be included in the period of residence.

The period from one permit expires until a new application is submitted is not included in the period of residence.

You can stay abroad for up to two months during a calendar year without this affecting the calculation of the residence period. This means that such stays abroad are regarded as residence in Norway, i.e. the time spent abroad will not be deducted. If you stay abroad for more than two months during a calendar year, however, the whole period abroad will be deducted, not just the part of the stay that exceeds two months.

NOTE: The UDI is revising the way we process applications for Norwegian citizenship. This means that most likely the case processing time will be much shorter than it used to be.

Therefore, it is important that you do not apply for Norwegian citizenship until you believe that you have stayed in Norway with a residence permit for the required number of years. If you apply too soon, the application may be rejected.

Exemptions from the residence requirement:

The following exemptions from the residence requirement apply:

If you came to Norway before you reached the age of 18 years, you must have lived here for a total of five years during the last seven years.
If you are married to, or are the registered partner or cohabitant of a Norwegian national, the time you have lived in Norway and the total time you have been married, registered partners or cohabitants must be at least seven years. You must have lived in Norway for a total of at least three years during the last ten years. It is a condition that you are still married, registered partners or cohabitants and live together at the time of the decision.
If you are a Nordic national or have previously been a Norwegian national, it is sufficient that you have lived in the country for the past two years in order to be granted Norwegian citizenship. You may not have to apply,just submit a notification
If you are stateless and above the age of 18, you must have lived in Norway for the past three years.

Exemptions from the settlement requirement

An exemption is granted from the permanent residence permit requirement

if you are a Nordic national
if you hold a settlement permit pursuant to the old Immigration Act
if you have right of residence pursuant to the EEA Agreement or the EFTA Convention. You must have stayed in Norway for the past three years with right of residence pursuant to the EEA Regulations. Residence periods on a permit granted for five years and residence periods with right of residence are added together.
if you have previously been a Norwegian national
for children whose parents are Norwegian or who apply together with their parents.

The good conduct requirement

If you have been convicted of a crime, fined or ordered to undergo enforced psychiatric treatment or care, this may result in your application being rejected and you not being entitled to Norwegian citizenship until a certain period of time has elapsed. The length of this period depends on the seriousness of the sentence or the size of the fine. If you are charged with or are under investigation for criminal offences, the processing of your application will be suspended. When the criminal case has been decided, you must yourself take steps to ensure that the processing of your application is resumed.

Applicants who have had a Norwegian passport

If you have held a Norwegian passport and believed in good faith that you have therefore also been a Norwegian citizen, you are not required to meet all the general conditions for being granted Norwegian citizenship. The following exceptions apply:

You do not need to hold a valid permit or meet the conditions for a permanent residence permit (or hold a settlement permit pursuant to the old regulations).
You are not required to have held permits during the period you have stayed in Norway.

You must meet the requirement for residence period in Norway, however. This usually means that you must have stayed in Norway for a total of seven of the past ten years, unless you are covered by one of the exemptions from the residence requirement.

If there are strong grounds for doing so, the immigration authorities can also grant exemptions from one or more of the other conditions.

FeesEdit

Citizenship - 3.500 NOK

More information regarding permit fees, who must pay and how to pay the fees: http://www.udi.no/Norwegian-Directorate-of-Immigration/Oversiktsider/Fee-pay

ValidityEdit

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to UseEdit

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Sample DocumentsEdit

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Processing TimeEdit

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InstructionsEdit

Applicants who are applying in Oslo, need to book an appointment for handing in their documents. This also applies to those who are getting themselves residence cards. Most applicants can book their appointment online through the Application Portal Norway: https://selfservice.udi.no/

More information for applicants in Oslo: http://www.udi.no/Norwegian-Directorate-of-Immigration/News/2011/Information-for-applicants-in-Oslo/

Required InformationEdit

A list which displays the kind of information which is required to complete the procedure.
e.g.
1. Date of Birth.
2. City or County of Birth.

Need for the DocumentEdit

Norwegian nationality law follows the principle of Jus sanguinis which means, Norwegian citizenship is conferred by birth to a Norwegian parent, or by naturalisation in Norway.

Rules for applying for a Norwegian citizenship are simpler for many Nordic citizens and their children. They do not have to apply, but submit a notification instead.

Information which might helpEdit

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External LinksEdit

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OthersEdit

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