If you have children living in Norway, you can be granted a residence permit that is valid for up to nine months to visit them.
The content of the permit
This permit entitles you as a parent to visit your children living in Norway for up to nine months. The permit does not entitle you to work in Norway, and you must return to your home country when the residence permit expires. You can travel into and out of Norway for as long as the permit is valid.
The permit cannot be renewed, but you may be granted a new nine-month permit when you have stayed outside Norway for at least one year. If you have visited Norway in the meantime (for example on a visa), the one-year period is extended by a period equal to the duration of the visit.
Requirements of the child living in Norway
The child living in Norway must be a Norwegian or Nordic citizen, hold a permanent residence permit (settlement permit) or a residence permit that forms the basis for a permanent residence permit. The permit is not dependent on the child’s age, which means that you can be granted a parental permit to visit children both over and under the age of 18.
How to apply
You apply at the Norwegian embassy or consulate in your home country. You can also apply from Norway if you have legal residence here. You cannot apply from Norway if you are here as an asylum seeker or if you are waiting to leave the country having received a rejection to your application for asylum. If you apply after you have arrived in Norway, the nine months are calculated from the date on which you entered the Schengen area.
What must be enclosed with the application?
You must include the following with your application:
NOTE! The requirement concerning what documentation you must include can vary from country to country and may change over time. The Norwegian embassies and consulates have both application forms and an overview of what documentation you must enclose with your application. Most Norwegian embassies abroad have their own websites and some of these provide information about documentation requirements.
The documentation you enclose must be original documents or copies certified by a public authority (unless otherwise specified). All the documents must be translated into Norwegian or English by an authorised translator.
Case processing time
See the list of the Directorate of Immigration’s (UDI) expected case processing times at www.udi.no/caseprocessingtime. To ensure that the case processing time is as short as possible, it is important that you fill in the application form carefully and that you enclose all the required documentation.
Further information
If you have more questions about this topic, contact your nearest Norwegian embassy or consulate, the nearest police district or the UDI’s Information Service.
