1. Once you have submitted all the application documents to the police or the embassy, your application will be forwarded to the UDI. When the UDI receives your application, you will be notified by email or SMS.
2. The application is now waiting to be processed by the UDI.  Every month you will receive an email or SMS with information about what is happening with your case. Once a month we will also update the information in our guide to case processing times in family immigration cases.
3. In connection with some applications for family immigration, we will request an interview with the reference person and/or the applicant in order to obtain more information. If this applies to you, we will notify you by email or SMS, and you will receive a summons to an interview from the police or the embassy.  
4. In connection with some applications for family immigration, we will request DNA analysis. If this applies to you, we will summon you for testing at an embassy or the police.
5. The UDI's case officers consider the cases in the order in which they are received. When your application is at the front of the queue, a case officer will consider your application and make a decision.
6. When the UDI has made a decision, you will be notified by the police, the UDI or the embassy. If you have given someone power-of-attorney, this person will always be notified, and must notify you. 

• In connection with some applications for family immigration, we will request an interview with the reference person and/or the applicant in order to obtain more information.
• This applies to
  • all applications where the applicant has established a relationship with a Norwegian under the age of 25, or with a person under the age of 25 who already lives in Norway
  • most applications where the applicant is either stateless or from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, or from a country in Africa (with the exception of South Africa).
  • a number of applications where the applicant is from Kosovo, China, Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Vietnam or Sri Lanka.
  • a few other applications 
• If this applies to you, we will notify you by email or SMS, and you will receive a summons to an interview  with information about when and where the interview will take place.
• If you are in Norway, you will go to the police for the interview. You can find information on the police website about how long you must normally wait for the interview (external website). 
• If you are abroad, the interview will normally be at the same place as where you handed in your application. In some countries you will be interviewed when you hand in the application.
• During the interview, you will be asked about your relationship, among other things.
• If you do not speak Norwegian, you must bring someone along who can interpret for you.
• After the interview, the police send your case back to the UDI. You will be notified by email or SMS when the UDI has received the case. 

• In some countries, it is difficult to obtain birth certificates and other documents that are accepted by the Norwegian authorities. In some cases, the UDI will therefore ask for a DNA analysis of the applicant and the reference person. We do this so that you can document that you are related. 
• These countries are Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and all African countries south of the Sahara (except South Africa).
• If this applies to you, we will summon you for testing. If you are in Norway, you will go to the police to take the test. If you are abroad, you will normally take the test at the Norwegian embassy in the country where you handed in the application.
• How long it will take before you are summoned, depends on the embassy's and the police's capacity.
• You do not have to pay anything for the test, but you must cover your travel and accommodation expenses.
• The DNA test is carried out by comparing spit samples taken from the mouth of each of the family members. The test will show whether you are related. If the test shows that you are not related, you will be able to give a statement. When the UDI processes the application, we will take this statement into consideration.
• UDI may require you to take a DNA test to document that you are related. You can still choose not to take the test, but if you do not have a particular reason for not taking the DNA test, we will probably reject your application.

The application fee can only be refunded if you have not yet attended your appointment to hand in the application in person. If you have sent an application where you are not required to meet in person, but only need to upload the application documents electronically, you cannot get the fee refunded after you have uploaded the documents.   

If you want an application fee refunded, you must contact the police district or the embassy responsible for your application. UDI cannot assist you with reimbursement. 

If you have already handed in your application in person but wish to withdraw it, even if you will not be reimbursed, you must notify us in writing. You can write a short letter explaining that you wish to withdraw your application. The letter must be signed by you, the applicant. You must send the letter electronically. When we receive the information that you want to withdraw your application, we will dismiss the case and send you a written confirmation.

As a general rule, we can only dismiss a case if the applicant sends a written request to withdraw the application. Dismissing means that we close the case without processing it. 

If you are a reference person, sponsor or host parent and wish to withdraw your consent for the applicant to stay with you in Norway, you must send a written notification of this to UDI. You can write a short letter in which you explain that you wish to withdraw your consent for the applicant to stay with you. You must send the letter electronically. If you withdraw your consent, this will be stated in the decision (rejection) that the applicant receives. 

We cannot dismiss a case because the reference person/sponsor/host parent wishes to. If any of these persons want to withdraw the application, we must still process the case, but it will be rejected on the basis that consent has been withdrawn.

If a person with power of attorney wishes to withdraw the application due to a separation, we must still process the application, but it will be rejected. The power of attorney expires when we receive information about the separation. 

The application fee cannot be refunded when the reference person/sponsor/host parent withdraws consent. This is because the application will be processed. 

Can you get a visitor’s visa when you have applied for family immigration?

You can apply for a visitor’s visa to Norway. However, it is likely that your application will be rejected.

When the embassy processes your application, they will assess whether or not it is likely that you will return to your home country or your country of residence by the time the visitor’s visa expires. Since you have applied for a residence permit in Norway the embassy may find it unlikely that you will return before the visa expires. It may therefore be difficult for you to get a visitor’s visa.

Can you travel to Norway if you already have a visitor’s visa?

• You may travel to Norway if you have a visitor’s visa to Norway, but it is important that you return to your home country before the visa expires. If you don’t return before the visitor’s visa expires, your application for a family immigration permit may be rejected because you have broken the visa rules. If the UDI grants you a residence permit before the visa expires, you don’t have to return.
• Travelling to Norway is not recommended if you have been granted a visitor’s visa to another Schengen country. If you travel to Norway, your application for a family immigration permit may be rejected because you have given incorrect information when you applied for the visitor’s visa. 

Other rules apply if you are classed as a skilled worker or you have applied for a residence card for family members of EU/EEA nationals. You may then travel to Norway if you have a visitor’s visa. You may also stay in Norway until your application has been processed, even if your visitor’s visa expires while you are waiting.

If you have a valid residence permit in another Schengen country, you may travel to Norway while your application is being processed if you belong to one of the following groups:

• You are applying for family immigration with your spouse or partner
• You are a minor under 18 applying for family immigration with your parent (minors must have a written consent from both parents or the parent with parental responsibility)
• You are mother or father of a child with Norwegian citizenship and the child is living with you on a permanent basis.
• You are classed as a skilled worker 

You may then stay in Norway until your application has been processed even if you have been in Norway for more than 90 days.

Please remember that if you travel to and from Norway after you have applied for a family immigration permit, you must follow the rules for visiting Norway without a visa. For example, if you have been in Norway for 90 days or more, you will have to stay outside Norway for 90 days before you can travel into Norway again. If you are granted a family immigration permit while you are abroad, you may travel back to Norway immediately.

If you don’t need a visa to visit Norway, you may travel to and from Norway while your application is being processed if you belong to one of the following groups:

• You are applying for family immigration with your spouse or partner
• You are a minor under 18 applying for family immigration with your parent (minors must have a written consent from both parents or the parent with parental responsibility)
• You are a mother or father of a child with Norwegian citizenship and the child is living with you on a permanent basis
• You are a skilled worker

You may stay in Norway until your application has been processed even if you have been in Norway more than 90 days.

Please remember that if you travel to and from Norway after you have applied for family immigration, you must follow the rules for visiting Norway without a visa. For example, if you have been in Norway or another Schengen country for 90 days or more, you will have to stay outside the Schengen area for 90 days before you can travel back to Norway. 

If you are granted a family immigration permit while you are abroad, you can travel back to Norway immediately even if you haven’t stayed outside Schengen for 90 days. However, we recommend that you fly directly to Norway without a stopover in another Schengen country. If you have a stopover in another Schengen country you may encounter trouble at border control because you don’t have a residence card yet to prove you have a residence permit in Norway.

If you are an EU/EEA national, you may travel to and from Norway without any restrictions.

• spouses of Norwegian citizens who are living in Norway or plan to settle here, and their joint children 
• spouses of Nordic nationals who have lived in Norway for the past three years, and their joint children  
• spouses of foreign nationals with a permanent residence permit (settlement permit) and their joint children 
• spouses of foreign nationals with a residence permit as skilled workers with an employer in Norway and their joint children 
• spouses of foreign nationals who have an individual permit to work in a group, and their joint children 

1. Submit an application for a visitor's visa, but write in the application that you wish to be granted an entry visa (D visa).
2. If you haven't already submitted your application for family immigration, you must now submit all the documents on the relevant checklist for family immigration. You must also submit the reference person's three last pay slips and their last tax settlement.
3. The embassy will consider your application for an entry visa. If your application is rejected, you can submit a written appeal to the embassy. The embassy will consider your application again. If they do not grant it, they will send it to the UDI. The UDI will consider the application again, and either reject it or grant it.

The UDI cannot answer what your rights to receive health care are. You can read about this on Helsenorge's website (external website).

Everyone who resides in Norway is entitled to urgent medical care (external website), and everyone who stays in Norway is entitled to free health care if they have been infected with the coronavirus (external website).

If you have a renewable residence permit in Norway and you apply for renewal at least one month before your permit expires, you have the same rights during the waiting period as you had before.

In some cases, the right to work depend on if you submitted your application at least one month before the expiry of your previous residence permit. Note that the application is not considered delivered until you have met with the police to deliver your application documents.

Suppose you registered the application online and paid the fee at least one month before the expiry of your permit, and there are long waits to get an appointment with the police so that you did not get an appointment until later. In that case, you still have the right to work while we process your application. You are generally entitled to work on the same terms as your previous permit if you register the application for renewal (or for a permit on a new basis) and pay a fee no later than seven calendar days before the permit expires.

I have applied for a residence permit in Norway for the first time

• I have applied for a residence permit for the first time
  You cannot start work, including remote work, until you have been granted a residence permit. If you work without permission, you may be expelled.
  
  
• Can I get a temporary work permit while I wait for my application to be processed?
  No, usually you can not. The UDI can only grant a temporary work permit during the application process when it is probable that the application will be granted. It will often be difficult to know whether an application for family immigration can be granted before the case has been processed.
  
  
• Can I participate in volunteer work?
  You do not need a work permit to participate in voluntary work. The rule for what we consider voluntary work is strict.
  
  Requirements for the work for it to be what we call voluntary work:
  • It must be work you have chosen yourself that you want to do.
  • There must be work for which you do not receive a salary or other compensation.
  • There must be work organized by a humanitarian, non-profit or religious organization, such as a volunteer center, a sports club or similar organizations.
  • The tasks you do must be tasks no one is usually paid to do.
  • You can not volunteer more than 30 hours a week.

I have applied for renewal of a residence permit

• I have applied for renewal of my residence permit at least one month before the previous permit's expiry.
  Yes, you can work.
  
  
• I have applied for renewal of my residence permit later than one month before the previous permit's expiry.
  No, you do not automatically have the right to work, including remote work. You must contact the UDI to ask for permission to work despite that you have applied too late.

I already have a residence permit and have applied for another type of residence permit

• I have applied for a permit on a new basis at least one month before the expiry of the previous permit.
  Yes, you can work with the same permissions as you have with your current permit. You can not work more than you were allowed to with your current permit.
  • Permission as a student: usually 20 hours a week, including remote work, and full time during the ordinary holidays, but see the decision you received as a student
  • Work holidays for Canadian citizens: The residence permit gives general access to work. See your decision letter for more information.
  • Working holiday: You can not work for more than six months with the same employer.
  • Au pair: You can not work. Au pair is a cultural exchange where you receive pocket money, board and lodging, and not salary.
    
    
• I have applied for a permit on a new basis later than one month before the expiry of the previous permit.
  No, you do not automatically have the right to work, including remote work. You must contact the UDI to ask for permission to work even despite that you have applied too.