You may get back your Norwegian citizenship if 

• you have lost your Norwegian citizenship because you became a citizen of another country, or
• the UDI has revoked your Norwegian citizenship because you did not renounce your original citizenship within the deadline you were given.

You may then submit a notification, which is a simplified application process and means that it will for instance not be required that you are currently living in Norway. Please see our information about requirements and how to submit a notification.

You must still check whether the country you are a citizen of now accepts that you have dual citizenship. You must check this with the authorities in this country.

If you are from Sweden, Denmark, Iceland or Finland and have lived in Norway for at least seven years, you can submit a notification to become a Norwegian citizen. This is a simplified scheme compared to applying for citizenship. From July 2021, people over the age of 18 have to pay a fee to submit a notification to become a Norwegian citizen.

The rules regarding dual citizenship depends on when you attend your appointment with the police.

If you have not registered your notification form in the Application portal yet

If you have already been given a confirmation from your home country which states that you will lose your citizenship if you get a new citizenship (declaration of release), you will lose your citizenship if you attend your appointment with the police before the date which is stated in this confirmation. If you have been given such a confirmation, you should therefore wait to attend an appointment with the police until the date which is stated in the confirmation has passed. If you have questions regarding this, you must contact the authorities in your home country. 

If you have not been given such a confirmation from your home country (declaration of release), you can keep your other citizenship if you attend your appointment with the police after 1 January 2020.

If you have registered a form in the Application portal, but have not had your appointment with the police yet

If you have already been given a confirmation from your home country which states that you will lose your citizenship if you get a new citizenship (declaration of release), you will lose your citizenship if you attend your appointment with the police before the date which is stated in this confirmation. If you have been given such a confirmation, you should therefore wait to attend an appointment with the police until the date which is stated in the confirmation has passed. If you have questions regarding this, you must contact the authorities in your home country.  After the date in the confirmation has passed, you must fill in a new form and book a new appointment with the police. Please cancel any appointment which you are not going to use (external website).

If you have not been given such a confirmation from your home country (declaration of release), you can keep your other citizenship if you attend your appointment with the police after 1 January 2020. 

If you have already met with the police

If you handed in the notification form for Nordic citizens to the police before 1 January 2020, it is required that you have renounced your other citizenship.

If you have already been given a confirmation from your home country which states that you will lose your citizenship if you get a new citizenship (declaration of release), you will lose this citizenship if the UDI grants your notification. If you wish to keep this citizenship, you have to notify the UDI that you wish to withdraw the notification.  In the confirmation from your home country there will be stated a date. You must wait until after this date until you can fill in a new form and book a new appointment with the police.

If you have handed in your notification form to the police, but have not handed in a declaration that states that you have renounced your other Nordic citizenship, the UDI will reject your notification. You have to fill out a new notification form and book a new appointment with the police. You do not have to notify the UDI or wait until you get a rejection from us, before you fill in the new form.

If you received an answer to your application before 1 January 2020, it might be stated in the letter which you received from us that you must renounce your previous citizenship within one year. Because the rules changed on 1 January 2020, you do not need to do this. 

If you receive an answer to your application after 1 January 2020, we will process your application according to the new rules. We will not ask you to give up your previous citizenship. 

Please see our page about waiting times for information about when you will receive an answer to your application.  

If you became a Norwegian citizen automatically when you were born and you have not lived in Norway for at least two years, or in another Nordic country for at least seven years, before you turn 22 years, you will still lose your Norwegian citizenship automatically when you turn 22. These rules will not be changed.

This is only the case if you are also a citizen of another country. If you are only a Norwegian citizen, you will keep your Norwegian citizenship automatically, even if you have never lived in Norway.

If you are in the group that might lose its Norwegian citizenship, and you wish to keep it, you must apply to keep your Norwegian citizenship before you turn 22.

If you have lived in Norway for at least two years, or in another Nordic country for at least seven years, before you turn 22, you will not lose your Norwegian citizenship. You do not need to hand in an application.  

If you are a Norwegian citizen and you become a citizen of another country after 1 January 2020, you are allowed to have dual citizenship, according to Norwegian law.

Norway will not take away your Norwegian citizenship if you become a citizen of another country. You do not need to submit an application to Norwegian authorities to keep your Norwegian citizenship. 

You must still check whether the country you wish to become a citizen of, accepts that you keep your Norwegian citizenship. You must check this with the authorities in this country.