• The visa you need is called an entry visa
• UDI will ask the embassy which is responsible for your case to issue you this visa; you do not need to apply for one.
• The Visa Application Centre where you handed in the application or the embassy will contact you to agree on a time for you to come and collect your visa. It will take up to a week for them to contact you. You will collect your visa at the same place as you handed in the application.  
• The visa will state the latest date on which you can travel to Norway. You must therefore notify the embassy about when you plan to go, so that the visa is valid when you need it. 

Support for travel costs

It is unfortunately not possible to get support from UDI to pay for the travel to Norway, even if you are a family member of a refugee. 

The organisation IOM can help organising the travel. (external website)

What is a residence card?

A residence card is a credit-card-sized plastic card that proves that you have been granted a residence permit in Norway. The police will order your residence card.

How do you obtain a residence card?

• You must pre-book an appointment to be issued a residence card. You must normally do this through the Application Portal.
• You can make the booking before you travel to Norway.
• The appointment has to be either during the first seven days you are in Norway, or the first available appointment you can find.
• You must meet at the appointed time with the local police office where you are going to live.

If you are under the age of 18, your parents or guardian must accompany you to the police.  

Booking an appointment via the Application Portal

If you used the Application Portal to register your application, you can now log in to the Application Portal to book an appointment (external website).

Booking an appointment over the phone

If you did not use the Application Portal Norway when you applied for a residence permit, you must instead call your local police district to book an appointment. You cannot call UDI to book an appointment.

What happens when you go to the police?

The police will take your fingerprints and photo, and will then order your residence card. 

How long will it take until you get the card?

It will take at least 20 working days from your appointment with the police until you receive the card in the post. 

Please check that you are registered with the correct postal address and that your name is on your letter box. If not, the card will not reach you. If the card is lost in the mail, it will take another ten working days until you can get a new one. 

If you are planning trips to abroad, you should therefore make sure there is plenty of time between your appointment with the police and your planned departure date. 

If you have not received your residence card by mail or if you have any questions about residence cards, you must contact the local police office where you applied for a residence card (external website).

Register your address

• If you are a new postal recipient in Norway: fill in this form (external website) and hand it in at a post office or in-store post office. Remember to bring identification.
• If you are already a registered postal recipient, check that your correct postal address is registered with Posten (external website). The site requires login with BankID or MinID.
• Make sure you have your name on your letterbox.

If you have changed your address in Norway since you applied for a residence permit, you must inform the police of this when you meet with them, so that your correct address of residence is registered in the National Population Register (Folkeregister).

National identity number or D number

When you meet at the police station to order a residence card, we notify the Tax Administration that you have been granted a residence permit. The Tax Administration decides whether you will be given a D number or a national identity number.

About two weeks after you met with the police, you will receive a letter from the Tax Administration with your national identity number or your D number.

If you received a D number when you should have received a national identity number, you must contact the National Population Register (external website).

Tax deduction card

If you have questions about tax deduction cards because you are going to work in Norway, you will find information on the Norwegian Tax Administration's website about how foreign citizens apply for tax deduction cards (external website).

• After you have arrived in Norway and been issued your residence card, you can travel into and out of Norway for as long as your residence permit is valid.
• You must bring your passport and residence card when you travel. 
• You can visit other Schengen countries for up to 90 days.
• You must live in Norway at least half of the time you have a residence permit for. If you have been given a residence permit for one year, you cannot stay abroad for more than six months in total during that year. If you have been given a residence permit for several years, you cannot stay abroad for more than a total of 182 days in any 365 day period. If you do so, you can lose your residence permit, and you will have to apply for a new residence permit.
• If you are later going to apply for a permanent residence permit, you can normally not have stayed outside Norway for more than a total of seven months in the past three years.

This residence permit is valid for a maximum of six months. You must hand in the application for a residence permit with your spouse at least one month before the residence permit for getting married expires.

This means that you have less than five months to get married. On the Tax Administration's website you get an overview of what you have to do to get married (external website). There is a lot you need to do during these five months, therefore it is important that you start the formal processes surrounding the marriage as early as possible.

Rights and obligations

• You cannot get an extension or renewal of this residence permit if you for example postpone the wedding.
• You can work in Norway.
• You do not have the right to free training in the Norwegian language and social studies.
• You can travel in and out of Norway while the residence permit is valid.
• If you hand in the new application for a residence permit with your spouse at least one month before the old one expires, you still have the right to work while you wait for an answer to your application for the new residence permit.
• The time you have this residence permit does not count towards your residence period if you later apply for a permanent residence permit or Norwegian citizenship.
• While you have this type of residence permit your family members (for example your children) cannot apply for family immigration to move to you in Norway.