The aim is to facilitate assisted return through a dedicated programme that offers asylum seekers and foreign nationals without legal residence in Norway an organised, safe and dignified means of returning home.
Everyone who applies for protection (asylum) in Norway receives a decision from UDI. The decision is made after an assessment of the conditions in the applicant’s home country, and an assessment of the information they submit to UDI and the police, both in an interview and in the submitted documents. Asylum seekers who are entitled to protection are granted a residence permit in Norway.
Asylum seekers who are not entitled to protection will not be granted a residence permit in Norway and must return home. Through the assisted return scheme, migrants are given help and money to return home and resettle in their home country. Assisted return is an alternative to staying in Norway without legal residence and running the risk of being forcibly returned by the police (external website) and expelled from the Schengen area.
All foreign nationals who stay illegally in Norway, are irregular migrants. Those whose applications for protection or application for another type of residence have been rejected must return to their home country. If they do not, they are staying illegally in Norway and will be escorted out of the country against their will by the police.
Read more about who is eligible for assisted return.
When people are staying in Norway without legal residence, they have few rights. They are not entitled to healthcare, except in an emergency situation, and they do not have a work permit, which prevents them from earning a legal income.
Those who choose assisted return are able to return home with dignity. They have the opportunity to plan their journey, and they have more control over their own lives. They also receive money and transport for the journey to their home country.
It is important to leave the country before the deadline in order to avoid being expelled from Norway and the whole Schengen area.
Go to application form
Here you will find stories from others that have returned.
On our Statistics and analysis-pages you can find research reports about assisted return.
This film is about a family who finds out that not everything in Norway turned how they expected it to.
English:
Other languages (opens in a new tab):
Amharic (external website, opens in new window)
Arabian (external website, opens in new window)
Dari (external website, opens in new window)
Farsi (external website, opens in new window)
French (external website, opens in new window)
Kurmanji (external website, opens in new window)
Pashto (external website, opens in new window)
Russian (external website, opens in new window)
Somali (external website, opens in new window)
Sorani (external website, opens in new window)
What happens when you and your family’s application for asylum in Norway is rejected, and you decide to travel back to your home country? This film has been made to help you as a minor asylum seeker understand what is going on and the situation you and your family are in.
What happens when your application for asylum in Norway is rejected, and you decide to travel back to your home country? This film has been made to help you as an unaccompanied minor asylum seeker to understand what is going on and the situation you are in.
These films are available in more languages at asylbarn.no (external website)
English:
Albanian (external website, opens in new window)
Amharic (external website, opens in new window)
Arabian (external website, opens in new window)
Dari (external website, opens in new window)
Farsi (external website, opens in new window)
French (external website, opens in new window)
Kurmanji (external website, opens in new window)
Pashto (external website, opens in new window)
Russian (external website, opens in new window)
Serbian (external website, opens in new window)
Somali (external website, opens in new window)
Sorani (external website, opens in new window)
Tamil (external website, opens in new window)
The organisation NorSom News has made some information videos about assisted return for Somalis. You can watch these videos by following this link (external website, opens in new window).
If your client's application for protection has been rejected, you must inform him or her about the obligation to return to his or her home country and the possibility of applying for assisted return.
Not everyone will have their application granted. This applies, among others, to people who come from countries where the UDI process the application for protection within 48 hours.
People who have received a final rejection of their application for protection must leave Norway. If they do not leave Norway by the deadline for leaving, they will be forcibly returned by the police and expelled from Norway and the Schengen area for 1–5 years. Someone who is forcibly returned will also owe the cost of the travel expenses to the Norwegian authorities.
People who apply for assisted return before the deadline for leaving, and are granted assisted return, will as a general rule not be expelled from Norway.
Assisted return is an offer made to:
Aktør i egen framtid: Samtaler med barnefamilier på asylmottak, pdf, 4,3 MB ('Deciding your own future: Conversations with families with children at asylum reception centres' – in Norwegian only)