This page contains information regarding former rules concerning how to become Norwegian at birth and when Norwegian citizenship was automatically revoked. You will also find information on how you can document that you became Norwegian when you were born, and whether you have lost your Norwegian citizenship at a later time.
If you need to document that you are Norwegian, you can find out how to do so by consulting the following:
You must document both that you became Norwegian (No 1), and that you have not lost subsequently your Norwegian citizenship (Nos 2 and 3).
If you were born on or after 1 September 2006, you became Norwegian at birth provided that your mother or father was Norwegian when you were born.
You must have a birth certificate and you must be able to document that at least one of your parents was Norwegian when you were born.
Your relationship with the parent who was Norwegian when you were born must be registered with the National Population Register before you may be registered as Norwegian.
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 10 June 2005".
If you were born between 1 July 1979 and 1 August 2006, you became Norwegian at birth provided that your mother was Norwegian when you were born. You also became Norwegian if your father was Norwegian when you were born, provided that your father was married to your mother when you were born. If only your father was Norwegian and your parents married after you were born, but before you reached the age of 18, and before 31 August 2006, you became Norwegian from the point in time your parents became married.
If your father was Norwegian and not married to your mother, your parents may submit notification of citizenship before you reach the age of 18 (notification of citizenship). This became allowed beginning in October 1999. If you have a letter of decision or a certificate attesting that you became Norwegian through notification, then you became Norwegian when the notification was received by the Norwegian authorities. If you have not reached the age of 18 yet, your parents may still submit a notification of citizenship.
You must have a birth certificate and be able to document that at least one of your parents was Norwegian when you were born.
If your father or both your parents were Norwegian you must submit your parents’ marriage certificate (applies whether they were married when you were born or if they married before you reached the age of 18).
If you became Norwegian through notification, you must submit a certificate of Norwegian citizenship.
If you no longer have the certificate of Norwegian citizenship, you may contact the County Governor, the National Archives of Norway or UDI.
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 8 December 1950” (with amendments to the wording in Section 1)".
Regarding notification of citizenship by father, see «Guidelines for processing citizenship cases in pursuance of the Norwegian Nationality Act (sections 1a and 2a) (external website)».
If you were born between 1 January 1951 and 30 June 1979, you became Norwegian at birth provided that your father was Norwegian and also married to your mother when you were born. If only your father was Norwegian and your parents married after you were born, but before you reached the age of 18, you became Norwegian from the point in time your parents became married.
Alternatively, you became Norwegian at birth if your mother was Norwegian, but not married, when you were born. If your mother was Norwegian, married and you did not acquire citizenship from your father when you were born, then you still became Norwegian at birth provided you were born in Norway.
If your mother was Norwegian but married to a man who was not Norwegian, then your mother had the possibility of submitting notification of citizenship before you reached the age of 18 (notification of citizenship by mother). If you have a decision or a certificate that you became Norwegian by notification, you became Norwegian from the date the Norwegian authorities received the notification. Suppose you became a Norwegian citizen through notification from your mother and were born abroad. In that case, you are among those people who could have lost their Norwegian citizenship when you turned 22 years old if you had not stayed long enough in Norway before you turned 22.
You must have a birth certificate and be able to document that at least one of your parents was Norwegian when you were born.
If your father or both your parents were Norwegian you must submit your parents’ marriage certificate (applies whether they were married when you were born or if they married before you reached the age of 18).
If only your mother was Norwegian you must submit documentation that shows that your parents were not married when you were born.
If you became Norwegian through notification you must submit a certificate of Norwegian citizenship.
If you no longer have the certificate of Norwegian citizenship you may contact the County Governor by email at sfovpost@statsforvalteren.no.
You may also contact the National Archival Services of Norway by email at postmottak@arkivverket.no.
The National Archival Services of Norway (external website) stores documentation on cases involving Norwegian citizenship in the years from 1889 to 1984.
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 8 December 1950".
Regarding notification of citizenship by mother, see «Guidelines for processing citizenship cases in pursuance of the Norwegian Nationality Act (sections 1a and 2a)» (external website).
If you were born before 1 January 1925, you became Norwegian at birth if your father or your mother were Norwegian when you were born, and your parents were married. You also became Norwegian at birth if your mother was Norwegian, but not married, when you were born.
If only your father was Norwegian and your parents married after you were born, but before you reached the age of 18, you became Norwegian at the point in time when your parents became married.
You must have a birth certificate and be able to document that at least one of your parents was Norwegian when you were born.
If your father or if both your parents were Norwegian you must submit your parents’ marriage certificate.
If only your mother was Norwegian you must submit documentation that shows that your parents were not married when you were born.
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 8 August 1924, no 3".
If you were born before 1 January 1925, you became Norwegian at birth if your father or mother were Norwegian when you were born, and your parents were married. You also became Norwegian at birth if your mother was Norwegian, but not married, when you were born.
If only your father was Norwegian and your parents married after you were born, but before you reached the age of 18, you became Norwegian from the point in time your parents became married.
You must have a birth certificate and be able to document that at least one of your parents was Norwegian when you were born.
If only your father was Norwegian you must submit your parents’ marriage certificate.
"The Norwegian Nationality Act XX of 21 April 1888".
As of 1 January 2020, it became legal to become a national of another country in addition to Norway (dual citizenship). You have not lost your Norwegian citizenship if you became a citizen of another country on or after 1 January 2020.
In order to be able to document that you have not lost your Norwegian citizenship when you became a citizen of another country, you only need to document that you acquired the other nationality on or after 1 January 2020.
If you became a citizen of another country between 1 September 2006 and 31 December 2019, then you lost your Norwegian citizenship if you or your parents applied, or gave consent, for you to become a citizen in that other country after you were born.
You have also lost your Norwegian citizenship if you automatically became a citizen of another country because:
You have not lost your Norwegian citizenship if you automatically became a citizen of another country:
You must submit documentation from the authorities of the other country whose nationality you acquired which states when you became a citizen of the other country, and that citizenship was granted automatically on the basis of the criteria listed above.
If you do not have any such documentation, you may submit a printout of the legislation relating to citizenship in the other country where you are a citizen that shows the clauses under which you became a citizen of the other country. In addition, you must submit documentation showing that you became a citizen of the other country on the basis of those particular clauses.
If you acquired another citizenship at birth through one of your parents, the following documentation may be acceptable:
If you acquired citizenship at birth because you were born in that country:
If you acquired citizenship automatically after you were born:
If you acquired citizenship through marriage with a foreign national:
If you became a citizen of another country after you applied, or after your parents applied on your behalf, for the other citizenship, the following documentation may be acceptable:
If you automatically acquired citizenship in another country because one of your parents became a citizen of that country, you must also document that the parent through whom you acquired citizenship had parental responsibility for you and that the other parent was not Norwegian.
Acceptable documentation may include:
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 10 June 2005".
If you became a citizen of another country between 11 March 1999 and 31 August 2006, then you lost your Norwegian citizenship if you or your parents applied, or gave consent, for you to become a citizen in the other country after you were born.
You have lost your citizenship if your parents applied for you to become a citizen of another country before you reached the age of 18, and no parent with parental responsibility for you remained Norwegian after you became a citizen of the other country.
You have also lost your Norwegian citizenship if you automatically became a citizen of another country because:
You have not lost your Norwegian citizenship if you automatically became a citizen of another country:
Also, you have not lost citizenship if your parents applied for you to become a citizen of another country before you reached the age of 18, and at least one of your parents, who had parental responsibility for you, remained Norwegian.
You must submit documentation from the authorities in the other country whose nationality you acquired confirming when you became a citizen of that other country and that citizenship was granted automatically:
If you do not have any such documentation, you may submit a printout of the legislation relating to citizenship in the other country where you are a citizen that shows the clauses under which you became a citizen of the other country. In addition, you must submit documentation showing that you became a citizen of the other country on the basis of those particular clauses.
If you acquired another citizenship at birth through one of your parents, the following documentation may be acceptable:
If you acquired citizenship at birth because you were born in that country:
If you acquired citizenship automatically after you were born:
If you acquired citizenship through marriage with a foreign national:
If you acquired another citizenship because your parents applied for citizenship for you before you reached the age of 18:
If you became a citizen of another country after applying for citizenship:
If you became a citizen of another country after your parents applied for the other citizenship on your behalf:
If you automatically acquired citizenship in another country because one of your parents became a citizen of that country, then you must submit some type of documentation from the authorities of that country that can confirm that:
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 8 December 1950" (with amendments to the wording in Section 1).
If you became a citizen of another country between 1 January 1951 and 10 March 1999, then you lost your Norwegian citizenship if you or your parents applied, or gave consent, for you to become a citizen in the other country after you were born.
You have also lost your Norwegian citizenship if you automatically became a citizen of another country because:
You have not lost your Norwegian citizenship if you automatically became a citizen of another country:
Dokumentasjon på at du ikke har tapt ditt norske statsborgerskap
You must submit documentation from the authorities in the other country whose nationality you acquired which states when you became a citizen of that other country, and that citizenship was granted automatically:
If you do not have any such documentation, you may submit a printout of the legislation relating to citizenship in the other country where you are a citizen that shows the clauses under which you became a citizen of the other country. In addition, you must submit documentation showing that you became a citizen of the other country on the basis of those particular clauses.
If you acquired another citizenship at birth through one of your parents, the following documentation may be acceptable:
If you acquired citizenship at birth because you were born in that country:
If you acquired citizenship automatically after you were born:
If you acquired citizenship through marriage with a foreign national:
If you became a citizen of another country after your parents applied for the other citizenship on your behalf:
If you automatically acquired citizenship in another country because one of your parents became a citizen of that country, then you must submit some type of documentation from the authorities of that country that can confirm that:
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 8 December 1950".
If you became a citizen of another country between 1 January 1925 and 31 December 1950, then you lost your Norwegian citizenship if you became a citizen of another country after you were born, and you resided abroad when you became a citizen of another country.
You have also lost your Norwegian citizenship if you moved from Norway after acquiring citizenship in another country.
You have not lost your Norwegian citizenship if you have only resided in Norway after you acquired another country’s citizenship or if you moved from Norway after 31 December 1950.
You must submit documentation from the authorities of the other country whose nationality you acquired which shows that you automatically became a citizen of that other country when you were born.
If you do not have any such documentation, you may submit a printout of the legislation relating to citizenship in the other country where you are a citizen that shows the clauses under which you became a citizen of the other country. In addition, you must submit documentation showing that you became a citizen of the other country on the basis of those particular clauses.
If you acquired another citizenship at birth through one of your parents, the following documentation may be acceptable:
If you acquired citizenship at birth because you were born in that country:
If you had not moved from Norway before 1 January 1951:
If you became a citizen of another country after your parents applied for the other citizenship on your behalf, acceptable documentation may include:
If you automatically acquired the nationality of another country after you were born because one of your parents became a citizen of that country, acceptable documentation may include:
If you automatically acquired the nationality of another country because you married a national of that country, acceptable documentation may include:
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 8 August 1924, no 3".
If you became a citizen of another country before 1 January 1925, then you lost your Norwegian citizenship if you became a citizen of another country after you were born.
In order to verify that you have not lost your Norwegian citizenship you must have documentation showing that you became a citizen of the other country when you were born (dual citizenship at birth) and that you were born before 1 January 1925.
Acceptable documentation may include:
Examples of documentation that may be acceptable if you acquired citizenship through a parent include:
Examples of documentation that may be acceptable if you acquired citizenship because you were born in another country:
In order to be able to document that you have lost your Norwegian citizenship you must be able to show that you acquired the other nationality before 1 January 1925 and that you did not become a citizen of that country at birth.
Acceptable documentation may include:
"The Norwegian Nationality Act XX of 21 April 1888".
If you reached 22 years of age after 1 September anytime on or after 1 September 2006 then you automatically lost your Norwegian citizenship on your 22nd birthday if you:
You do not lose your citizenship, however, if you have applied to retain your Norwegian citizenship and you have received a letter of decision from UDI affirming that you were allowed to retain your Norwegian citizenship after reaching 22 years of age (retention of citizenship).
If you acquired Norwegian citizenship after you were born because you or your parents either applied for, or submitted notification of, citizenship on your behalf, acceptable documentation may include:
If you became Norwegian because you were adopted by a Norwegian citizen:
If you automatically acquired Norwegian citizenship when your parents entered into marriage (applies only if you were born before 1 September 2006), then you must provide:
If you had no other citizenship than Norwegian when you reached the age of 22, then you must document that you hold a residence permit in the country where you live (does not apply if you reside in Norway). If only one of your parents was Norwegian when you were born, then you must also document that you have not acquired citizenship in the country where your other parent is a citizen.
Documentation that shows that you are not a citizen in your country of residence:
Documentation that shows that you are not a citizen of your other parent’s country of residence (if only one of your parents was Norwegian when you were born):
If you have resided in Norway for a total of two years before reaching the age of 22:
If you have resided for a total of seven years in Norway or in other Nordic countries before reaching 22 years of age, you must submit:
If you have received a letter of decision affirming that you are allowed to retain your Norwegian citizenship (retention of citizenship), you must:
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 10 June 2005".
If you reached the age of 22 between 1 October 2001 and 31 August 2006, then you automatically lost your Norwegian citizenship on your 22nd birthday if you:
You have resided long enough in Norway if you have:
You do not lose your citizenship, however, if you have applied to retain your Norwegian citizenship and you have received a letter of decision from UDI affirming that you were allowed to retain your Norwegian citizenship after reaching 22 years of age (retention of citizenship).
If you acquired Norwegian citizenship after you were born because you or your parents either applied for, or submitted notification of, citizenship on your behalf, acceptable documentation may include:
If you became Norwegian because you were adopted by a Norwegian citizen:
If you automatically acquired Norwegian citizenship when your parents entered into marriage, then you must provide:
If you had no other citizenship than Norwegian when you reached the age of 22, then you must document that you hold a residence permit in the country where you live (does not apply if you reside in Norway). If only one of your parents was Norwegian when you were born, then you must also provide documentation verifying that you have not acquired citizenship in the country where your other parent is a citizen.
Documentation that shows that you are not a citizen in your country of residence:
Documentation that shows that you are not a citizen of your other parent’s country of residence (if only one of your parents was Norwegian when you were born):
If you were born in Norway:
If you were living in Norway when you reached the age of 22:
If you have lived in Norway for a total of two years before reaching the age of 12:
If you attended school or were employed in Norway for at least six months after reaching the age of 12, but before reaching the age of 22:
If you have resided for a total of seven years in Norway and other Nordic countries before reaching 22 years of age, you must submit:
If you had yearly holiday stays in Norway of over one month throughout most of your childhood:
If you had any holiday stays of over one month and at least one extended stay of longer than two months in Norway after reaching the age of 12 and before the age of 22:
If you have completed military service in the Norwegian Armed Forces before reaching the age of 22:
If you have received a letter of decision affirming that you are allowed to retain your Norwegian citizenship (retention of citizenship), you must:
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 8 December 1950".
If you reached the age of 22 between 1 January 1951 and 30 September 2001, then you automatically lost your Norwegian citizenship on your 22nd birthday if you:
You have resided long enough in Norway if you have:
You do not lose your citizenship, however, if you have applied to retain your Norwegian citizenship and you have received a letter of decision from UDI or the Ministry of Justice and Public Security affirming that you were allowed to retain your Norwegian citizenship after reaching 22 years of age (retention of citizenship).
If you acquired Norwegian citizenship after you were born because you or your parents either applied for, or submitted notification of, citizenship on your behalf, acceptable documentation may include:
If you became Norwegian because you were adopted by a Norwegian citizen:
If you automatically acquired Norwegian citizenship when your parents entered into marriage, then you must provide:
If you were born in Norway:
If you were living in Norway when you reached the age of 22:
If you have lived in Norway for a total of two years before reaching the age of 12:
If you attended school or were employed in Norway for at least six months after reaching the age of 12, but before reaching the age of 22:
If you have resided for a total of seven years in Norway and other Nordic countries before reaching 22 years of age, you must submit:
If you had yearly holiday stays in Norway of over one month throughout most of your childhood:
If you had any holiday stays of over one month and at least one extended stay of longer than two months in Norway after reaching the age of 12 and before the age of 22:
If you have completed military service in the Norwegian Armed Forces before reaching the age of 22:
If you have received a letter of decision affirming that you are allowed to retain your Norwegian citizenship (retention of citizenship), you must:
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 8 December 1950".
If you reached the age of 22 between 1 January 1925 and 31 December 1950 then you automatically lost your Norwegian citizenship on your 22nd birthday if you:
If your father or your husband lost their Norwegian citizenship when reaching the age of 22, then you lost your citizenship as well.
If your mother lost her Norwegian citizenship when reaching the age of 22, and she was not married to your father, then you lost your citizenship as well.
You do not lose your citizenship, however, if you have applied to retain your Norwegian citizenship and you have received a letter of decision from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security affirming that you were allowed to retain your Norwegian citizenship after reaching 22 years of age (retention of citizenship).
If you acquired Norwegian citizenship after you were born because you or your parents either applied for, or submitted notification of, citizenship on your behalf, acceptable documentation may include:
If you automatically acquired Norwegian citizenship when your parents entered into marriage, then you must provide:
If you were born in Norway:
If you were born abroad, you must document that you have resided in Norway before reaching the age of 22. Acceptable documentation may include:
If you have received a letter of decision affirming that you are allowed to retain your Norwegian citizenship (retention of citizenship):
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 8 August 1924, no 3".
If you reached the age of 22 before 1 January 1925, then you have lost your Norwegian citizenship if you moved from Norway for reasons other than the following:
You do not lose your citizenship, however, if you:
If you moved because you, your father or your husband was employed under Norwegian foreign services abroad, acceptable documentation may include:
If you moved outside the country, but declared that you wished to retain your Norwegian citizenship within one year of moving, acceptable documentation may include:
"The Norwegian Nationality Act of 21 April 1888".