Information for those who have applied for Norwegian citizenship

Today, UDI has over 23,000 unprocessed applications for Norwegian citizenship. Due to the high number of applications, the waiting time has unfortunately increased several times. We fully understand that the long waiting time is frustrating. 

We are now processing applications from those who met with the police in May 2021 or earlier

This waiting time also applies to applicants who have shorter residence-period requirements because their income meets the reference threshold. We update the information on this page once a month.

The long waiting time is also due to the fact that it is difficult for Norwegian authorities to verify the identity of those who come from Somalia. Since 1991, Somalia has not had a centrally functioning government. Norwegian authorities have no way of checking whether ID documents from Somalia are legitimate. Therefore, UDI needs time to make other kinds of investigations into the identity of applicants from Somalia.

We will not be able to provide any further information about the waiting time for your application even if you contact us  

We have limited capacity to respond to inquiries by telephone and chat. It is the same employees who respond to inquiries and who process the cases. We understand that many people want to contact us because of the waiting time. However, we will not be able to provide any further information about the waiting time than what is stated on this page. We therefore encourage you not to contact us if the inquiry concerns waiting times. 

You will be notified by email or SMS when the police forward your application to UDI. 

We will contact you if there are any documents missing that we need to process your application. You will also receive a letter from us as soon as your application has been processed.  

Automatic processing of the application

All applications for Norwegian citizenship are fully or partially processed automatically. Our computer system uses the information we have about you, and assesses whether Norwegian citizenship can be granted without a case officer looking at the application. The computer system is not able to assess all types of information, and therefore many applications must still be processed by a case officer.

The assessment of the identity of applicants from Somalia must in the vast majority of cases be done by a case officer. This means that very few applications from Somali citizens can be fully automated. Many people will therefore experience having to wait a long time for an answer.  

You can read more about automatic processing of applications here.

You cannot contact UDI to have your application processed automatically.  

We cannot guarantee that family members will receive an answer to their applications at the same time 

We primarily process the oldest applications first. This means that we unfortunately cannot guarantee that everyone in a family will have their applications processed at the same time.  

We cannot give priority to applications for Norwegian citizenship even if one or more of your family members have received a response to their applications.  

This information was last updated on 

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