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. 

It normally takes 24 months from when you hand in your documents to the police until you receive a decision for your application. This is also the case for applicants who have shorter residence-period requirements because their income meets the reference threshold.

How long you have to wait may change. Even if you have been informed of a different waiting time previously, it will be the new waiting time that applies for you. If the waiting time increases after you have applied, it is because we are unable to process the applications within the time period we previously indicated. We regularly update the waiting time to provide you with updated information on when you can expect your application to be processed.  

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.

Even though more applications are processed automatically, and more people get answers faster, we still have to do additional investigations in some cases. This means that many people unfortunately still have to wait a long time to receive an answer to their application.

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 

. It will be updated again on 

.