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If you plan to move to a private address
We recommend staying at the National Arrival Centre until the police and UDI have completed your registration and interviews. You risk having to wait for a longer time for an answer to your application if you move before completing your registration and before having follow-up conversations with the police and the interview with UDI. This is especially important to consider if you have travelled to Norway with children and have not yet had your asylum interview with UDI, since we give priority to families with children staying at the National Arrival Centre.
Information about waiting times in multiple languages
We are currently working on the following cases
Many applicants have been waiting a long time to get an answer regarding their application for protection. We know that waiting is difficult. Therefore, we are now working on the applications that have been with us the very longest.
UDI still has some applications from 2022 remaining to be completed. Most people who applied in 2022 will receive an answer by the end of July 2025. Some cases will not be ready because we are conducting further investigations. We will notify you by letter if this is the case with your application.
In addition to processing applications submitted in 2022, we are also processing applications from applicants who arrived in 2023. There are approximately 1,400 cases from 2023 that have not been processed, of which close to 400 are applications from the first half of 2023. As a general rule, we process the oldest cases first.
We will be conducting fewer interviews and issuing fewer decisions in July and August.
A number of the 1,400 cases from 2023 involve applications from Syrian citizens and stateless individuals from Syria. We are currently not processing these applications, so applicants from Syria will have to wait longer for a response.
Applications from Syria
The Ministry of Justice and Public Security has decided to suspend the processing of applications for protection from Syrian citizens and stateless persons from Syria. This means that applicants from Syria will have to wait longer for a decision.
Everyone will receive an answer to their application for protection once the processing of asylum applications resumes. We will provide more information when we begin processing applications from Syria again.
Why do some applicants receive an answer before others?
There are many people seeking protection. UDI cannot manage to process all of their applications right away. Applications from certain groups of applicants must be processed more quickly than others. This includes:
- applications processed in accordance with the Dublin Regulation, which most often entails that an applicants have to travel to a different European country to have their applications processed.
- those who, in UDI’s estimation, clearly do not need protection because, for example, they come from a safe country.
- applications from families with children, and applications from children who arrived without parents or any caregivers.
UDI also sets out to interview as many applicants as possible while they are at the National arrival centre. This is to help reduce the waiting times over time. We interview applicants from prioritised groups first.
If you are not part of any of these groups, you might have to wait a long time for your interview and for your application to be processed. This does not mean anything is wrong with your case; we have not forgotten you.
How we process your case at UDI
What happens at the National Arrival Centre?
Anyone applying for protection in Norway must first register an application at the National Arrival Centre. The length of stay at the arrival centre is short because there must be room for newcomers. UDI’s goal is to interview most new applicants and process their applications while they are at the arrival centre. Since so many people have come in recent years to seek asylum, we have not managed to do so. Most applicants have to move to an ordinary asylum reception centre where they wait for their interviews and an answer to their applications.
Applicants have no choice or influence in the matter of whether they will be interviewed while at the National arrival centre. It all depends on how many people have applied for protection at the same time.
If you have to move into an ordinary reception centre before UDI can interview at the arrival centre, you should be prepared for a long wait for your interview and an answer regarding your application for protection.
It makes no difference for your waiting time if the reception centre you live in is in one part of Norway or another. If you are staying in a private living accommodation, it is very important that you provide your address and other contact details so that UDI can reach you about your interview and with an answer regarding your application.
What happens with your case while you wait?
When UDI receives an application for protection, we place it in a queue until one of our case officers has time to process the case. This means that your case will not be handled by a specific case officer at UDI until you are called in for your interview. No cases are forgotten.
Why does it take so long to get an interview?
The asylum interview is necessary for UDI to be able to assess your application for protection. It is the most important opportunity you have to explain your reasons for why you need protection. UDI allocates a lot of time for asylum interviews, and each case requires a good amount of planning and resources. As such, it takes us a long time to interview everyone who comes to Norway.
How long does it take to receive an answer after the interview?
In most cases, UDI can provide an answer fairly shortly after an interview. Sometimes, however, we need more time to look into a case. We may need to look more closely at the information in a case, or we might need to find out more about the situation in your home country before we can process your case. In such cases, it can take longer to receive an answer after an interview, but everyone will receive an answer.
What do you need to do?
If you have any identity documents that you have not given to the police, you need to hand them in as soon as possible.
- If you have original identity documents, you are to hand them in to your local police district.
- If you have copies and photos, you are to send them to UDI.
It is important that UDI have all the documents in your case before your interview. In this way, you can help to prevent your case from taking longer than necessary.
What information regarding waiting times can UDI give you?
There are many people who contact UDI to ask about the waiting time for their cases. We are not able to provide any other information about waiting times over the phone other than what is published on udi.no.
The people answering as part of UDI’s information service are the same people who process the cases. If we need more information from you to process your case, we will contact you.
In order to have time to process more cases, UDI’s information service is closed on Wednesdays.
Can my case be moved to the front of the queue?
Most applicants for protection want their case to be processed quickly. However, there must be highly exceptional reasons for your case to be moved ahead in the queue.
Information updates
This information on waiting times applies from 1 June 2025.
The information will be updated on 1 September 2025 or before if substantial changes occur.
