Frequently asked questions about citizenship

1. Register your application online and pay a fee

First you need to complete an electronic application for Norwegian citizenship via udi.no. When filling out the application, you will be asked to log in/register a new user account on UDI.no.

Once you have completed the application form, you will pay an application fee online. After you have paid the fee, you will receive an email with information and a list of documents you will need to provide for UDI to process your application.

2. Schedule an appointment with the police to submit your documents

After you have registered your application and paid the fee, you will need to schedule an appointment with the police to submit your documents.

If you are applying while in Norway and wish to schedule or change your appointment with the police, log in and go to "My applications". If you are applying from abroad, you will find more information on the website of the embassy or consulate general on how to schedule an appointment to submit your documents.

3. Attend your appointment with the police and submit your documents

You must show up to your appointment with the police in person in order to identify yourself and submit your documents. After you registered your application online and paid the fee, a confirmation email was sent to you with information about which documents to submit. It is important that you bring all the documentation listed in the checklist when you attend your appointment with the police.

What happens after you have submitted your documents?

After you submit all your documents to the police, they will send your application on to UDI. Once your application has been sent to UDI, you will receive notification via email or SMS. If you change your email address or phone number before receiving a response regarding your application, please notify us.

If you are a Nordic citizen

Nordic citizens can submit a simplified notification of Norwegian citizenship online without having to book an appointment with the police. See Norwegian citizenship for Nordic citizens.

Here you can find information about the process for applying for Norwegian citizenship on behalf of a child who is in the care of the Child Welfare Services.

Applying for Norwegian citizenship for a child in the care of the Child Welfare Services

Unfortunately, it is not possible to change where you booked your appointment after you registered your application. You can read more in our article about appointments and attendance.

It is important to wait until you meet all the requirements for Norwegian citizenship before you apply. Once you have registered your application online, you will receive a checklist of all the documents you need to bring to the police. It is important to bring all the documentation listed on the checklist when you attend your appointment with the police.

As of 1 January 2020, it is allowed to have one or more citizenships in addition to Norwegian. However, if the country you are currently a citizen of does not allow more than one citizenship, you could still lose that citizenship when you become a Norwegian citizen. It is your responsibility to acquaint yourself with the rules in the country or countries where you are a citizen. You can read more about dual citizenship here.

You will not receive an answer to your application for Norwegian citizenship any sooner by not applying for a permanent residence permit. In fact, if you apply for Norwegian citizenship without applying for a permanent residence permit, you need to be aware of the following:

• You will have to satisfy the requirements for a permanent residence permit on the day when we process your application for citizenship, not the day you submit the application for citizenship.
• You have to have a valid residence permit even though you have applied for Norwegian citizenship.
• Your application for citizenship cannot be processed automatically.

You can find more information about applying for Norwegian citizenship without a permanent residence permit here.

• Your residence permit must be valid both when you apply for Norwegian citizenship and throughout the period when your application is being processed.
• Applying for Norwegian citizenship does not mean that you have a valid permit to stay in Norway. If you do not have a permanent residence permit, it is therefore very important that you renew the residence permit you have in the normal manner no more than one month before it expires. 
• If you do not hold a valid residence permit when UDI is making a decision in your case, you risk having your application rejected.

• you plan to travel abroad, for example to work or study
• you no longer live with or are married to the person named as your cohabitant/spouse in your application.

1. Once you have submitted your application documents to the police, your case will be forwarded to UDI. The time this takes differs according to which police district you live in. You can ask the police how long it will take. When UDI receives your application, you will be notified by email or SMS. 
2. The application is now waiting to be processed by UDI. Every month you will receive a confirmation by email or SMS which shows that your application is still in the queue.
3. Some applications are automatically processed, without a case officer considering the case. You can read more about automatic processing of applications for Norwegian citizenship.
4. Most applications are still processed by a case officer. If this is the case with your application, it does not mean anything is wrong with it. It just means UDI has not been able to process the entire application automatically.
   Application processing by a case officer may entail that you will have to wait longer for an answer, but the application will be processed as soon as it is your turn. 
5. Most people can view the status of their application on My page (external website). If you cannot see "Follow my application" on My page, you can find information about waiting times in our guide to waiting time for applications for Norwegian citizenship.
6. When UDI has made a decision, we will notify you. If you have given someone power of attorney, the person will always be notified, and must inform you.

• After you have submitted your notification of Norwegian citizenship, there is nothing more you need to do.
• You will be notified by e-mail or SMS when UDI processes your notification of Norwegian citizenship for Nordic citizens. 
• You can read about waiting times for applications for citizenship here.
• In some very rare cases, UDI may need more information before we can process a notification of Norwegian citizenship for Nordic citizens. In such a case, UDI will contact you. You will also be notified if any of the documents you have sent us will need to be uploaded again.  

• Once your application has been considered, we will send you a letter. If you have a digital mailbox, you will receive the letter right away.
• If you do not have a digital mailbox, you will receive the letter by post two weeks after your application has been considered. Please ensure your name is on your letterbox.
• If you have authorised someone to represent you in your case, or if you have a lawyer, this person will be notified and must then inform you. It is important that you read the letter and the decision carefully.

In our waiting time guide, you will find regularly updated information about the waiting times for your type of application. This is the most accurate and up-to-date information we have about waiting times. Contacting us about waiting times will not result in a different answer.

The expected waiting time may change while your application is with UDI. The waiting time indicated in the guide tells you the expected waiting time for the applications we are currently processing.

You will also find information about when the waiting time is calculated from and whether the waiting time can change after you have submitted your application.

We have limited capacity to respond to enquiries by telephone and chat. The employees who respond to inquiries are the same ones who process the cases.

The UDI employees responding to phone and chat enquiries have no further information about waiting times than what is already available on our waiting time page. Consequently, there is no need to contact us if your question is about the waiting time for your case.

We have chosen to work in a manner that results in faster responses overall. Among other things, we are making efforts to ensure that both older and newer applications are processed automatically. As a result, more people receive responses more quickly without causing a longer wait for others.

You can read more about the automatic processing of applications here.

We cannot guarantee that everyone in a family will receive responses to their applications at the same time. We cannot prioritise applications for Norwegian citizenship for individuals who have family members who have already received responses to their applications.

All applications for Norwegian citizenship are processed either entirely or partially automatically. Our data system uses the information we have about you to assess whether you can become a Norwegian citizen without a caseworker reviewing your application. However, not all information can be assessed by the data system, so many applications still need to be processed by caseworkers.

Contacting UDI will not help to have your entire application processed automatically.

You can read more about Automatic processing of applications for Norwegian citizenship.

No, deleting your application and submitting a new one will not speed up the process. It will only result in a longer waiting time for you.

You can upload documents for your case here. Remember that you cannot upload the documents until you have met with the police or at the VFS application centre/embassy, or the police have told you to upload your documents.

The application fee can only be refunded if you have not yet attended your appointment to hand in the application in person. If you have sent an application where you only need to upload the application documents electronically, you cannot get the fee refunded after you have uploaded the documents.   

If you want your application fee refunded, you must contact the police district or the embassy responsible for your application. UDI cannot assist you with reimbursement. If you are uncertain where to locate your reference number, further information is available on this page.

If you have already handed in your application in person but wish to withdraw it (even if you will not be reimbursed), you must notify us in writing. You can write a short letter explaining that you wish to withdraw your application. The letter must be signed by you, the applicant. You must send the letter electronically. When we receive the information that you want to withdraw your application, we will dismiss the case and send you a written confirmation.

Your child will be a Norwegian citizen by birth, if one of the parents is a Norwegian citizen at the time of the birth. Visit our Norwegian by birth?-page for more information.

If the child is born in Norway, Norwegian citizenship will automatically be registered in the National Population Register (by Skatteetaten) – as long as one of the parents was Norwegian before the child was born.

If the child is born abroad, you must apply for a Norwegian national identity number (external website). If you are going to continue living abroad, the passport authorities will request that the child is issued a Norwegian national identity number be before being issued a Norwegian passport.

It may take some time to receive your Norwegian passport after you have been granted citizenship.

When you are granted Norwegian citizenship, your residence card will no longer be valid even if the card has not yet expired. If you have a passport from another country, but do not have your Norwegian passport, be aware that it may be difficult to document that the visa rules that apply to Norwegian citizens also apply to you.

There is usually no passport control between Schengen countries.

When you re-enter Norway, you may have to document that you have legal residency in Norway at the border control. People with passports from outside the EU/EEA usually document this with a valid residence card.

If you travel without a Norwegian passport or Norwegian ID card, you may experience problems at the border control into Schengen/Norway, or at an ID check in another Schengen country. In other words, you may have difficulties re-entering Norway after your stay abroad.

What happens if I am abroad when I am granted my Norwegian citizenship?

Suppose you are granted Norwegian citizenship while being abroad. In this case, you should be prepared to answer questions when entering Norway about why you are still travelling with documents other than a Norwegian passport. You will then need to explain that you became a Norwegian citizen while abroad and, therefore, have not had the opportunity to get a Norwegian passport.

You can find information on how to appeal a decision by UDI here.