The following VFS Application Centres in Russia are open with limited capacity: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Kazan, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk. You will find more information on the website of the Norwegian Embassy in Russia (external website, opens in new window). 

You must have a valid visa or residence permit to travel legally into Norway. We are aware that for many people it is difficult to get out of Russia now. Unfortunately, there is nothing UDI can do to help anyone to leave Russia. UDI is also unable to answer questions regarding the situation in Russia.

The government has decided that Russian citizens are to be refused entry to Norway if they travel to Norway as a tourist or for other non-essential purposes. Visas are therefore not issued to tourists and similar groups of visa applicants.

From 29 May 2024, you can still be granted a visitor visa if

• you are going to visit parents, spouse, cohabitant and children living in Norway
• you are a family member or an EEA citizen
• you are going to work or study in Norway and do not need a residence permit for this
• you own a holiday property in Norway and need to carry out necessary maintenance of it. You must have bought the property before 29 May 2024.
• you are going to travel through Norway to a country where you have a residence permit
• you are travelling to or from work or residence in Svalbard, you are permanent resident of Svalbard or you are in Svalbard and need to travel through the Norwegian mainland to get home
• you have been invited by the Norwegian authorities or are to participate in projects financed by the Norwegian authorities
• you have a special care responsibility for someone who lives in Norway or there are other strong welfare considerations
• you are diplomtic and consular staff, administrative and technical staff and support staff at a Russian diplomatic station or are travelling through Norway. This also applies to your family members (spouse, cohabitant and children) who belong to the household at the place of employment, as well as if you are a diplomatic courier.

If your purpose for applying for a visitor visa is mentioned above, you must also meet the usual requirements to be issed a visa to Norway.

You will not be granted a visitor visa if

• you are going for a visit as a tourist
• you are going to visit friends, girlfriend/boyfriend or more distant family members than parents, spouse, cohabitant and children
• you are travelling for purposes other than those mentioned above

The government has decided that as of 29 May 2024, Russian citizens with a visitor visa are to be refused entry to Norway if they travel to Norway as a tourist or for other non-essential purposes.

From 29 May 2024, you can still enter Norway with a visitor visa without being refused entry or stay if

• you have a visitor visa issued by Norway after 30 May 2022
• you are going to visit parents, spouse, cohabitant and children residing in Norway or other Schengen countries
• you are a family member of an EEA citizen and are going to travel together with or visit the EEA citizen in Norway
• you are going to work or study in Norway or other Schengen countries and do not need a residence permit for this
• you have a national visa issued by Norway
• you own a holiday property in Norway and need to carry out necessary maintenance of it. You must have bought the property before 29 May 2024.
• you are going to travel through Norway to another country where you have a residence permit
• you are travelling to or from work or residence in Svalbard, you are permanent resident of Svalbard or you are in Svalbard and need to travel through the Norwegian mainland to get home
• you have been invited by the Norwegian authorities or are to participate in projects financed by the Norwegian authorities
• you have a special care responsibility for someone who lives in Norway or there are other strong welfare considerations
• you are diplomtic and consular staff, administrative and technical staff and support staff at a Russian diplomatic station or are travelling through Norway. This also applies to your family members (spouse, cohabitant and children) who belong to the household at the place of employment, as well as if you are a diplomatic courier.

When you arrive at the border, you must bring documents that show that you are covered by one of the above points.

You will also not be refused entry or stay if you enter Norway from another Schengen country.

From 29 May, you may not enter Norway directly from a country outside the Schengen area with a visitor's visa if

• you are going for a visit as a tourist
• you are going to visit friends, girlfriend/boyfriend or more distant family members than parents, spouse, cohabitant and children
• you are travelling for purposes other than those mentioned above

The government has decided that as of 29 May 2024, Russian citizens with a visitor visa are to be refused entry to Norway if they travel to Norway as a tourist or for other non-essential purposes.

From 29 May, you can still enter Norway without being refused entry or stay if

• you have an entry visa to or residence permit in Norway or another Schengen country
• you have a local border traffic permit

You cannot travel to another country to apply for a visa from there. You must submit a visa application in the country where you are a permanent resident. If you are already in a country other than where you live, you must clarify with the diplomatic mission whether you have strong and unforeseen reasons for still being able to apply.

As of 2 October 2023 at 24:00 it will no longer be possible to temporarily import Russian-registered passenger cars with nine or fewer seats into Norway, with some exceptions.

You can find more information about the rules on the government's website (external website).

Norway and the EU countries have already introduced bans on the import of, among other things, Russian-registered passenger cars with nine or fewer seats. From midnight on 2 October there will be stricter rules for temporary imports. This means that if you are going to drive to Norway and your car is Russian-registered, you will not be able to bring the car into Norway.

Exceptions

In Norway, four types of exceptions apply.

• Norwegian citizens or EEA citizens or their immediate family, who live in Russia and own a Russian-registered car, can travel to Norway with the car.
• Exceptions have also been made for vehicles that are necessary for humanitarian reasons, such as acute illness, death or a funeral in the family. You must be able to document at the border that you must bring the car into Norway for humanitarian reasons. If you can achieve the purpose of the visit by other means of transport, for example a bus, the use of your own Russian-registered car will not be considered "necessary".
• There are also exceptions for diplomatic vehicles or vehicles belonging to international organisations or a state's courier service.
• In addition, you can apply for an exception from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In special cases in which foreign policy considerations warrant it, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs may grant an exception.

Please note that the ban does not apply to vehicles with ten or more seats. It will still be possible to cross the border with, for example, minibuses and buses via Storskog border station.

Who can I contact if I have further questions about these rules and exceptions?

UDI does not have the authority to answer questions about the rules for importing or temporarily importing Russian-registered passenger cars.

If you have questions about how to interpret the rules and exceptions, you can send an e-mail to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For more information, there is a Q&A available (in Norwegian only) (external website) on the government website.

How does this affect me?

The rules are related to the import of goods and does not change the conditions for entry that applies to individuals. Even if a vehicle is covered by an exception, this does not mean that the persons traveling in the vehicle are automatically allowed to enter Norway.

There are several permits you may apply for to work in Norway. There are no changes to the application procedure or the rules for Russians seeking to obtain a work immigration permit in Norway.

There are no changes to the application procedure or the rules for obtaining a permit for work immigration to Norway. 

You cannot apply for a permit as a skilled worker if you have previously applied for protection. 

There are no changes to the application procedure or the rules for obtaining a family immigration permit. This means that the standard family immigration rules still apply.

The person who wants to come to Norway is the one who must apply for a family immigration permit. You cannot apply for a family immigration permit on behalf of your family member who is abroad. 

For applicants from your country, it may be difficult to be granted an application for family immigration in order to get married. This is because UDI assesses whether it is likely that you will return to your home country if you do not get married as planned. It is more likely that your application for family immigration will be granted if you get married first.

No, it will not affect your case if you marry in another country. It is important that the marriage is valid according to the laws of the country where you are getting married. It will affect your application if the marriage is not validly entered into.

There are no changes to the procedure or rules for applying for a family immigration permit for Russians. This means that ordinary rules for family immigration still apply.

To be able to apply for family immigration, you must be a close family member. Close family members can be, for example, spouses, fiancees, children or parents.

It is the person moving to Norway who must submit the application. The main rule is that the application is submitted from abroad, either from the country the applicant is a citizen of or from the country the applicant has lived in for the last six months.

If the applicant is already in Norway and wishes to apply from Norway, special requirements apply to the applicants, for example, the applicant must document having competency as a skilled worker.

To be granted family immigration, there are also requirements for the reference person who lives in Norway, including having a sufficiently high income.

To apply from the country you are staying in, you must either be a citizen or have had legal residence there for six months. If not, you cannot apply from this country.

UDI does not give general priority to your application for family immigration on the basis that you are in Russia. If you want priority, you must send a request. We will make an individual assessment of your request for priority.

If you submit a request for priority, but the answer from UDI is that we cannot prioritize your case, the normal waiting times will apply to you.

A visitor visa can never be extended beyond 90 days. If you have a visitor visa that is expiring, you must return home. If you are in Norway longer than allowed, this can lead to you being deported from Norway/Schengen.

If you qualify to apply for a residence permit in Norway, you can apply before your visa expires. As a general rule, you must be a skilled worker to be able to apply from Norway.

For applications for family immigration, there are separate rules for applying from Norway. Follow the guide on this page to read about the requirements to be approved for family immigration and whether you can hand in the application in Norway.

Russian citizens with renewable residence permits may apply to have their permits renewed. These applications will be processed according to the standard procedure.

There are no changes in rules or political signals from the Norwegian authorities indicating that Russian citizens with a permanent residence permit will be sent back to Russia. If you have a permanent residence permit, you keep this according to the ordinary rules.

You can also apply for Norwegian citizenship if you meet the conditions and wish to apply. From the Norwegian authorities' side, there are no restrictions on the possibility of having dual citizenship. As the situation is now, the war does not affect the status of Russian citizens who are in Norway.

If you have a residence permit that expires, you must as a general rule return home. If you qualify for a different residence permit than the one you currently have, you can apply from Norway if you are a skilled worker or have had a valid residence permit for the last 9 months. The application for a new residence permit must be submitted before your current permit expires.

If you have not applied for a new residence permit before the expiry of the permit, and you do not leave before the deadline for leaving the country, this may result in you being expelled from Norway/Schengen.

UDI and UNE have not suspended the duty to return to Russia (external website). This means that you will be required to return to Russia if UNE has rejected your appeal. If you believe there are factors that shed new light on your case, you may ask for a new evaluation of your case (request for reversal) (external website).

You must contact the police and request protection. You do not need a visa or a valid residence permit to apply for protection in Norway. You must be in Norway or on the Norwegian border to apply for protection. You must contact the Norwegian police to apply for protection.

Where do I find the police?

To apply for protection with the police, you can:

• tell the border police that you want to apply for protection (asylum),
• show up at the police station where you are, or
• show up at the National Arrivals Centre at Råde.

The police will help you with transportation to the National Arrival Centre. To register your application for protection, the National Police Immigration Service (NPIS) will have a conversation with you at the National Arrival Centre. You will receive a card that shows you have applied for protection.

Everyone has the right to apply for protection. You must be in Norway or at the Norwegian border to apply for protection.

Due to the war in Ukraine, there is an increase in the number of people applying for protection in Norway because of mandatory military service in Russia. In general, having to serve in the military in your home country, or the risk of facing punishment for evading military service, are not grounds for the granting of protection (or residence on humanitarian grounds) in Norway.

In any case, we always carry out a thorough, individual assessment of each application. Exceptions to the general rule may be granted if:
• an applicant risks facing unusual punishment as a reaction to factors outlined in the Refugee Convention (i.e. race, religion, political opinion).
• it is a matter of military service that entails taking part in war crimes, crimes against humanity or other serious crimes.

UDI has not reached a final decision on how to process applications from those seeking protection on the basis of miliary service in Russia. If you are applying on these grounds, you need to be prepared for the fact that your case may take longer than normal to process. We are unable to say how long you will have to wait, and we encourage you to continue checking our website for updates.

Other applications for protection (asylum) will be processed as normal. You can find information about waiting times on our webpage, Waiting times for those who have applied for protection (asylum).

No, you cannot submit an application for protection in Russia. You must be in Norway or on the Norwegian border to apply for protection in Norway. We cannot assist you with travelling out of Russia.

When you have applied for protection on an individual basis, your application is processed the same way as other applicants who receive an individual assessment. This means that your case will be assessed through a registration interview and an asylum interview. We make a concrete and individual assessment of your case.

UDI has not reached a final decision on how to process applications from those seeking protection on the basis of miliary service in Russia. If you are applying on these grounds, you need to be prepared for the fact that your case may take longer than normal to process. We are unable to say how long you will have to wait, and we encourage you to continue checking our website for updates.

Other applications for protection (asylum) will be processed as normal. You can find information about waiting times on our webpage, waiting times for those who have applied for protection (asylum).