Somalis who apply for Norwegian citizenship must have a Somali passport


If you are applying for Norwegian citizenship after 1 January 2019, it is now a requirement that you have a passport from Somalia. If you do not already have a Somali passport, you must get one now.

Published: 13.12.2018

Who do not need to get a Somali passport?

You do not need to get a Somali passport if you

  • are born in Norway, or
  • came to Norway when you were under the age of 18 and one of your parents is already a Norwegian citizen, or
  • have a residence permit because you have a need for protection (you have a green refugee travel document)

If none of these three situations apply to you, you must get a Somali passport. 

If you are going to apply for Norwegian citizenship

When you hand in an application for citizenship, you must bring along your passport and copies of all the other used pages in your passport to your appointment with the police.

You must also fulfil all the other criteria for applying for Norwegian citizenship.

You should not book an appointment with the police for handing in your documents until after you have got your Somali passport.

If you have already booked an appointment, you should change the date, so that you have enough time to get a Somali passport before you go to the police. You change your appointment by logging into the Application Portal. (external website)

If you have already applied for Norwegian citizenship

If you have already submitted the application for citizenship to the police before 1 January 2019, there is no requirement that you must obtain a Somali passport for the application. You need to obtain a Somali passport if you are going to travel while waiting for a response to your application.

Do you need an immigrant’s passport in order to get a Somali passport?

If you need an immigrant’s passport so that you can travel abroad to get a Somali passport, you can apply for this, please see information about getting a Somali passport.

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