From 1 January 2024, those who want to be accomodated in an asylum reception centre must register their application for protection at the National Arrival Centre, which is located in Råde municipality.

We cannot offer you a place to stay until you have registered at the National Arrival Centre. Accommodation or transport to the National Arrival Centre will no longer be offered to refugees from Ukraine who have travelled to other parts of Norway. This means that you must pay for and organise transport to the National Arrival Centre. Unaccompanied minors or other vulnerable persons may be provided assistance in travelling to the National Arrival Centre. Exceptions can also be made if there is a danger to the person's life and health. The requirement to register at the National Arrival Centre does not apply to asylum seekers who arrive in Norway at the Storskog border crossing point.

If you have found a place to live in Norway, where you can live at your own expense after your application has been registered, you can choose to register your application for protection at the National Arrival Centre or at the police registration points in Kirkenes, Trondheim, Bergen, Jæren and Torp.

You can find more information about registration points on the Police website (external website).

Which place you register at has no bearing on where you will be offered a reception place or where you will be offered to live if you are granted protection in Norway.

If you have fled the war in Ukraine and applied for protection in Norway, it is the immigration authorities who decide whether your application is to be included in a group assessment or whether it is to be assessed individually. Applications that are assessed as part of the group assessment may grant you collective protection, while applications that are assessed individually may grant you protection (asylum) on ordinary terms.

• have an interview with the police
• provide fingerprints and a photo
• hand over your passport and other ID documents to the police
• be tested for tuberculosis
• meet with Caritas, who will inform you of your rights and obligations
• receive clothing and footwear

• 3 meals a day. Children will receive fruit and yoghurt in between the main meals
• Food appropriate for babies/children
• Package of clothing and footwear
• Personal hygiene items
• Toilet and shower access
• Access to a washing machine for clothes
• 24-hour workforce (personnel is available at all times)
• Access to healthcare when needed
• Access to a small exercise room used for training or table tennis
• Dedicated areas for children to watch cartoons, draw, do crafts or play with toys
• Volunteer organisations come almost every day to set up handicraft activities for children and adults, and Norwegian language training for those who choose to participate

Although the centre is surrounded by fences, you are free to exit and reenter as you wish; you will not be locked inside the National Arrival Centre.

Read more about the different activities you will go through at the arrival centre. 

When you apply for protection, you will go through multiple steps as part of the registration process. You will stay at the National Arrival Centre until you have completed several registration activities. Normally, you will stay at the National Arrival Centre for a short period of time. The registration activities are part of the process of applying for protection.

Examples of registration activities:

• registering your application   
• establishing your identity

Read more about the different activities you will go through at the arrival centre.   

You do not need to be at the National Arrival Centre all the time. You are free to leave when you want, but you must be back by 11:00 p.m. We recommend that you stay there until you have completed all the necessary activities. If you leave the National Arrival Centre before the finishing the process, the entire application process might come to a halt. It may then take longer for you to receive an answer to your application.

It is voluntary to stay at the National Arrival Centre and in asylum reception centres. If you already have somewhere you can stay, you may choose to live there. We do recommend that you stay at the National Arrival Centre until you have completed the following activities:

• Registration of application 
• Identification of identity
• Tuberculosis test

If you leave the National Arrival Centre before completing the process, the application process might come to a halt. It may then take longer for you to receive an answer to your application.

If you choose to stay in private housing

Until 15 February 2024 there was an application scheme for Ukrainians who wanted to live in a temporary alternative to an asylum reception centre or emergency accommodation.

This scheme has been discontinued and it is no longer possible to apply.

It is still possible to apply under the standard scheme for alternative accommodation to reception centres, but this scheme is limited. You can apply under this scheme if you meet the requirements of the scheme and have particular needs that cannot be met in an ordinary reception centre. It is also required that a municipality agrees to be responsible both for arranging a housing offer and for following up on your needs. Municipalities are not obligated to participate in the alternative accommodation scheme.

You will find information about eligibility requirements and how to apply here.

You are entitled to health care from a doctor or hospital and the right to receive certain types of medication. If you need medical attention, you can contact a doctor where you live. If you have children, they have the right to go to school. 

No. The place where your application was registered does not affect the decision on your case. The place where your application was registered does not affect where you will be offered a place in an asylum reception centre, nor will it affect where you will be offered a place to stay if you are granted protection in Norway.

If you register in any other location than Øst Police District, and your case requires further investigation, you will be transported to the National Arrival Centre to be registered there.

If you have brought your pet from abroad, your pet must be checked at the border by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority must control all pets that come to Norway to minimise the risk of spreading deadly diseases, such as rabies, to humans and other animals in Norway.

As of 1 July 2023, pets brought into Norway from Ukraine are subject to the standard requirements regarding microchipping, rabies vaccination, blood testing, tapeworm treatment and health certificates.

Pets coming to Norway from 1 July that do not meet the animal health requirements must be kept in quarantine paid for by the pet owner, returned directly to Ukraine or euthanised.

You can read more about bringing pets from abroad on the Norwegian Food Safety Authority's website (external website).

If your pet was not checked at the border when you arrived, you must immediately contact the Norwegian Food Safety Authority by telephone: +47 22 40 00 00.

Here you can find information in English and Ukrainian about financial help from the Norwegian Society for Protection of Animals (pdf, 2,3 MB).

As a clear main rule, you are as the pet owner responsible for your own pets.

The vast majority of animals coming to Norway from Ukraine do not arrive in accordance with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority's guidelines and must therefore be quarantined.

You will find information on how to register with the local police here (external website). 

The police will electronically collect information about you and register your fingerprints. When talking to the police, they will register you as an asylum seeker. If you have a passport or other identity documents, you are to give them to the police for scanning.

Once you have submitted your ID documents to the police, the police will send your application to UDI. You will receive a confirmation by e-mail when UDI has received your application.

In certain cases, some additional investigation by the police or UDI may be required. If this applies to you, the local police may send your application to the National Police Immigration Service (NPIS) or to UDI for this purpose. We will notify you if the NPIS or UDI needs to talk to you.

The local police where you live will not be able to register your application if you: 

• do not have ID documents, or 
• hold multiple citizenships, or 
• have a residence permit in another country, or
• have a residence permit as a refugee in Ukraine, or 
• are younger than 18 and applying alone (without your parents) 

If any of the above criteria apply, your application must be registered at the National Arrival Centre. 

If you have not been to a tuberculosis examination yet, you must do so. This may not happen while you wait to be registered.

If you live privately, you can contact the municipal health service for information on how to take the tuberculosis examination.

Once you have received a d-number, you can get health services if you need them.

You who live privately are invited to participate in a digital information meeting with Caritas Norway. Caritas is an independent organisation that is not part of the Norwegian authorities. They will provide you with information about the asylum process and your rights and obligations as an asylum seeker.

At the meeting you will receive information about:

• Collective protection in Norway
• Who you meet when you apply for protection
• Life at an asylum reception centre and information for those who live privately
• Your rights and obligations as an asylum seeker
• The introduction program and what you will do if you are granted collective protection

The information is tailored to you who have applied for collective protection. You will have the opportunity to ask questions during the meeting.

The meetings are digital and conducted as a webinar by a Ukrainian/Russian-speaking adviser.

Sign up for a meeting by registering here (external website).

You will be contacted by an adviser and sent a link to the meeting.