No, your case will be dismissed if you leave Norway.

If you travel without a valid passport or residence card, you may run into difficulties at the airport or other border crossings. You may experience problems trying to travel into another country and when trying to travel back to Norway.

Norwegian authorities cannot provide any assistance to help you to return to Norway if you travel abroad and have difficulties returning.

Yes, you may travel out of Norway while you have collective protection.

You cannot travel to Ukraine without it having potential consequences for your residence permit.

Please note that you must stay in Norway for at least half of the time you have a permit. If you have been outside Norway for more than 6 months over the course of the past year when you had collective protection, UDI will consider revoking your permit.

• a valid passport/immigrant’s passport/refugee travel document, and
• a valid residence card

• you have a different type of residence permit to stay in Norway 
• you are waiting for the decision on a different application for residency in Norway
• you have stayed in the Schengen area for less than 90 days 

No. When you have been granted temporary collective protection in Norway, your permit will be valid until it expires. UDI cannot cancel your residence permit even if you leave Norway. But we will not extend your permit if you have moved outside Norway.

It is important that you report your move to the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten) (eksternt nettsted) so that we also know you have moved.

You can no longer travel back and forth between Ukraine and Norway if you have been granted collective protection, at least not without consequences for your residence permit. Your residence permit may be revoked if you travel to Ukraine without a valid reason. There are very few reasons for travelling to Ukraine that will be approved.

This applies from and including 12 December 2023. The changes also apply if you were granted temporary collective protection before 12 December 2023.

What happens if I travel back to Ukraine?

If you visit your home country, you show the Norwegian authorities that you may no longer need protection in Norway. Therefore, UDI will consider whether you should lose your residence permit.

If we receive information that you have been to Ukraine, we will open a case to consider whether you should lose your residence permit. You will receive notice that we have opened such a case. You will then have the opportunity to explain why you have travelled. UDI will look at the reason why you went home before we decide whether you should lose your permit. This process may take a long time.

If we decide that you will lose your residence permit, you will receive a decision letter. The decision letter states why we are revoking your residence permit. You can appeal the decision.

If you receive a notice that we are opening a case or a decision on revocation, you have the right to have the costs of a lawyer covered. You must contact a lawyer yourself. You may find some examples on this website (external website)

You have the right to see the documents in your case. If you want to see the documents, you can request access.

Read more about what happens when we consider whether you should lose your permit here.

I really need to travel to Ukraine. Will I lose my residence permit if I go?

You can return to Ukraine if you have a legitimate purpose for the trip. By legitimate purpose, we mean a short visit to do something strictly necessary, such as visiting a close relative who is seriously ill or attending the funeral of a close family member.

The threshold for UDI considering a trip’s purpose to be legitimate is very high, and only exceptional situations will be accepted.

UDI cannot pre-approve the trip. This means that we cannot approve the purpose of your trip before you travel.

If you travel and the UDI opens up a case to consider revoking your residence permit, you will be given a chance to explain or present documentation, for example medical records for a family member who has fallen ill.

What happens if my residence permit is revoked?

If you lose your collective-protection status in Norway, you also lose the right to be granted collective protection again. There will be a number of ramifications in terms of your rights in Norway.

• You have to notify the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten) (eksternt nettsted) if you want to move out of Norway.
• If you taking part in an introduction programme or going to school, you should inform your municipality and your school.
• You can apply for support to move back (repatriation).

• You have to notify the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten) (eksternt nettsted) if you want to move out of Norway.
• If you taking part in an introduction programme or going to school, you should inform your municipality and your school.
• It is your responsibility to ensure that you can enter the country you want to move to, and to check the requirements for getting a residence permit there.

Ukrainians with collective protection in Norway who wish to move back to Ukraine can apply for repatriation.

You cannot receive financial support after you have left Norway. To be eligible to receive financial support, you must have done the following:

• applied for financial support for voluntary return
• sent UDI information about the itinerary and transport home, a copy of tickets for the return journey or a self-declaration about the use of a private car
• notified the National Population Registry that you are moving
• informed UDI about your Norwegian bank account number
• received a decision that you will receive support for return from UDI

Yes, you can come back to Norway if you want.

Norwegian authorities are not able to help you with transport or financial assistance if you are returning to Norway.

The below information is for those whose permit will still be valid when they return.

If you have been rejected an extension of your collective protection permit or your permit has expired, this may have consequences for your stay in Norway.

Please, contact your municipality or reception centre

If you were settled in a municipality before you left Norway, you need to contact the municipality when you return.

You might have lost some of the rights you had before you left such as finanical support, the offering of an introduction programme and your living accommodations. UDI is unable to provide information about your rights in the municipality.

If you did not receive a settlement offer before you left, you do have the right to stay in a reception centre. If you have lived in a reception centre before, you are to contact UDI in the same region where the reception centre you previously lived in was located.

You will normally be placed in the same reception centre where you lived previously. If there is no room in the same centre, you will be offered accommodation in a different centre.

If you have not stayed in a reception centre before, please contact the Unit for Arrival and Transit (ATE), which will find a spot for you in a reception centre.

If you declined a municipality's settlement offer before you left you do not have the right to stay in a reception centre. 

You must report your move to the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten)

When you moved out of Norway, you had to notify the Tax Administration of your move. When you move back to Norway, you will need to contact the Tax Administration again and report your move (external website). The Tax Administration will re-register you in the National Population Register (Folkeregisteret).

Did you receive any financial assistance to move back to Ukraine (repatriation grant)?

If you received a repatriation grant to return to Ukraine, you will have to pay back part or all of the money you received when you left. How much you will have to pay depends on how long you were back in your home country.

Rates for the repayment of repatriation grants:

If you are moving back to Norway because you had to flee from harassment in your home country, you can apply for an exemption from grant repayment.