Want to apply Apply for citizenship for those who have previously been Norwegian citizens or held a Norwegian passport
There are special rules for applying for citizenship if you have previously been a Norwegian citizen or have had a Norwegian passport.
The applicant is the person who wishes to become a Norwegian citizen.
If you are a citizen of two or more countries, and one of them is an EU/EEA country, please choose the EU/EEA country.
What group do you belong to?
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Former Norwegian citizen under the age of 12 who have one Norwegian parent or apply together with one parent
If you hold a valid residence permit in Norway and live here on a permanent basis, you can apply for Norwegian citizenship.
If you or your child does not hold a residence permit, you must apply for one to be able to live in Norway. The most common way of doing this is by applying for family reunification.
Requirements for Norwegian citizenship
- You must have clarified your identity. As a rule, you are required to have presented a passport.
- You must be residing in Norway and intend to continue living here in the future.
- You must be permanently resident when you apply for Norwegian citizenship and when the application is processed.
- You must have stayed in Norway continuously for the past two years and have held residence permits that were each valid for at least one year (applies if you are over the age of two).
- This means that you cannot have been abroad for more than two months per calendar year during the past two years.
- Nor can you have stayed in Norway without a valid permit for more than two months in total during the past two years, reckoned from the date on which we make a decision in your case.
- If you are under the age of two when you apply, there is no residence period requirement, but you must have applied for or hold a residence permit before we make a decision in your case.
- Read more about how to calculate the length of your residence period.
- From 1 January 2020, it is not a requirement that you give up your original citizenship to become a Norwegian citizen. You can have one or more citizenships in addition to a Norwegian citizenship. Even so, if the country you are a citizen of now does not allow that you have more than one citizenship, you can still lose this citizenship when you become a Norwegian citizen.
You must make sure what the rules are in the country you are now a citizen of. You can for example look for information on an official website which belongs to the authorities in this country or ask an embassy.
You do not have to inform Norwegian authorities that you wish to keep your previous citizenship.
Exemptions from the requirements
- If you were given incorrect information by the Norwegian authorities and believed in good faith that you or your child would not lose your Norwegian citizenship, you may be granted an exemption from the above requirements.
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Former Norwegian citizen over the age of 12
If you hold a valid residence permit in Norway and live here on a permanent basis, you can apply for Norwegian citizenship.
If you or your child does not hold a residence permit, you must apply for one to be able to live in Norway. The most common way of doing this is by applying for family reunification.
Requirements for Norwegian citizenship
- You must pay an application fee.
- You must have clarified your identity. As a rule, you are required to have presented a passport.
- You must be over the age of 12.
- You must be residing in Norway and intend to continue living here in the future.
- You must be permanently resident when you apply for Norwegian citizenship and when the application is processed.
- You must have stayed in Norway continuously for the past two years and have held residence permits that were each valid for at least one year.
- This means that you cannot have been abroad for more than two months per calendar year during the past two years.
- Nor can you have stayed in Norway without a valid residence permit for more than two months in total during the past two years, reckoned from the date on which we make a decision in your case.
- If you are between 18 and 67 years old, you must meet the following requirements:
- You must have passed an oral test in Norwegian at level B1 at the minimum, or
- You must have passed an oral test in Norwegian at level A2 at the minimum, if you are:
- a stateless person
- over 55 years of age and came to Norway on the basis of an application for protection or as a resettled refugee, or
- over 55 years of age and receive disability benefits, and
- Passed a test in social studies in Norwegian or a citizenship test
- If you over the age of 15: You must order a criminal record certificate (external website), which you must hand in with the application. The certificate cannot be more than three months old when you meet for your appointment with the police to submit the application documents. Therefore, you must wait to apply for a criminal record certificate until you know when you have an appointment with the police. If you already have a criminal record certificate that is older than three months, you must apply for a new certificate before you have your appointment. If you have been convicted or fined by the police or if you are under investigation for a criminal offence, you might have to wait longer to become a Norwegian citizen.
- From 1 January 2020, it is not a requirement that you give up your original citizenship to become a Norwegian citizen. You can have one or more citizenships in addition to a Norwegian citizenship. Even so, if the country you are a citizen of now does not allow that you have more than one citizenship, you can still lose this citizenship when you become a Norwegian citizen.
You must make sure what the rules are in the country you are now a citizen of. You can for example look for information on an official website which belongs to the authorities in this country or ask an embassy.
You do not have to inform Norwegian authorities that you wish to keep your previous citizenship.
Exemptions from the requirements
- If you were given incorrect information by the Norwegian authorities and believed in good faith that you or your child would not lose your Norwegian citizenship, you may be granted an exemption from the above requirements.
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Have had a Norwegian passport without having had Norwegian citizenship
It may sometimes happen that someone is issued a Norwegian passport even though they are not a Norwegian citizen. If you have been issued a Norwegian passport and discover that you are not a Norwegian citizen, you must notify Norwegian authorities. You must also hand back the Norwegian passport to the police where you live. If you have had a Norwegian passport without having been Norwegian, you may apply for Norwegian citizenship without paying a fee.
Requirements
- You must have had a Norwegian passport.
- You must have believed in good faith that you therefore were a Norwegian citizen.
- You must normally live in Norway, but you may also apply if you live abroad.