Adults and families with children who have applied for protection (asylum)

Information about waiting times for families with children and adults who have applied for protection (asylum)

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If you plan to move to a private address

We recommend staying at the National Arrival Centre until the police and UDI have completed your registration and interviews. You risk having to wait for a longer time for an answer to your application if you move before completing your registration and before having follow-up conversations with the police and the interview with UDI. This is especially important to consider if you have traveled to Norway with children and have not yet had your asylum interview with UDI, since we give priority to families with children staying at the National Arrival Centre.

We are currently working on the following cases

There are many applicants who have been waiting a long time for an answer to their applications for protection. We know that it is difficult to wait, so for the rest of the year we will be giving priority to the oldest of applications. We will be working on the applications for those of you who arrived in 2022 or earlier. This applies both to families and to those who arrived alone.

We have close to 750 applications from 2022 which we have not processed yet, and not all of these will be decided before the new year. As a general rule, we will be processing the oldest cases first.

We at UDI are working to shorten the waiting times. We will provide you with regular updates on what we are working with and how far along we have come.

Why do some applicants receive an answer before others?

There are many people seeking protection. UDI cannot manage to process all these applications right away. Applications from certain groups of applicants need to be processed sooner than others. This includes:

  • applications processed in accordance with the Dublin regulation, which most often entails that the applicants have to travel to a different European country to have their applications processed.
  • those who, in UDI’s estimation, clearly do not need protection because they come from a safe country, for example.
  • applications from families with children, and applications from children who arrived without parents or responsible adults.

It is also UDI’s aim to interview as many applicants as possible while they are at the National arrival centre. This is to help to reduce the waiting times in the long run. We interview applicants from prioritised groups first.

If you are not part any of these groups, it can take a long time before you are interviewed, and your application processed. This does not mean anything is wrong with your case, and we have not forgotten you.

How we process your case at UDI

What happens at the National arrival centre?

Anyone applying for protection in Norway must first register their application at the National arrival centre. The length of stay at the arrival centre is short because there must be room for newcomers. UDI’s goal is to interview most new applicants and process their applications while they are at the arrival centre. Since so many people have come in recent years to seek asylum, we have not managed to do so. Most applicants have to move to an ordinary asylum reception centre where they wait for their interviews and an answer to their applications.

Applicants have no choice or influence in the matter of whether they will be interviewed while at the National arrival centre. It all depends on how many people have applied for protection at the same time.

If you have to move into an ordinary reception centre before UDI can interview at the arrival centre, you should be prepared that it may take a long time before you are called in for your interview and before you receive an answer regarding your application for protection.

It makes no difference for your waiting time if the reception centre you live in is in one part of Norway or another. If you are staying in a private living accommodation, it is very important that you provide your address and other contact details so that UDI can reach you for your interview and with the answer regarding your application.

What happens with your case at UDI while you wait?

When an application for protection comes into UDI, it is placed in a queue until one of our case officers has time to process the case. This means that your case will not be handled by a specific case officer at UDI until you are called in for your interview. No cases are forgotten.

Why does it take so long to get an interview?

The asylum interview is necessary for UDI to be able to assess your application for protection. It is the most important opportunity you have to explain your reasons for why you need protection. UDI allocates a lot of time for asylum interviews and each case requires a good amount of planning and resources. As such, it takes us a long time to interview everyone who comes to Norway.

How long does it take to receive an answer after the interview?

In most cases, UDI is able to provide an answer fairly soon after an interview. Sometimes, however, we need more time to look into a case. We may need to look more closely at information in a case, or we might need to find out more about the situation in your home country before we can process your case. In such cases, it can take longer to receive an answer after an interview, but everyone will receive an answer.  

Is there anything I need to remember to do?

If you have any identity documents that you have not given to the police, you need to hand them in as soon as possible.

  • If you have original identity documents, you are to hand them in to your local police district.
  • If you have copies and photos, you are to send these to UDI.

It is important that UDI have all the documents in your case before your interview takes place. In this way, you can help to avoid your case taking longer than necessary.

What information regarding waiting times can UDI give you?

There are many people who contact UDI to ask about the waiting time for their cases. We are not able to provide any other information about waiting times over the phone other than what is published on udi.no – that is, in this letter.

The people answering as part of UDI’s information service are the same people who process the cases. If we need more information from you to process your case, we will contact you.   

In order to have time to process more cases, UDI’s information service is closed on Wednesdays.

Can I request priority?

There are very few applications that can be given priority. To request priority, you must send us a detailed explanation and documentation, such as a doctor’s certificate. Select the alternative that best describes your situation for more information about priority.

Information updates

This information was updated on 1 September 2024.

We will provide an update on 15 November 2024 or before if the situation changes significantly.