Residence permit

Has your application for temporary or permanent residence permit been rejected?

If your application for residence permit has been rejected, Jussformidlingen may look into your case. If we find legal grounds for an appeal, we may also assist you in the appeal process. However, we cannot provide help in the application process.

If you intend to stay in Norway for a longer period than three months, you must have a residence permit. If you are granted a residence permit, it gives you the right to live and travel in Norway. Normally, you can also travel in and out of the country without a visa requirement upon reentry. If you have a work permit in Norway, you automatically have the right to stay. However, a residence permit does not grant an automatic right to work, as that requires an independent permit from the UDI. If you stay in the country without a valid residence permit, you may be deported and banned from the country for a certain amount of time.

A temporary residence permit must, as a main rule, be granted prior to entry into Norway. This means that the application for residence permit must be processed from abroad and that the applicant must wait until a permit is granted to enter the country. If you already reside inside Norwegian territory, you can, in some circumstances, be granted a preliminary residence permit until your application is processed by the authorities.

The right to reside in Norway as a foreigner is regulated by the Immigration Act (utlendingsloven). There are many different grounds for granting a residence permit. A residence permit can be granted on the basis of family reunification, education, work, asylum protection or on an independent basis. In order to apply for a permanent residence permit, you must among other things, have had a temporary residence permit for at least three years. With a permanent residence permit you have extra protection against being deported and you can live and work in Norway indefinitely.

With the exception of refugees, there is an important condition for anyone applying for a permit in Norway. This is the condition of income and housing, which is based on the principle of self-sufficiency, where the applicant must be able to manage financially on his own without support from public services. Such income must be documented through imported resources or future salary that is considered sufficient enough to provide for oneself.

If a residence permit is granted, it applies only if the conditions on which you applied for persists. The UDI can recall the residence permit if the conditions change, and find legal grounds to do so. You may then reapply for a new residence permit on the basis of other conditions.

Family immigration

Has your application for family immigration been rejected?

If your application for family immigration has been rejected, Jussformidlingen may look into your case. If we find legal grounds for an appeal, we may also assist you in the appeal process. However, we cannot assist you in the application process.

Family immigration is a form of residence permit that is granted on the basis of the applicant’s association with the person of reference. The person of reference is the person the applicant wishes to be reunited with or to establish a family life with.

The right to family immigration is regulated in the Immigration Act (utlendingsloven) Chapter 6, which provides a list of all the possible grounds for lawful family immigration. Two conditions must be fulfilled: the person of reference must have a valid residence permit and he or she must fulfill the maintenance requirements.   From the date of the decision the person of reference needs to have a certain level of income. This assessment concerns whether the person of reference has earned enough money in the past year and whether or not he is likely to earn enough in the upcoming year. It is, therefore, not sufficient to show that the person of reference income will be satisfactory in the future. In some cases exceptions can be made. The other conditions for family immigration are listed in the specific statutes.

The right to residence after Chapter 6 can be denied if it is likely that the marriage is entered against the will of one of the two parties. In our experience, the UDI places particular emphasis on the age difference between the applicant and the person of reference, as well as the culture in their home country in the assessment of whether the marriage was entered against the will of one of the parties. It can be difficult to prove that the marriage is voluntary if there is a significant age difference, and the applicant or person of reference is from a country with a culture that endorses forced marriage.

In addition the marriage must meet the requirements that constitute a legal marriage in the country the couple became married. In other words if the marriage is not recognized in the country of origin it will not be legal in Norway, and can therefore not be used as a legal basis for right to residence.

In order to obtain a residence permit, one must also be able to document the basis for the application, for example with a birth certificate or a marriage certificate. UDI requires that such documents are attested from the right authority. UDI can demand a legal marriage certificate. This means that it in some cases is required that the documents have an apostille stamp that verifies the origin of the documents. It is important to know that it is the applicant’s responsibility to prove that the conditions for family immigration are met, and if there is any doubt UDI/UNE will conclude on what is most probable.

If a residence permit is granted, it applies only for a limited period. If conditions change, UDI may also recall the residence permit. You may then reapply for a new residence permit on the basis of other conditions.

Norwegian citizenship

Has your application for Norwegian citizenship been rejected?

If your application for Norwegian citizenship has been rejected, Jussformidlingen may look into your case. If we find legal grounds for an appeal, we may also assist you in the appeal process. However, we cannot assist you in the application process.

A citizenship is a legal bond between a person and a state. A norwegian citizenship entails, among other things, the right to live and work in the country, the possibility to vote in elections and provides the opportunity to own a Norwegian passport.

The right to a Norwegian citizenship is regulated by the Citizenship Act (statsborgerloven), where Statute 7 is the most important for new applicants. Some important conditions are that the person is twelve years of age or older, has stayed in the country for at least seven of the last ten years and meets the Norwegian language and social knowledge requirements.

However, an application for citizenship under Statute 7 might be rejected if the applicant has been subject to penalties or criminal sanctions, or if the citizenship will affect national interests or Norwegian foreign policy.

In order to obtain Norwegian citizenship, one must also have his or her identity clarified and fulfill the conditions for permanent residence permit in accordance with Statute 62 of the Immigration Act (utlendingsloven). This Statute states that one of the conditions for citizenship is that the person have been self-sufficient for the past twelve months.

If you meet the requirements set out in the Citizenship Act and the Immigration Act, a Norwegian citizenship is normally permanent. However, there is still a possibility that the citizenship can be recalled, for instance if the State can prove that the applicant has withheld information or given incorrect information on matters of great importance at the time the application was granted, see Statute 26 of the Citizenship Act.

Temporary rules regarding travels to Norway

Due to the situation with covid-19 there are more questions regarding travels to Norway from foreign countries. If you are visa free, meaning you are not obligated to apply for a visa before entering Norway, you are allowed to travel and apply for family immigration. In that case, you need to prepare yourself to sit in quarantine for some time. If you travel from a country, or through a country that is marked as a red country by norwegian government, you are obligated to sit in quarantine. As of the 11th of January the quarantine period is 10 days. The rules for quarantine and prohibition against entry are changing frequently. Therefore, we encourage the applicants to check the rules before travelling. You can read more about prohibition against entry and quarantine-rules on link: https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/Koronasituasjonen/sporsmal-og-svar-om-koronasituasjonen/sporsmal-og-svar-om-reisekarantene/id2702867/.

If your application for family immigration has been granted, and you are prohibited against entering Norway, you should await a confirmation from UDI/UNE before travelling. There may occur problems if you travel without a letter of confirmation. This will apply even if you are visa-free.

In some cases the applicant is required to have a visa, and then you cannot travel to Norway before you are granted a visa. This will apply even though you have been granted a residence permit, as long as the residence card has not been issued. We want to make applicants aware that even though you are granted a visa, there will still be rules regarding prohibition against entering and rules for quarantine. Read more about these rules at the mentioned link.

Contact us

Jussformidlingen offers free legal aid, and free legal assistance to private individuals. We can help you no matter where you live.

Telephone:
55 58 96 00

Address:
Sydneshaugen 10
5007 Bergen