Norway

Last Updated: 2026-03-31

Official Portal: UDI — Norwegian Directorate of Immigration

Embassy Finder: Norwegian Diplomatic Missions

Quick Facts

Category	Details
Residency for naturalization	7 years within the last 10 years (at least 12 months continuously before application)
Language requirement	Norwegian or Sami — completion of 300 hours of approved language training, or documented skills at A2/B1 level
Civics test	Must pass the citizenship test (statsborgerskapsprove) or complete 50 hours of social studies instruction in Norwegian
Processing time	6—12 months
Naturalization fee	NOK 3,900 (approximately EUR 340)
Dual citizenship	Fully permitted since 1 January 2020
Citizenship by birth in Norway	No jus soli — birth in Norway alone does not confer citizenship
Citizenship by birth (descent)	Automatic for children of Norwegian citizens (jus sanguinis)
Governing law	Lov om norsk statsborgerskap — Norwegian Nationality Act (statsborgersloven, 2005, amended 2020)

Dual Citizenship

Norway fully permits dual citizenship since 1 January 2020, when amendments to the Norwegian Nationality Act entered into force. This was a major reform.

Pre-2020 Rule: Norway required applicants to renounce all prior citizenships before naturalizing. Norwegian citizens who voluntarily acquired a foreign nationality automatically lost their Norwegian citizenship. This caused significant hardship for the diaspora and immigrant communities.

Post-2020 Rule:

Persons naturalizing in Norway are no longer required to renounce their existing nationality.
Norwegian citizens who acquire a foreign nationality no longer lose their Norwegian citizenship.
The reform is not retroactive — persons who lost Norwegian citizenship before 1 January 2020 by acquiring another nationality do not automatically regain it. They must apply for re-acquisition under a simplified procedure (see Restoration of Nationality below).

Important note: Norway is an EEA member (via the European Economic Area Agreement) and a Schengen member, but it is not a member of the European Union. Norwegian citizens do not hold EU citizenship, but they enjoy freedom of movement within the EEA/Schengen area for work, study, and residence.

Acquisition of Nationality

By Birth

Norway follows pure jus sanguinis — there is no jus soli. Being born on Norwegian territory does not in itself confer citizenship.

A child acquires Norwegian citizenship at birth if:

The mother is a Norwegian citizen (regardless of where the child is born).
The father is a Norwegian citizen and is married to the mother at the time of birth.
The father is a Norwegian citizen, the parents are not married, but paternity is established under Norwegian law (applies to children born on or after 1 September 2006).

By Descent

For children born abroad to Norwegian parents:

Citizenship is automatic and there is no generational limit under current law — unlike some countries, Norway does not require registration of births abroad to preserve citizenship by descent.
However, persons who hold Norwegian citizenship solely by descent and have never resided in Norway may face practical issues with documentation (passport issuance requires proof of citizenship).

By Adoption

A child under 18 adopted by a Norwegian citizen acquires Norwegian citizenship automatically if the adoption was granted or recognized by Norwegian authorities. This applies to both domestic and intercountry adoptions recognized under the Adoption Act.

By Marriage

Marriage to a Norwegian citizen does not confer citizenship. However, spouses and registered partners may benefit from a combined residency calculation:

The applicant needs 7 years of residence in Norway within the last 10 years, BUT the residency requirement can be reduced to 3 years of actual residence if the applicant has been married to and lived with a Norwegian citizen for at least 7 years combined (marriage + residence total = 7 years).
All other requirements (language, civics, self-sufficiency, no criminal record) still apply.

By Naturalization

Requirement	Details
Lawful residence	7 of the last 10 years in Norway, including 12 continuous months immediately before application
Age	12 years or older (children under 12 apply through parents)
Language	300 hours of approved Norwegian language training, or documented proficiency (A2 oral for those over 55; B1 otherwise)
Civics knowledge	Pass the citizenship test (statsborgerskapsprove) or complete 50 hours of social studies in Norwegian
Identity	Documented and verified identity (passport, national ID)
No criminal record	Waiting periods apply based on severity: fines = 2 years; imprisonment = variable up to 15+ years
Financial self-sufficiency	No explicit income threshold, but applicants should not be dependent on social assistance
Renunciation of prior citizenship	Not required (since 1 January 2020)
Fee	NOK 3,900 (adults); free for children under 18

Nordic fast track: Citizens of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden benefit from a reduced residency requirement of 2 years of continuous residence in Norway.

Loss and Renunciation

Voluntary renunciation: A Norwegian citizen may renounce citizenship by submitting a notification to UDI, provided they hold another nationality. No approval is required — renunciation takes effect upon receipt of the notification.

Automatic loss (pre-2020): Before 1 January 2020, Norwegian citizenship was automatically lost upon voluntary acquisition of a foreign nationality. This ground for loss was abolished by the 2020 reform.

Remaining grounds for involuntary loss:

Ground	Details
Reaching age 22 without sufficient connection	A person born abroad who acquired Norwegian citizenship at birth and has never resided in Norway (or a total of 2 years before age 22) may lose citizenship at age 22 unless they apply for retention before that date. This is the most common form of involuntary loss.
Fraud	Citizenship obtained through false identity or fraudulent information may be revoked.

Restoration of Nationality

The 2020 reform introduced a simplified re-acquisition procedure for former Norwegian citizens who lost citizenship by acquiring a foreign nationality before 1 January 2020:

Submit a notification (not a full application) to UDI.
No residency, language, or civics requirement.
The person must currently hold a valid foreign citizenship (not stateless).
Available to both the person who lost citizenship and, in some cases, their descendants who never acquired Norwegian citizenship due to the parent’s loss.

For all other former citizens, restoration requires a standard naturalization application with possible discretionary waiver of certain requirements, particularly the residency period.

Stateless Persons and Foundlings

Norway is a party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

Stateless persons born in Norway who have resided there for 5 years may acquire citizenship by notification (a simplified procedure, not full naturalization).
A foundling discovered in Norway is presumed to be a Norwegian citizen.
Stateless children born in Norway may acquire citizenship with a reduced residency requirement if they would otherwise remain stateless.

Document Checklist

Completed citizenship application (submitted via UDI online portal or paper form)

Valid passport or national identity document

Birth certificate (apostilled and translated into Norwegian or English)

Marriage certificate (if applicable)

Documentation of 7 years lawful residence (residence permits, tax records, population register extracts)

Proof of language training (300 hours certificate from approved provider) or language test results

Citizenship test (statsborgerskapsprove) pass certificate or 50-hour social studies completion

Police clearance certificate from Norway (obtained by UDI automatically) and from other countries of residence

UDI fee payment receipt (NOK 3,900)

Biometric passport photos

Documentation of identity verification (if identity has been questioned)

Sources

Lov om norsk statsborgerskap (statsborgersloven) — Norwegian Nationality Act, as amended 1 January 2020. https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/2005-06-10-51
UDI — Norwegian Directorate of Immigration — Citizenship application guidance. https://www.udi.no/en/want-to-apply/citizenship/
Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security — Policy on nationality law reform. https://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/jd/
Norwegian Missions Abroad — Consular services for citizenship matters. https://www.norway.no/en/missions/
Global Citizenship Observatory (GLOBALCIT) — Norway country profile. https://globalcit.eu/
UNHCR — Refworld — Norway nationality law and statelessness. https://www.refworld.org/

Norway.no

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