Why foreigners with Norwegian partners are more likely to become citizens
Your choice to apply for Norwegian citizenship and stay in the country may be determined by the nationality of your spouse, according to data from Statistics Norway (SSB).
The bureau has assessed the citizenship status of the 850,000 foreigners who moved to Norway between 2005 and 2019. Of these, about 100,000 have become Norwegian citizens.
Foreign nationals married to a Norwegian will tend to obtain Norwegian citizenship within four years, compared to seven years for those without a Norwegian spouse, the report shows.
The reason is linked to the fact that having a Norwegian spouse may make you eligible for citizenship in a shorter amount of time.
Nearly everybody who become a Norwegian citizen (95 percent) has also chosen to remain in Norway. For those who do not change their citizenship, one in three have left the country.
Norway has long denied people the possibility of dual citizenship. In order for people to become Norwegian citizens, they have therefore had to forfeit their other citizenship. This constraint, however, was lifted one year ago. SSB believes a higher number of foreign nationals may now want to get Norwegian citizenship.
Other factors also impacted on citizenship status. The SSB data reveals that only 1-3 percent of foreigners who moved to Norway for work or studies were Norwegian citizens by 2019, compared to 12 percent for people who moved to the country to reunite with their family.
For refugees, however, the number is much higher. In fact, a quarter of this group have become Norwegian citizens.
READ ALSO: Meet the foreigners in Norway still waiting for dual citizenship
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The bureau has assessed the citizenship status of the 850,000 foreigners who moved to Norway between 2005 and 2019. Of these, about 100,000 have become Norwegian citizens.
Foreign nationals married to a Norwegian will tend to obtain Norwegian citizenship within four years, compared to seven years for those without a Norwegian spouse, the report shows.
The reason is linked to the fact that having a Norwegian spouse may make you eligible for citizenship in a shorter amount of time.
Nearly everybody who become a Norwegian citizen (95 percent) has also chosen to remain in Norway. For those who do not change their citizenship, one in three have left the country.
Norway has long denied people the possibility of dual citizenship. In order for people to become Norwegian citizens, they have therefore had to forfeit their other citizenship. This constraint, however, was lifted one year ago. SSB believes a higher number of foreign nationals may now want to get Norwegian citizenship.
Other factors also impacted on citizenship status. The SSB data reveals that only 1-3 percent of foreigners who moved to Norway for work or studies were Norwegian citizens by 2019, compared to 12 percent for people who moved to the country to reunite with their family.
For refugees, however, the number is much higher. In fact, a quarter of this group have become Norwegian citizens.
READ ALSO: Meet the foreigners in Norway still waiting for dual citizenship
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