How long does it take for EU citizens in Norway to get an appointment for permanent residence?
Recently, EU citizens have struggled with long-waiting times or a lack of available police appointments as part of their application for permanent residence in Norway.
If you have stayed in Norway as an EU/EEA national for at least five years, you can apply for a permanent right of residence.
As the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) points out on its website, this entitles you to stay and work in Norway indefinitely, and your family members may also be eligible.
When applying for permanent residence, the applicant will gather the necessary documents, fill out the online application form and then book an appointment with their local police district.
In late September, a reader of The Local, an EU citizen living in Bergen, got in touch telling us there were no available police appointments in Bergen when applying for permanent residence.
The applicant said that after clicking on the option that should offer an appointment time, the site responded with a message that said that there were no available times and that the user should visit the site at a later point in time to see if any time slots have opened up.
Section head Ingrid Dagestad at the National Police Directorate provided The Local with an overview of waiting times for appointment slots. The estimates were based on data from August, with waiting times ranging between two days and nine weeks depending on where one lived.
Below you can see an overview of the waiting times provided to The Local.
- Oslo Police District: eight weeks
- Eastern Police District: 55-98 days
- Innlandet Police District: one-seven weeks
- Southeastern Police District: 5 and a half weeks
- Agder Police District: three weeks
- Southwestern Police District: nine weeks
- Western Police District: five weeks
- Møre og Romsdal Police District: three-four weeks
- Trøndelag Police District: nine weeks
- Nordland Police District: three-five weeks
- Troms Police District: three weeks
- Finnmark Police District: two days
After the appointment, the police will then process the application and may forward it on to the Norwegian Immigration Directorate (UDI). You can find an overview of police processing times here.
Long waiting times for an appointment have been compounded by lengthy processing times for applications referred to the UDI.
The UDI has a notable application backlog that formed due to the pandemic, Assistant Director at the UDI, Hanne Brusethaug, told The Local.
Some applications sent from the police to the UDI dating back to June 1st, 2021, are yet to be processed.
"There are several reasons as to why these applications (applications that the police sent over to the UDI before June 1st, 2021) are being processed now. Unfortunately, the situation with the coronavirus made it difficult for the UDI to process applications from EU citizens and their family members within six months.
"Furthermore, we have received a larger number of applications in 2022 than expected, which is also believed to be a consequence of the pandemic," Brusethaug said.
Earlier this year, a number of foreign residents contacted The Local over long case processing times at the UDI. In some cases, applicants were left waiting more than 18 months for their case to be processed, while others saw their waiting time provided by the UDI increase month on month.
READ ALSO: Why some Norwegian residence applications take so long to process
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If you have stayed in Norway as an EU/EEA national for at least five years, you can apply for a permanent right of residence.
As the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) points out on its website, this entitles you to stay and work in Norway indefinitely, and your family members may also be eligible.
When applying for permanent residence, the applicant will gather the necessary documents, fill out the online application form and then book an appointment with their local police district.
In late September, a reader of The Local, an EU citizen living in Bergen, got in touch telling us there were no available police appointments in Bergen when applying for permanent residence.
The applicant said that after clicking on the option that should offer an appointment time, the site responded with a message that said that there were no available times and that the user should visit the site at a later point in time to see if any time slots have opened up.
Section head Ingrid Dagestad at the National Police Directorate provided The Local with an overview of waiting times for appointment slots. The estimates were based on data from August, with waiting times ranging between two days and nine weeks depending on where one lived.
Below you can see an overview of the waiting times provided to The Local.
- Oslo Police District: eight weeks
- Eastern Police District: 55-98 days
- Innlandet Police District: one-seven weeks
- Southeastern Police District: 5 and a half weeks
- Agder Police District: three weeks
- Southwestern Police District: nine weeks
- Western Police District: five weeks
- Møre og Romsdal Police District: three-four weeks
- Trøndelag Police District: nine weeks
- Nordland Police District: three-five weeks
- Troms Police District: three weeks
- Finnmark Police District: two days
After the appointment, the police will then process the application and may forward it on to the Norwegian Immigration Directorate (UDI). You can find an overview of police processing times here.
Long waiting times for an appointment have been compounded by lengthy processing times for applications referred to the UDI.
The UDI has a notable application backlog that formed due to the pandemic, Assistant Director at the UDI, Hanne Brusethaug, told The Local.
Some applications sent from the police to the UDI dating back to June 1st, 2021, are yet to be processed.
"There are several reasons as to why these applications (applications that the police sent over to the UDI before June 1st, 2021) are being processed now. Unfortunately, the situation with the coronavirus made it difficult for the UDI to process applications from EU citizens and their family members within six months.
"Furthermore, we have received a larger number of applications in 2022 than expected, which is also believed to be a consequence of the pandemic," Brusethaug said.
Earlier this year, a number of foreign residents contacted The Local over long case processing times at the UDI. In some cases, applicants were left waiting more than 18 months for their case to be processed, while others saw their waiting time provided by the UDI increase month on month.
READ ALSO: Why some Norwegian residence applications take so long to process
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