The older we all get, the more time and effort we spend thinking about where we’d like to settle down.

Norwegian citizenship helps boost your options as you’ll have the right to live in Norway and be a member of the national insurance scheme indefinitely.

Those who would hold dual citizenship if they become Norwegian may benefit from gaining the rights of EEA citizens, too.

READ ALSO: Six surprising Norwegian citizenship rules you should know about

Why Norwegian citizenship may be easier the older you are

Well, firstly, you can be subject to slightly easier language requirements – or they may not apply at all.

Applicants over age 67 do not need to meet the language requirement to pass an oral Norwegian test at the B1 level. CEFR-level B1 means the language user can enter unprepared into conversation on topics that are familiar, of personal interest, or pertinent to everyday life.

Those over 55 also face less strict requirements. They simply need to pass the language exam at the A2 level. This level means users can handle very short social exchanges, even if they can’t usually understand enough to keep the conversation going.

Being able to bypass these exams makes citizenship a lot more appealing and more obtainable.

Another perk of being older is that you will be more likely to meet the other requirements. For starters, the older you are, the more likely you are to be in a long-term relationship, which means that your citizenship waiting times might be shorter.

Should you have a Norwegian spouse, you can apply for citizenship after you have lived in Norway for five years and have been married or have lived with a Norwegian for a total of seven years. During this seven-year period, it doesn’t matter whether you have lived abroad or in Norway.

This can make it easier to obtain Norwegian citizenship.

The things that make it harder to obtain citizenship if you are older.

Firstly, learning languages can be more difficult for older people. Therefore, if you are still young enough that you can’t completely skip the language requirements, but are old enough that you might struggle then you may be at a disadvantage.

Furthermore, the citizenship rules for those with Norwegian parents are less lenient for older generations.

As the rules for claiming citizenship when one parent was Norwegian at birth can be quite complicated for those born before 1979, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) advises that you contact them directly to find out whether you will be eligible for citizenship.

Meanwhile, those born before September 1st, 2006 can become Norwegian through parentage if their mother was Norwegian, or if their father was a Norwegian citizen and was married to their mother.

The rules are far more straightforward for those born after 2006. In that event, you automatically became a Norwegian citizen at birth if you have a Norwegian mother or father.