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NORWEGIAN CITIZENSHIP

UPDATED: How powerful is a Norwegian passport?

One of the key benefits of dual citizenship is a second passport. Exactly how useful is the Norwegian identification and travel document? 

Published: 25 October 2021 10:56 CEST
Updated: 11 January 2024 11:47 CET
Here's how handy the Norwegian passport is for travel. Pictured is a mock passport,
Here's how handy the Norwegian passport is for travel. Pictured is a mock passport, Photo by Porapak Apichodilok from Pexels

Norway allows dual citizenship, meaning many can enjoy the benefits of being a Norwegian citizen without sacrificing their existing citizenship. 

A Norwegian passport is, meanwhile, one of the strongest travel documents in the world, meaning it could save you the hassle of costly and timely visa applications.

The rules for applying for citizenship in Norway rely heavily on specific factors like, how long you have lived in Norway, when you came to Norway and whether you are married or the partner of a Norwegian. 

READ ALSO: Are there any ways to fast-track Norwegian citizenship?

In most cases, you must have lived in the country for at least seven of the past ten years to be considered eligible.

For those who have made the most of the new citizenship rules and bagged a Norwegian passport, then congratulations, the passport is among the most powerful in the world in terms of visa-free travel.

READ MORE: How to get a Norwegian passport after obtaining citizenship

A Norwegian passport allows visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 191 countries worldwide, according to an index by the London law firm Henley & Partners. Overall, the passport is ranked joint 4th in its power rankings. There were 13 countries judged to have better passports. 

However, these passports allowed access to between 192 and 194 countries, so there isn’t an enormous gulf between a Norwegian passport and those deemed even better.  

Norway’s ranking puts it on a par with Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, but below its Nordic neighbours Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

The joint-4th place power ranking places it above the likes of Australia, Canada, the US, India and Poland, however.  

The most powerful passports in the world belong to citizens of Japan, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Singapore, who can visit 194 countries worldwide without a visa.

Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan have the weakest passports in terms of areas citizens can travel to without an entry permit – they have visa-free access to less than 28 and 31 countries worldwide.

The law firm Henley & Partners evaluates data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), among other factors, and provides travellers with information on which countries they can travel to with their passports and whether a visa is required.

Each passport is scored on the total number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free. If no visa is required for each travel destination, then a score of 1 is given to that passport. This also applies if passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) upon entry.

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NORWEGIAN CITIZENSHIP

‘It’s not an easy journey’: The challenges of getting Norwegian citizenship

It’s a long road to Norwegian citizenship. Thankfully, The Local’s readers have shared their insights on what to expect from the process and their motivations for applying.

Published: 22 March 2024 13:06 CET
'It's not an easy journey': The challenges of getting Norwegian citizenship

The number of people applying for Norwegian citizenship has increased sharply since Norway allowed dual citizenship in 2020, and application levels have remained high since.

The possibility of taking up Norwegian citizenship without having to relinquish one’s current nationality has led to a significant increase in the number of potential applicants wondering what the process is like.

Thankfully, some of Norway’s newer, or future, citizens recently took the time to fill out a survey that we ran on the process, so a huge thanks to those who participated.

When it came to the reasons for applying in the first place, the reasons were more varied than just the appeal of dual citizenship.

Lindsay, originally from the UK but who has lived in Norway for more than 14 years, said it was partially about restoring some rights lost due to Brexit.

“Following Brexit, I have lost my right to move/work across Europe. I feared that my job would move to Copenhagen, and I wanted to be prepared. I was tired of the long passport queue at Schiphol Airport and endless passport stamping as I travelled home to visit family in the UK,” she responded.

Eduardo, from Mexico, also wanted to secure more rights. In his case, he wanted more flexibility compared to permanent residence.

“To have more rights and be able to live in Norway regardless of the time I spend abroad. With PR (permanent residence), you lose it if you live abroad for more than two years. Citizenship will allow me to accept a job outside of Norway and come back after a few years without problems,” he said.

Others said they saw Norway as their long-term home and that becoming Norwegian felt natural after so many years in the country.

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) got top marks from readers for making the requirements easy to understand.

“The requirements were clear and straightforward. I took language lessons to prepare me specifically for the exams, and I learned the citizenship information off by heart. Documenting my travels in the 14 years since I moved here took a bit more time to collate,” Lindsay wrote.

However, those applying should also be warned that the application can be pretty lengthy, and some found collecting all the paperwork to be quite challenging.

“I cannot say it has been an easy journey, but I am sure it will be worth it. The paperwork, requirements and hoop jumping feel endless at times. And the language and social studies requirements are frustrating,”  said Yvette, who lives in Bergen. 

She added that the social studies and language tests made sense from an integration point of view.

Plenty of others also pointed to the language requirements as one of the more challenging aspects of the application.

“Learning a new language while working full time. The waiting time is bad, but from what I understand, that’s now the norm worldwide,” a reader living in Asker said when asked about the most challenging aspect.

Applicants typically need to pass an oral Norwegian exam at the B1 level, ranked as ‘intermediate’ under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

The Local has spoken to language schools about how long it can take to meet the language requirements with lessons.

Bearing in mind that everyone’s capacity to learn languages is different, the schools said that reaching the required level would take around four and a half months of lessons, or 48 classroom hours, on top of 150 hours of independent practice.

When it comes to waiting times, the median waiting time as of early 2024 was 404 days. However, the directorate’s website estimates waiting times of 24 months on average.

READ ALSO: How long does it take to get Norwegian citizenship in 2024?

The waiting times meant Lindsay lost her job when her employer moved her role out of the country and wasn’t prepared to wait for her application to come through.

“It took me 19 months to get to the top of the pile. I lost my job in the process, as I had feared, my role moved to Copenhagen and my company were not prepared to wait for my citizenship to come through, and I was not prepared to abandon my application,” she said.

The cost of applying was another hurdle mentioned frequently. The application costs 6,500 kroner at the time of writing – however, language courses, social studies and citizenship exams all add to the overall cost.

Thankfully, if the thought of applying suddenly has you feeling overwhelmed, applicants also shared their tips.

“Start learning Norwegian immediately,” Yvette said.

“Take your time and be patient. This isn’t going to happen overnight, and you need to put in the effort,” the reader from Asker responded.

One reader, who has lived in Bergen for 11 years but didn’t leave a name, said being as thorough as possible would help.

“Make sure you have the correct documentation, check and check again. Be organised, rather have more than what is needed and make multiple copies of everything you hand in,” they said.

Meanwhile, Lindsay said that she wished she had applied even sooner.

“Go for it. As a Brit, I believe it makes me more attractive for roles in Norway. I wish I had prepared and applied as soon as the dual citizenship permission was in place,” she said.

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