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AMERICANS IN NORWAY

What are the most common reasons Americans in Norway contact the U.S. embassy? 

Embassies offer an essential contact point for foreigners living abroad, and the U.S. Embassy in Norway has revealed to The Local some of the most common reasons Americans get in touch. 

Published: 1 December 2022 13:16 CET
Pictured is Trollstigen.
These are the most common reasons why US citizens decide to contact the embassy.Pictured is Trollstigen. Photo by Mitchel Willem Jacob Anneveldt on Unsplash

In addition to fulfilling their diplomatic roles, embassies offer several vital services to their nation’s citizens living abroad. 

Whether it’s clarifying questions, offering assistance with urgent matters or renewing passports, many living abroad will use their embassy’s services at some point. 

There are around 10,000 American citizens living in Norway, and the most common questions that the U.S. Embassy in Norway receives are regarding travelling as a dual citizen and the citizenship rules for children born in Norway to an American parent. 

This is according to the U.S. Embassy in Norway, which told The Local about the most common requests it receives from American citizens. 

Thankfully, the U.S. Embassy in Norway provided The Local with the answers to the two most commonly asked questions it receives. 

Below we’ll go into more detail on the questions and the answers provided by the embassy. 

Question: We are US-Norwegian dual nationals. My U.S. passport is expired. Can I enter the U.S. on my Norwegian passport?

Answer: Those with an expired U.S. passport will need to have it renewed before they travel to the U.S. 

“U.S. nationals, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States,” Selim Ariturk, Acting Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Norway, told The Local. 

The embassy is responsible for handling passport renewals and applications for U.S. citizens in Norway. The embassy website has a passport wizard, which will point you in the right direction for the forms you need to fill out and what you need to do to renew. 

Passports take between three-four weeks to be renewed. Those travelling to the U.S. within the next two weeks and who do not have a valid U.S. passport will need to use the emergency passport service. 

Question: I am a U.S. citizen living in Norway. Does my Norwegian-born child have a claim to U.S. citizenship? 

Answer: There wasn’t a catch-all answer to this particular question, as the rules may depend on your personal circumstances. 

For example, the rules differ if the child was born out of wedlock or if one or both of the parents are U.S. nationals.  

However, the embassy did provide The Local with where U.S. citizens could check to see whether their child was eligible to become a U.S. national after being born abroad. 

You can check out the rules and what could apply to you here. 

Other advice

The U.S. Embassy in Norway also took the time to remind U.S. citizens in Norway to check in with the embassy website and the State Department’s page for travel info. 

“Finally, we’d like to encourage your (The Local’s) readers to review the embassy website (no.usembassy.gov) or go to the State Department’s page for travel information, travel.state.gov. Both of these provide more links and greater detail on issues related to travel to the United States or for U.S. citizens interested in travel requirements abroad,” Ariturk said. 

READ ALSO: How Americans can move to Norway 

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IMMIGRATION

Norway’s immigration authority closes 1,000 cases into suspected cheating

Norway’s Directorate of Immigration (UDI) has dismissed more than 1,000 cases where applicants were suspected of providing false information, its director confirmed to public broadcaster NRK.

Published: 17 April 2024 15:40 CEST
Norway's immigration authority closes 1,000 cases into suspected cheating

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) has dismissed more than 1,000 asylum and immigration cases after it had been told to reduce the queue of cases by the Ministry of Justice, public broadcaster NRK reports.

Frode Forfang, director of UDI, told NRK that the UDI chose to close cases where there were suspicions that false information had been provided to prioritise what it considered to be the most pressing and serious cases .

“We were in a situation where a large number of cases were created, but our capacity was not proportionate to the number of cases. This meant that we did not get a good enough grip on the matters that we believe are the most serious. At the same time, it led to a good number of these cases becoming very old,” he said.

“Many people lived in uncertainty for a long time because we did not have the capacity,” he added.

The UDI also decided last year that cases older than three years old would not be reopened, according to the report from NRK.

Figures from the UDI provided to the broadcaster show that 78 people have been deported from Norway due to false information submitted with their asylum cases over the past six years.

In recent years, the rules for deporting those who have provided false information in asylum applications have been softened.

Over the last six years, nearly 900 people in Norway have received a new residence permit after their original one was withdrawn after the UDI had uncovered falsehoods in the original applications.

Forfang said it was important for the UDI to focus on cases where the applicant would likely be deported.

“We think that it is more important to work on those cases where we believe that the person in question may end up having to leave Norway, rather than those cases where the person in question will anyway be allowed to stay in Norway through a new permit,” Forfang said.

The UDI has previously told The Local that it had its budget cut. The directorate warned that this could mean longer waiting times for residence, asylum and citizenship in Norway.

“These budget cuts will reduce the UDI’s ability to process cases and respond to inquiries efficiently. A decrease in capacity to process cases may lead to extended waiting times for residency and citizenship applications, although this will also depend on the volume of cases received,” Beate Sveen, the UDI’s Director of Finance, told The Local last month.

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