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AMERICANS IN NORWAY

How many Americans call Norway home, and where do they live? 

Thousands of Americans have chosen to call Norway home, but how many have moved to the country from the United States, and where in Norway do they live? 

Published: 22 February 2023 11:21 CET
Pictured is Stavanger.
Stavanger was one of the most popular places for US citizens to call home in Norway. Pictured is the city in question. Photo by Kilian Kremer on Unsplash

There are around 10,700 American citizens living in Norway, according to official figures from the national data agency Statistics Norway (SSB). 

These figures include American citizens born abroad and the children of two foreign-born parents born in Norway with citizenship. The reason why the children of foreign residents are included in immigration statistics is that not all children born in Norway are automatically granted Norwegian citizenship. 

Last year, the most common residence card granted to US nationals was for a family immigration permit (516). In contrast, similar numbers of Americans (437 & 436) were given permits to work or for educational purposes. 

READ ALSO: Why do people move to Norway, and where do they come from?

However, these figures are only for those granted a permit in 2022 and don’t include those who didn’t apply for or renew a permit throughout 2022. But based on these numbers, Americans appear to move to Norway for education, work, or to be with family or a partner in similar numbers. 

Around a third of the more than 10,000 Americans in Norway are based in Norway’s two biggest cities, Oslo and Bergen. 

In 2022, 2,722 Americans lived in Oslo, while 761 US nationals called Bergen home. Of the country’s largest cities, Stavanger and Trondheim were also popular. Some 641 US nationals were registered as living in Stavanger, while official figures showed around 561 Americans living in Norway. 

When including nearby Sandnes (176) and Sola (161) as part of the wider Stavanger area, the city on the west coast then leapfrogs Bergen as the second most popular part of Norway with American citizens. The nearby oil trade makes Stavanger a popular destination with international workers in Norway. 

Comparatively, few Americans chose to make two of Norway’s other cities, Ålesund and Kristiansand, home. Around 265 Americans were living in Kristiansand in 2022, while just 74 called Ålesund home. Meanwhile, there were 187 US nationals in the unofficial Arctic capital of Tromsø. Another city north of the Arctic circle, Bodø, had just 66 nationals from the states living there. 

There were also large numbers of Americans living in the towns and cities near Oslo. For example, Bærum (461) and Asker (307) had Norway’s 5th and 6th largest communities of US nationals. Other towns near Oslo with a considerable number of American citizens were Drammen (133), Lillestrøm (124), Nodre Follo (108), Moss (91) and Kongsberg (73). 

Fredrikstad (120), Sanjefjord (118), and Ås (100) were the only other towns and cities in Norway with more than 100 American inhabitants. After that, Norway’s American population began to be spread more sporadically. 

Statistics Norway’s figures also show there are a few dozen municipalities in Norway without a single American inhabitant. In addition, there were a similar number of municipalities in Norway with just 3 or 4 American residents. 

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

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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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