Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

IMMIGRATION

Wait times for residence and Norwegian citizenship likely to grow longer

Waiting times for permanent residence and citizenship have gotten longer over the past year, and the issue could worsen as the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration may make more staff cuts.

Published: 28 June 2024 15:57 CEST
Pictured are crowds of people in Oslo.
Waiting times for Norwegian residence and citizenship will likely get worse. Pictured are crowds of people in Oslo. Photo by Svein Sund on Unsplash

Over the past year, the median waiting time for citizenship, permanent residence, and family reunification applications has increased.

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) had told The Local that it had been subject to “a decrease in capacity strength” as staff numbers had been reduced due to budget cuts. Cuts at Norway’s immigration directorate were confirmed to The Local in March 2024.

READ ALSO: How budget cuts have impacted wait times at Norway’s immigration directorate

Waiting times could grow longer in the coming months as the directorate could be forced to make staff cuts to avoid going over budget.

“We have experienced a decrease in capacity strength, which refers to a reduction in staff numbers due to budget cuts. And staff numbers will need to decrease further,” Trude Beate Steen, Director of Finance at the UDI, told The Local Norway.

“This decrease in our 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,” she added.

So far, not all residence applications have been affected by increased waiting times. For example, the median wait time for a work permit has decreased by 10 days to 55 days between June 2023 and June 2024.

The median wait for a residence permit for a third-country national moving to Norway with an EEA citizen has also fallen from 169 days to 140 days.

When it first confirmed the budget cuts to The Local in March 2024, the UDI said that it would use greater automation to compensate for lower staff numbers.

Some application types at the UDI can be fully automated, including citizenship cases. When citizenship cases are automated, applicants typically receive an answer within a couple of months.

According to the UDI, citizenship applications take around 25 months to complete. The UDI website has a full overview of different waiting times.

On the waiting times section of its website, the UDI states that it expected to receive more applications in 2024 than it received in 2023 and that waiting times would increased throughout 2024.

It said that it due to setting aside more time to spend on case processing, applicants would find it harder to get through to the UDI’s phone information service.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

IMMIGRATION

How budget cuts have impacted wait times at Norway’s immigration directorate

Waiting times for several applications, such as family reunification, permanent residence, and citizenship, have increased amidst budget cuts at Norway's immigration directorate.

Published: 27 June 2024 13:35 CEST
How budget cuts have impacted wait times at Norway’s immigration directorate

Compared to last year, median waiting times for some application types at the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) have increased by more than three months.

The median waiting time for citizenship increased from 319 days in June 2023 to 411 days as of mid-June this year. Some citizenship applications can be fully automated, meaning some applicants will receive an answer in just a couple of months.

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

The median waiting time for family reunification has also increased significantly. In June of last year, it took 129 days for a case to be processed. This figure has shot up to 182 days over the past 12 months.

Those waiting for permanent residence are also typically waiting around a month longer for their case to be processed by the UDI. The median waiting time for permanent residence was almost as long as citizenship at 398 days.

Meanwhile, asylum seekers who aren’t covered by the temporary protection rules for Ukrainian nationals have seen their median waiting time increase from 238 days to 285 days.  

Earlier this year, the UDI confirmed to The Local that it would be subject to budget cuts. The directorate told The Local that waiting times were likely to increase as a result of the cuts, which would lead to lower staff numbers.

“These budget cuts will reduce the UDI’s ability to efficiently process cases and respond to inquiries. 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,” Trude Beate Sveen, Director of Finance at the UDI, told The Local in March.

READ MORE: Wait for Norwegian residence and citizenship to increase due to cuts

However, not all cases are taking longer to be processed. Those waiting for their residence card to join an EEA national will spend around 29 days less doing so as of June 2024, with the median wait time being 140 days.

Work permit processing times have also decreased from 65 days to 55 days over the course of a year.

Median waiting times for Ukrainians using the collective temporary protection scheme have remained the same, 14 days, over the past year – although did see a slight increase in December 2023.  

Below, you can see a table of the figures that the UDI has provided The Local with.

Waiting times could get worse

When it provided the figures, the UDI told The Local that waiting times could get worse, as the UDI may need to cut more staff.

“We have experienced a decrease in capacity strength, which refers to a reduction in staff numbers due to budget cuts. And staff numbers will need to decrease further. This decrease in our 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,”

SHOW COMMENTS