Travel documents and alien passports in Norway 2026: cost and rules

Travel documents and alien passports are the two Norwegian travel documents for you who cannot use your passport from your home country. Which document you receive is determined by your residence permit. Neither of them is valid for travel to your home country. The first travel document is free.

What is the difference between a travel document and an alien passport?

Travel documents and alien passports each have their own basis in the Immigration Act § 64. You receive a travel document for refugees if you have protection (asylum) under the Immigration Act § 28. You receive an alien passport if you have a residence permit but cannot obtain a passport from your home country.

You do not choose yourself. UDI (Directorate of Immigration) decides based on the paragraph in your permit. A travel document is a right: the law states that it "shall ... be issued ... unless there are special reasons against it".

How long you can be away from Norway is a different question — see travel outside Norway with a residence permit.

Do not rely on the colour: a blue document can be a new travel document (from 19 October 2020) or an old alien passport. Read the title.

What do travel documents and alien passports cost in 2026?

Your first travel document on the basis of protection costs 0 kr. A first alien passport costs 2 200 kr for adults and 1 200 kr for children under 18 years, as of 14 July 2026.

Renewal costs money for everyone: 2 200 kr from age 16 and 510 kr under 16 years. UDI states that the fee "must be paid by everyone" — also for you who received your first travel document for free.

Three clarifications:

• 2 200 kr has been unchanged since 1 July 2024 (Immigration Regulation § 17-11, amended by regulation 24 June 2024 no. 1313). The children's rate 510 kr applies from 1 January 2026.
• The figure 2 700 kr still circulates online, also in UDI's own regulation archive. It is the old rate from 1 January 2024 — outdated.
• The fee can be waived: "In special cases, the decision-making authority can waive the fee requirement under the second paragraph" (Immigration Regulation § 17-11 third paragraph). You must ask for it yourself.

Travel document validity: how long does the document last?

The document is valid for as long as your residence permit, but never more than five years. This applies to both documents (Immigration Regulation § 12-2 and § 12-6). For children, the rules are shorter (UDI 2019-001):

• Children under 5 years: up to 2 years.
• Children between 5 and 10 years: up to 3 years.
• Children over 10 years: up to 5 years.

If you have a permanent residence permit, the validity can be set to five years.

Can you travel to your home country with a travel document or alien passport?

No. Both documents are invalid for your home country. But the two paragraphs are not the same.

Travel document: Immigration Regulation § 12-2 fifth paragraph: the travel document "shall be valid for travel to all countries with the exception of the refugee's home country". No exception clause exists.

Alien passport: Immigration Regulation § 12-6 fifth paragraph has an opening: "When strong reasons of fairness indicate it, the alien passport can be made valid for travel to the home country." It is a "can" rule: no right, but it exists. Many websites get precisely this point wrong.

With "home country" is meant the country where you are a citizen, not where you were born. For stateless persons, separate rules apply, explained in the article on stateless and apátride persons in Norway.

What happens if you travel to your home country anyway?

You can lose both your refugee status and your residence permit. The risk is real.

The instruction GI-11/2025 from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, dated 18 December 2025, came into force immediately and replaced GI-01/2016. The purpose is to "tighten current practice, so that residence permits are revoked and refugee status terminates unless Norway's international obligations prevent it". The instruction applies to the Immigration Act § 28 and collective protection under § 34. It does not apply to residence under § 38.

Four points:

• No passport stamp is required. "A preponderance of evidence" that the journey took place is sufficient to open a case.
• No proportionality assessment is done when the conditions in the Immigration Act § 37 are met.
• You must yourself demonstrate that the journey had a legitimate purpose.
• The travel document can be confiscated in parallel with the case (Immigration Regulation § 12-4 third paragraph letter f).

The ministry clarifies at the same time that the return journey "is not in itself sufficient" for revocation. Termination shall not occur if the journey had a legitimate purpose — for example, a short visit to a seriously ill close relative. If you receive a warning notice, you have the right to free legal counsel (Immigration Act §§ 82 and 92).

Revocation under § 37 first paragraph letter a or d does not cost you accumulated residence time. Revocation under § 63 does. At SamfunnPrep you can calculate residence time in the tool for residence time and length of stay — an aid, not a definitive answer.

Can Ukrainians with collective protection get a travel document?

No. UDI's guideline UDI 2022-004 point 6, last revised 4 May 2026, states it directly: "The permit does not give the right to a travel document for refugees." Collective protection is granted under the Immigration Act § 34, not § 28.

If you have a valid Ukrainian passport, you travel on that. If you do not have a passport, UDI says you should first contact the Ukrainian embassy in Norway. Thereafter you can apply for an alien passport. It is not a right: UDI assesses each case individually, and because a § 34 permit does not form the basis for a permanent residence permit, UDI can refuse (Immigration Regulation § 12-5 fifth paragraph letter d). Regarding the journey itself: see travel to Ukraine with collective protection.

How to apply — and what happens to your home country's passport

The police prepare the application and take biometrics; UDI makes the decision. Most refugees do not apply separately: if you are granted protection, you receive a letter from UDI.

• A passport you have must be submitted with the application (Immigration Act § 64 third paragraph). The police take a copy, and you can ask for the passport back while you wait. When the new document is ready, the old one is confiscated.
• If you apply for an alien passport without a protection basis, you must document that you have unsuccessfully tried to obtain a passport from your home country.

If you obtain your home country's passport, you have a duty to submit the Norwegian travel document (Immigration Regulation § 12-4 first paragraph). If you ask the police for your passport back, they must inform you of possible revocation of your residence permit and refugee status, and make a preliminary confiscation of the travel document (UDI 2019-001 point 6.2.1). However, the police cannot refuse to return your passport.

UDI does not provide a processing time for these documents. Check UDI's guide at https://www.udi.no/ventetid/⁠.

Which countries can you travel to with a travel document?

All countries except your home country — but most require a visa. Within Schengen you travel visa-free with a valid residence card (Immigration Regulation § 3-1 and § 12-6 sixth paragraph). Always bring the card with you.

Outside Schengen, for example to the United Kingdom, USA, Canada and Turkey, you usually have to apply for a visa — as a holder of a travel document, not as a Norwegian citizen. The European Convention from 1959 on visa-free travel for refugees covers 21 states (Annex 6 to the Immigration Regulation, as of 23 March 2023). But Ireland is the only one outside Schengen, and has suspended the agreement.

The document may also have its own geographical limitations. Read your own document.

Many of these rules are part of the social studies examination. Practice for free on SamfunnPrep.