You can only apply for family immigration from Norway in certain situations. The main rule is that you submit the application from your home country or a country where you have held a residence permit for the last six months. An application in Norway does not automatically give you the right to work or to public services.
Can you apply for family immigration from Norway?
Yes, some groups can submit the application to the police in Norway. You must both have legal residence and fall within an exception accepted by the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI).
The applicant is the person who needs the permit. The reference person is the family member who already lives in Norway.
At SamfunnPrep, you can find more guides about family immigration. This guide covers only the place of application, deadlines and rights while you wait.
| Situation | Can you often submit in Norway? | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| You have a valid Norwegian residence permit | Yes | Further rights depend on the old permit and when you apply. |
| You are a skilled worker and have legal residence | Yes | UDI must accept the education or qualifications as skilled-worker qualifications. |
| You are visa-free and apply with a spouse or cohabitant | Often | A fiancé(e) must additionally be a skilled worker. |
| You are a visa-free child under 18 | Often | Parental responsibility and, where relevant, consent from the other parent must be documented. |
| You are the parent of a Norwegian child | Often | The child must live permanently with you. |
A visa-required child under 18 can also apply from Norway in some cases. The child must have legal residence. Both parents must be in Norway, or parental responsibility and consent must be clearly documented.
Children born in Norway have a separate rule. The requirement for legal residence does not apply when the child has been here continuously since birth.
If the family is covered by the rules for the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA), a residence card may be the right scheme. This is not the same as ordinary family immigration. Therefore, use UDI’s personal guide before choosing the type of application.
The main rule is to submit the application abroad
A first-time application must normally be submitted from abroad before you move to Norway. You submit it from your home country or a country where you have held a residence permit for the last six months.
It is not enough that you are a tourist in another country. After online registration and payment, the applicant must normally attend in person at an application centre or a Norwegian foreign service mission. There you submit the documents and provide biometrics, such as a photo and fingerprints.
The reference person in Norway normally cannot attend instead of the applicant.
Choose the place of application carefully before sending the online form. UDI states that the responsible embassy or consulate cannot be changed after submission. If you choose the wrong place, you may have to submit a new form and request any refund of the first fee.
This article does not repeat all the conditions. See the general requirements for family reunification before choosing the place of application.
How to submit the application from Norway
If the UDI guide says you can submit in Norway, register the application online and attend the police. Electronic registration alone is normally not the complete submission.
Follow this order:
- Choose the applicant’s citizenship, family relationship and reference person in the UDI guide.
- Register the application online and pay the fee.
- Book the first available appointment with the police.
- Collect all documents on the personal checklist.
- Attend the appointment and submit the documents and biometrics.
You must submit while your residence is still legal. For many people who are here visa-free, this means within the 90-day period in Schengen.
There may be a long waiting time at the police. UDI may accept that the actual appointment takes place after legal residence has expired when you registered and paid at least 7 calendar days before the deadline, and you booked the first available appointment. UDI nevertheless assesses the case individually. Missing documents or a later appointment you chose yourself may weigh against the exception.
Keep the receipt, appointment confirmation and copies of the documents. An application from Norway does not remove the ordinary conditions. Read the separate guide about the maintenance requirement for family immigration if the income requirement applies to your case.
What happens if you apply from the wrong place?
UDI may reject the application on formal grounds if you did not have the right to submit it from Norway. UDI then does not assess whether the relationship, income or other requirements are met.
A formal rejection normally does not result in a refund of the fee. You may also be required to leave the country.
The authorities must consider whether strong reasons of fairness mean that the case should nevertheless be processed. This is a safety valve for special cases, not an ordinary application route. That travel is expensive, impractical or difficult is not enough on its own. If you believe such reasons exist, they should be explained and documented immediately.
What rights do you have while waiting?
If you had the right to submit from Norway, you can in many cases wait here for the answer. However, the application is not a new residence permit and does not automatically give new rights.
For a first-time applicant without another permit, UDI says this usually means:
- You do not have the right to work or do remote work.
- You do not have ordinary health-care rights, apart from emergency assistance.
- As a rule, you do not have the right to services from the municipality or the state.
- Children may have the right to school or kindergarten. Ask the municipality where the child lives.
This also applies when you are a skilled worker and are allowed to submit the family-immigration application in Norway. Skilled-worker qualifications do not in themselves give the right to work while this application is processed. The guide on working before the residence permit is granted explains the main rule and other work cases.
If you already have a valid permit, your rights first follow that permit. When applying on a new basis, separate deadlines apply. If you have had legal residence under a previous permit for the last nine months and apply no later than one month before it expires, you can normally remain on the same conditions while the case is decided. The right to work cannot be broader than under the old permit. If you apply later, continued rights are not automatic.
Can you travel while the application is being processed?
An application does not automatically give you the right to leave and re-enter Norway. A confirmation from UDI also does not replace a valid residence card at the border.
If you are visa-free, you must still follow the 90/180 rule when re-entering Schengen. UDI states that you may be allowed to wait in Norway after the first 90 days when you had the right to submit here. However, a long stay may look like an unlawful overstay when entering through another Schengen country. UDI therefore says that travel is at your own risk.
If you applied from abroad, you cannot assume that you can move to Norway while waiting. In some cases, you can apply for an entry visa, also called a D visa. The requirement is strict: it must be clear that the family-immigration application will be granted. UDI states that most such visa applications are rejected.
Also see the updated overview of waiting time and rights in UDI cases. Always check your visa, residence card and travel route before booking the trip.
Checklist before choosing the place of application
Start with UDI’s personal answer, not a friend’s experience. Two people in the same family may have different rules because their citizenship, permit and family relationship differ.
Check this before submitting:
- Have you chosen ordinary family immigration or the correct EEA scheme?
- Do you have documentation of legal residence in Norway?
- Which specific exception allows you to submit to the police?
- When do your visa, visa-free time or old residence permit expire?
- Have you chosen the correct embassy or police district in the online form?
- Have you booked the first available appointment and collected the whole checklist?
- Do you know the rules for work, health and travel while waiting?
Next steps
First choose the applicant’s situation in the UDI guide. If the answer is that the application must be submitted abroad, you should not use a visit to Norway as a shortcut. If the answer is Norway, register early and document why the exception applies.
Do you want to keep track of several steps? Use SamfunnPrep as a simple checklist together with the personal information from UDI. The authorities’ answer for your situation must always determine where the application is submitted.
