Citizenship in Norway
Naturalisation timelines, tests, and dual nationality
Naturalisation requires a considerably longer residence period than permanent residence, currently a number of years within a longer look-back window, together with permanent residence, completed language tuition, a pass in Norwegian oral skills at a specified level, a citizenship test on Norwegian society, and a clean record. The significant recent change is that Norway has permitted dual citizenship since 2020, so applicants no longer have to renounce their existing nationality.
| Residence requirement | Commonly around eight years within the past eleven for the standard route source |
| Spouses of Norwegian citizens | A shorter combined residence and marriage requirement source |
| Language | Norwegian oral skills at a specified level, above the permanent residence bar source |
| Civics | A citizenship test on Norwegian society source |
| Dual citizenship | Permitted since 2020 source |
The dual citizenship change
Until 2020 Norway required, with exceptions, that applicants give up their previous nationality, and Norwegians who naturalised elsewhere lost Norwegian citizenship automatically. The rule was reversed: dual and multiple citizenship is now permitted under Norwegian law.
The other country's law still applies independently. Norway permitting dual nationality does not oblige a country of origin to allow it, and some states withdraw their nationality on naturalisation abroad regardless of Norway's position.
Counting the years
The standard route asks for a substantial number of years of residence with permits of at least a year's duration, counted within a longer look-back window, and requires that you hold permanent residence at the point of application. Shorter periods apply to spouses, cohabitants and registered partners of Norwegian citizens, where residence and the length of the relationship are combined, and to certain other groups including some who arrived as children.
Because the qualifying period is defined by permit type as well as by time, the same practical stay can produce different totals for two people. The published criteria distinguish carefully between permits that count and permits that do not.
Tests
- Norwegian oral skills at a level set higher than the permanent residence requirement, evidenced by an approved test result.
- A citizenship test on Norwegian society, history and values, taken in Norwegian, which is a separate test from the social studies test used for permanent residence.
- Exemptions exist on age and health grounds and for those who have completed Norwegian schooling to a sufficient level.
- A requirement to have clarified identity, which becomes a substantive obstacle for applicants from states that cannot issue reliable documents.
What citizenship changes
Citizenship brings the vote in national elections, a Norwegian passport, and freedom from any residence obligation. It does not, on its own, confer EU citizenship: Norway is outside the union, so a Norwegian passport carries EEA free movement rights rather than the full set attaching to an EU member state's nationality.
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Official sources
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