UDI 2012-030 Preparation of applications for permanent residence permits and applications for retaining permanent residence permits when staying abroad

1. Introduction

This guideline sets out minimum requirements for the police and the foreign service missions’ preparation of cases involving applications for a permanent residence permit pursuant to the Immigration Act section 62, cf. Immigration Regulations section 11-1 to 11-2 and 11-6 to 11-7, plus applications for permission to stay outside the realm for more than two years without the permanent residence permit lapsing, cf. the Immigration Regulations section 11-8 third paragraph.

The purpose of the guideline is to highlight the roles of the police and the foreign service missions in case processing, and to ensure that the applications are properly filled in and that all necessary documentation has been submitted before the applications are sent to the Directorate of Immigration (UDI). The goal is to reduce, as far as possible, the need to obtain further information and documentation after the application has been sent to the UDI.

2. The application form

As a general rule the application form shall be filled in via Application Portal Norway. However, it is still possible to fill in a form on paper. Links to Application Portal Norway and paper forms are available at the UDI's website. It is important that all relevant sections of the application form are filled in as accurately as possible. Paper applications must be filled in using block capitals. The police must stamp the application with the date on which it was received.

The application is not considered to be received until the applicant has delivered the required attachments to the police or the foreign service mission. It is therefore important that the applicant receives an appointment with the police or foreign service mission as soon as possible after the application is registered via Application Portal Norway (external link).

The police will open a case and register the application information in the computer system for immigration and refugee cases (DUF), and they are requested to ensure that the registration of preparatory case information in DUF is complete and correct.

The police must inform the applicant that an application for a permanent residence permit does not entail automatic renewal of the residence permit. The residence permit must be renewed in the normal manner while the application for a permanent residence permit is being processed.

2.1. Personal data and identity information

The information provided on the form must correspond with the information that is registered in the population register and in the applicant’s travel document. If the information does not correspond, it is the applicants’ responsibility to take the necessary steps to rectify this. This may mean the applicant having to contact the population register or the authorities in his/her home country to change his/her name or other personal data.

2.2. Information about criminal records

If the applicant states that he/she has previous convictions from abroad, the police should obtain information about the offence from the competent body in the country in question before the case is sent to the UDI for processing. If the applicant has been charged with, convicted of or fined in connection with a criminal offence, the case must not be sent to the UDI until a final and enforceable judgment has been handed down or a penalty notice has been accepted.

If the applicant has been convicted of other criminal offences, or a penalty notice has been accepted, the case must be sent to the UDI for consideration of whether a permanent residence permit can be granted.

2.3. Stays abroad

All travel abroad during the past three years must be stated on the form. The applicant must check whether the dates included in the travel list correspond with the dates of the stamps in his/her travel document. However, all travel abroad will not necessarily be reflected in stamps in a passport. If the applicant does not remember the exact dates of his/her travel abroad and they are not registered in the form of stamps in his/her passport, the applicant must nonetheless fill in the form to the best of his/her ability.

3. Enclosures with the application

The following must be enclosed with the application:

• A recent passport photo.
• Documentation of completed tuition in the Norwegian language and social studies pursuant to the Immigration Act Section 62 first paragraph letter d.
• Confirmation from the police that the applicant is not registered as having committed any criminal offences that have a bearing on the application. If the applicant has a criminal record of significance for the application, the police must state this when transferring the case. The police have a duty to disclose criminal information in cases involving applications for permanent residence permits according to the Immigration Act Section 62 where it is stated that there are to be no grounds for expulsion according to § 66. If the applicant has applied via the application portal and the applicant has stated that he or she is previously convicted or charged with a criminal offence, the applicant must hand in a separate form that can be printed out from the portal and filled out by hand.
• An exact list of travel abroad including all entry and exit dates.
• Certified copies of all pages in travel documents from the past three years. The applicant does not have to document travel activities that have been documented in connection with previous applications. In cases where the applicant does not have a travel document, or his/her travel document has been renewed and the authorities in his/her home country have demanded that it be handed in, the applicant must document in a different manner that he/she has not stayed outside Norway for more than seven months. This can, for example, be confirmation from an employer, a school or a kindergarten.
• If the applicant does not have a travel document, but has other identity documents that he/she has not submitted in connection with previous applications, certified copies of these documents must be enclosed.
• Applicants who hold permits as skilled workers pursuant to the Immigration Regulations section 6-1 first paragraph, and who have stayed abroad for more than seven months during the past three years, must enclose documentation that specifies any travel abroad in connection with work assignments. The exact duration of the travel activity must be stated, plus the reason for and necessity of such travel. The documentation must be obtained from the employer.
• If the applicant holds a family immigration permit, a travel list for the sponsor must be enclosed to check that the sponsor has lived in Norway. The list must cover the past three years. The form used for such list is available as an attachment to the application form.
• If the applicant holds a permit for the purpose of family immigration with a spouse/cohabitant/registered partner, a statement from the sponsor must be enclosed that confirms that the relationship still exists and states how long the parties have lived together.
• If the applicant holds a family immigration permit on grounds of access to children, he/she must enclose an up-to-date access agreement and confirmation from the other parent/ guardian that access visits have taken place and are still taking place in accordance with the agreement.
• In addition, documentation of the applicant’s previous permit must be enclosed in the same way as for applications for renewal. In this context, reference is made to the guideline concerning requirements for the preparation of cases involving the relevant permit.

Original official documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates etc.) must be presented if this has not already been done.

3.1. Completed compulsory Norwegian language training

Applicants between the ages of 16 and 55 who were granted their first residence or work permit that forms the basis for a settlement permit after 1 September 2005 must, as a rule, enclose documentation from the municipality or other approved course provider that they have completed tuition in the Norwegian language and social studies pursuant to the Introduction Act section 17, see UDI 2012-030 in Norwegian for more information.

Tuition taken at the following educational institutions is approved:

• municipal adult education centres,
• tuition providers that have signed agreements with the municipality,
• an adult education association or online school that is approved pursuant to the Adult Education Act, folk high schools that are approved pursuant to the Act relating to folk high schools,
• universities and university colleges that are approved pursuant to the Norwegian Universities and University Colleges Act, or
• private providers approved by Skills Norway (external link).

If tuition in Norwegian and social studies has been taken at a municipal adult education centre, the applicant must enclose a certificate of participation from the municipality. The municipality is not obliged to register the tuition in Norwegian if it was provided by an approved provider. It is sufficient in such case to enclose documentation from the provider stating that the applicant has completed tuition in the Norwegian language. Tuition in social studies is only provided by the municipalities, and this will therefore be registered by the municipality in the National Introduction Register (NIR). All participants who receive tuition from a private provider on assignment for a municipality will be registered in NIR.

Alternatively, the applicant must submit documentation that the municipality has decided to grant exemption from the requirement for tuition in Norwegian and social studies pursuant to the Introduction Act. The UDI is not authorised to make decisions granting exemption from the requirement for tuition in Norwegian and social studies pursuant to the Introduction Act, and it cannot therefore decide whether the applicant meets the conditions for being granted exemption. It is therefore vital that the applicant submits documentation stating that the municipality has decided to grant him/her exemption.

If completed tuition in Norwegian or exemption from the requirement has been registered in DUF, the police are not required to obtain further documentation. For information about the requirement for tuition pursuant to the Introduction Act and exemptions from the requirement, the police are requested to refer the applicant to the relevant agencies in the individual municipality, and to the Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDi).

4. Preparatory interview in connection with applications for a permanent residence permit on the grounds of family immigration

When an application is submitted, the police are asked to conduct an interview with the applicant and/or any sponsors if they believe that there is reason to doubt the information provided in the application. This applies if the applicant has held a permit pursuant to the Immigration Act section 40 or 41, and a previous interview of the parties has not been conducted with a view to clarifying whether the marriage/cohabitation/partnership is genuine. Exceptions can be made if the police have clear indications that the marriage/cohabitation/partnership is genuine.

It is important that the person conducting the interview follows the guidelines set out below. When conducting the interview, it is important that the interviewer asks relevant follow-up questions where it is natural to do so.

It is important that the interview report details the questions that were put to the applicant and/or the sponsor, and that the applicant/sponsor’s answers are reproduced it their entirety, as accurately as possible in relation to what was said.

When interviewing spouses (both the applicant and the sponsor) on suspicion of a marriage of convenience, it is important that both parties are asked the same questions and that they are not given an opportunity to talk to each other between the interviews.

The interviewee must be informed that the application may be decided on the basis of the information given during the interview, and that the application may be rejected if necessary documentation has not been submitted.

Sponsors in immigration cases must be informed that they do not have a duty to appear in person or to provide information, cf. the Immigration Act section 83 first paragraph. If the sponsor nonetheless wishes to make a statement, he/she has a duty to provide correct information, cf. the Immigration Act section 108 first paragraph letter c).

Interviewees must be given an opportunity to read through the interview afterwards, and they will then be allowed to make comments and provide additional information, and to correct any misunderstandings that may have arisen during the interview. If substantial changes are made to the content after such a review, the original text will be kept and new information/changes in the statement will be added as ‘comments added during read-through’.

The interview will result in a written report that is enclosed with the case documents. The report must state whether an interpreter was used during the interview.

5. Application for permission to stay outside the realm for more than two years without the permanent residence permit lapsing

The rules regarding the lapsing of a permanent residence permit are stipulated in the Act section 62 fifth paragraph, cf. the Regulations section 11-8 first and second paragraphs, cf. fifth paragraph. The police and the foreign service mission must notify the UDI if they are informed that a foreign national’s permanent residence permit may have lapsed, see UDI 2010-045.

However, on application, a foreign national can be given permission to stay outside the realm for a continuous period of more than two years without his/her permanent residence permit lapsing, if it is clear that the person will settle again in Norway after the stay abroad.

The Regulations section 11-8 third paragraph letters a) to c) stipulate special conditions for who may be entitled to stay outside Norway. This applies in particular to foreign nationals who are going to serve their military service or other equivalent service in their home country, foreign nationals who are going to stay abroad in connection with work or education beyond ordinary upper secondary education, or foreign nationals who are going to stay abroad together with a spouse, cohabitant, mother or father who is working or taking an education abroad.

5.1 Applications

Applications must be submitted in the police district in which the applicant lives, or at a Norwegian foreign service mission if the applicant lives abroad. The application must be submitted well before the two-year deadline expires. The police must inform the applicant that, if an application is submitted more than six months before the two-year deadline expires, his/her permanent residence permit will not lapse provided that the foreign national returns to Norway within two weeks of being notified of the rejection of his/her application by the UDI, cf. the Immigration Regulations section 11-8 fifth paragraph.

No standard application forms have been prepared for this type of permit. The applicant must submit a written application him/herself. The application must contain information about the duration and purpose of the stay and clarify the applicant’s connection to Norway. The application must be dated.

5.2. Documentation

If the purpose of the stay abroad is for the applicant to serve his/her national service, this must be documented by an official call-up notice. The duration of the service must be stated in the document or documented in another manner.

Work abroad must be documented by some form of employment contract that stipulates the working hours and the duration of the employment relationship. The contract must be signed by both the applicant and the employer. Applications for the purpose of education abroad must include a letter of admission from the educational institution. The letter must contain information about the type of education and its duration. The applicant must also present a study plan that shows how long the applicant intends to study abroad. It must be substantiated that the applicant will return to Norway following completion of the study programme.

Applicants who are spouses, cohabitants or children of the person staying abroad in connection with work or education, should document their relationship to this person, for example in the form of a marriage certificate, birth certificate or a transcript from the population register. Furthermore, documentation must be provided in the form of an employment contract/ confirmation of admission from the educational institution for how long the applicant’s spouse, cohabitant, father or mother is going to work or study abroad. All foreign documents must be translated into Norwegian or English.