UDI 2015-010 Establishment of an expulsion case at the foreign service mission when incorrect information is given

1. Introduction – purpose and background

The purpose of this document is to set out guidelines for the cases in which foreign service missions are to open an expulsion case.

It also intends to clarify registration and forwarding procedures in order to ensure an efficient case flow between the foreign service missions and the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI).

To ensure that the Norwegian authorities know at all times who is residing in Norway and who wishes to enter Norway, it is important that the foreign service missions carry out checks to confirm identity and follow up cases in relation to the UDI in which false documents have been used or incorrect information about identity has been given.

Confirmed identity is vital to ensure that people do not use false identities, two identities or that more than one person uses the same identity. Confirmed identity is also vital to ensure that foreign nationals are not granted unlawful entry into Norway or a permit pursuant to the Immigration Act and the Norwegian Nationality Act.

Norway also has a responsibility in relation to the other countries in the Schengen Agreement as regards ensuring that foreign nationals are not granted unlawful entry into Norway and, therefore, the rest of the Schengen area. If there is no border control when passing an internal border in the Schengen area, a greater responsibility rests on the individual countries, including in connection with processing applications for entry into the individual countries, to ensure that those who do not have a confirmed identity are not granted entry into the Schengen area.

2. The tasks of foreign service missions in connection with the identification of false documents

2.1 When shall a foreign service mission open an expulsion case?

Pursuant to Section 66 first paragraph letter (a) of the Immigration Act, providing a false identity and/or other information of importance to the Norwegian authorities in connection with a case shall always be considered a gross breach of the Immigration Act. Submitting false/forged documents falls under providing false information pursuant to this provision. Different spellings of names as a result of transcription etc. does not fall under providing false information pursuant to the Act.

If, in connection with the preparation of a case (e.g. in cases concerning family immigration, work, study or visas) or processing an application, cf. above, a foreign service mission discovers that an applicant has provided a false identity or used false/forged documents, the foreign service mission shall open an expulsion case.

2.2 How to open an expulsion case in cases where the foreign service mission has rejection authority

In cases where the foreign service mission rejects an application because the applicant has provided a false identity and/or because the applicant has used false documents in the application, and/or in any other way provided incorrect information with a bearing on the case, the foreign service mission must open an expulsion case. They do this by:

• completing an advance notification of expulsion and notifying the applicant of this and, at the same time, of the rejection of his or her application for a visa or other residence permit case, for those foreign service missions that process cases of this kind.
• preparing a report concerning the findings for use in the expulsion case. If false documents have been discovered, the report must contain information about what is incorrect in the document and which investigations have been carried out. The report should also contain information about what the foreign service mission has emphasised in its grounds for the document being false/forged. If incorrect information has been discovered, the report must contain information about which information is incorrect, and how this was discovered. The report must also include information about how the foreign service mission reached the conclusion that the information was incorrect, and an assessment of the bearing this information has had on the case.
• attach any reports/statements from other bodies concerning the false/forged document to the rejection case in Norvis.
• save both the advance notification and the report on the finding under the visa case in Norvis.
• register the advance notification given under the visa case in Norvis.
• register the notification with a copy to UDI Control in Norvis, so that UDI Control receives an inter-agency notification in DUF stating that advance notification has been given. See the user guidelines (Appendix 2 to this guideline) for more details about registration and forwarding procedures.

The advance notification is attached to this guideline as Appendix 1 Advance notification. The foreign service mission must complete the personal details in the advance notification which has otherwise been precompleted and signed by the UDI.

2.3 How to open an expulsion case where the foreign service mission prepares a case for the UDI

When the case preparation has been completed and the case is to be forwarded to the UDI for further consideration, it is important that the foreign service mission prepares a report as part of the expulsion case. If false documents have been discovered, the report must contain information about what is incorrect in the document and which investigations have been carried out. The report should also contain information about what the foreign service mission has emphasised in its grounds for the document being false/forged.

The foreign service mission shall forward the case to the respective team at the UDI. The respective case processing team will then forward the case to UDI Control for consideration of expulsion before the application is processed.

3. The UDI's tasks

When the UDI has received an inter-agency notification from the foreign service mission in cases where they have rejected a visa application and given advance notification of expulsion, UDI Control must immediately open an expulsion case and attach the advance notification of expulsion and the foreign service mission’s report on false documents to the expulsion case.

When the deadline for responding has expired, UDI Control shall process the case within five working days.

In cases that concern family immigration, study or work and where the foreign service mission has prepared the case, cf. section 2.3., the expulsion case will be dealt with in parallel to the residence case.

Expulsion decisions are sent electronically in DUF/Norvis to the foreign service mission, which will notify the person concerned.