Being a citizen of any state is honorable and prestigious, of course, it carries with it certain responsibilities. On the other hand, a person is protected, has the right to participate in elections as a voter or deputy, and hold positions of responsibility. For the monarchical states, the system of citizenship was previously characteristic, today it is being replaced by the institution of citizenship. Therefore, the request is written how to obtain Norwegian citizenship, and not "how to become a citizen of this kingdom."
In September 2006, Norway adopted the Citizenship Law, according to which those wishing to become full members of the society of this country act. There are several mechanisms (similar to those offered by the practice of other states of the world), of course, there are also their own peculiarities, which will be discussed in the article.
How to get Norwegian citizenship by birth
The most popular in the Kingdom of Norway are two ways of acquiring citizenship: filiation - citizenship by birth; naturalization - citizenship accepted by a foreigner. The legislation of the country at the moment of establishing citizenship in relation to newborns is unambiguous, children must have the same citizenship as their parents. A child who was born into a family where at least one parent is a citizen of Norway automatically receives Norwegian citizenship by birth (the marriage must be registered without fail).
If the relationship between the parents is not enshrined in law, then the issue of the Norwegian citizenship of the child is decided depending on the citizenship of the mother. If a Norwegian citizen officially registers a relationship with a foreigner, then all her children from previous marriages, who have not reached the age of 18 and who have not married, also receive the citizenship of the Scandinavian state.
Naturalization process
All other categories of persons who dream of becoming full citizens of the Kingdom of Norway should rely on the provisions of the law regarding the naturalization process. As in many other states, in this country, potential applicants for citizenship are subject to the following important requirements and conditions:
- an adult foreigner can submit documents, that is, his age must be over 18 years old;
- you need to withstand the residency requirement, living in Norway for at least seven years;
- lack of a criminal past;
- no debts.
These are the main points, some of them are variable. For example, the period of residence in the kingdom can be reduced to five years for persons who are legally married to Norwegian citizens. At the same time, without fail, a person must have a permit for the right to live here, on the basis of it, the time of stay in the kingdom is calculated, only the legal time is taken into account. A simplified approach is applied if the person had the citizenship of one of the Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Denmark), for this category two years of life in Norway is enough.
One of the positions characteristic of Norwegian legislation can be noted regarding the acquisition of citizenship by children. Children are included in the parents' application, for minors there is a different period of stay in Norway - at least two years. There is another option - if the child has lived in the country for five years out of the last seven (in total), and his age is over 12 years old, he has the right to independently apply for citizenship.
Another important rule for candidates for Norwegian citizenship is to renounce the citizenship of the country of the previous place of residence. The provision of the law prohibiting dual citizenship is working, exceptions to this rule are extremely rare. The concept of “absence of a criminal past” means that a person is not on the wanted list for committing certain criminal offenses, is not a member of terrorist groups. Among other things, at the time of filing an application, a person must be in Norwegian territory, and be in the country all the time while the documents are being considered.
Knowledge of the language is one of the conditions
One of the most difficult requirements for many potential applicants is to check the level of knowledge of the Norwegian language, which is characterized as very difficult for foreigners to learn. Meanwhile, the document on training will have to be provided to all persons intending to obtain citizenship and who are between the ages of 18 and 55. The main condition is that the document must confirm that the course included at least 300 hours (standard course).
Instead of this document, you can study in various local educational programs for adults or go straight to the exam at Folkuniversitetet University.
