Foreign citizens with a residence, work or settlement permit in Norway can, in individual cases, be issued with a Norwegian refugee travel document or immigrant’s passport.
You may be granted a refugee travel document if you have refugee status, i.e. refugee status in the eyes of the law – it is not enough that you consider yourself to be a refugee. This is because being granted refugee status means you are being granted protection from the authorities in your country of origin, which precludes you from applying for a passport or other travel document from them. If you have refugee status, your spouse/cohabitant and your children may also be granted refugee status, which means that they may also be issued refugee travel documents.
As a general rule, the Norwegian authorities can only issue you with an immigrant’s passport if you have been granted a permit on protection grounds. All others must contact the authorities in their country of origin. An application for an immigrant’s passport may be rejected even if you have been granted a permit on protection grounds.
If you are the spouse, cohabitant or child of a foreign national who has been granted a permit on protection grounds, you may also be issued an immigrant’s passport if you have been granted a family immigration permit for the purpose of reunification with this person and are considered to have a corresponding need for protection. The criteria for this type of application are duration of the marriage, when it was entered into, where and when the children were born and the situation in the country of origin when the family immigration permit was granted.
If you are unable to obtain a travel document from the authorities in your country of origin, you may be issued an immigrant’s passport even if you do not have a permit granted on protection grounds. In such cases you must document in your application why you are unable to obtain a travel document from the authorities in your country of origin. The Norwegian immigration authorities undertake continuous assessments of the possibilities citizens of various nationalities and ethnic groups have to obtain a travel document from their country of origin.
List of who is advised to contact the authorities in their country of origin to obtain an immigrant’s passport
If for one reason or another you cannot obtain travel documents from your country of origin and want to be issued a travel document by the Norwegian authorities, you must submit written documentation from the authorities in your country of origin confirming that you are unable to obtain a travel document from them. However, the Norwegian authorities will not issue a travel document if you are unable to obtain one from your country of origin due to circumstances which are under your control.
Currently no Somalian travel documents are issued which are approved by the Norwegian authorities, and therefore nationals of Somalia are generally issued a Norwegian travel document.
When special grounds so indicate, you can obtain a short-term immigrant’s passport for a single journey, even if your application for a Norwegian travel document has previously been rejected. Examples of such situations could be the urgent need to travel due to the documented serious illness or death of a member of your closest family, or if you are a child/young person going on a school trip.
How to apply for a refugee travel document or immigrant’s passport
If the above-mentioned conditions are not met, your application for a refugee travel document or immigrant’s passport will be rejected.
List of who is advised to contact the authorities in their country of origin to obtain an immigrant’s passport
Even if the above-mentioned conditions are met, your application for a refugee travel document or immigrant’s passport may still be rejected. One common reason for rejecting applications for a refugee travel document or immigrant’s passport is that there is doubt as to the applicant’s identity. If you have given different identities to the Norwegian authorities and the authorities of another country, you must document your correct identity before you can be issued a refugee travel document or immigrant’s passport. If you have lost or misused your travel document, your application for a new one may also be rejected.
Most foreign nationals in Norway are not issued a Norwegian travel document. If this includes you and you also do not have an approved travel document from your country of origin, you may be unable to prove your identity. This could give you problems if you want to open a bank account, obtain a driving licence and so on.
The immigration authorities are of the opinion that this is a situation you could resolve by contacting the authorities in your country of origin and applying to them for a travel document. Provided that you have not been granted a permit on protection grounds, this is considered to be a matter between you and the authorities in your country of origin.
More questions about refugee travel documents or immigrant’s passports?
If you are still unsure as to who can apply for a refugee travel document or immigrant’s passport, you can contact the police department in your vicinity or
the Information Service (OTS).
