Children as individual applicants

It is possible to submit an individual application for citizenship for a child above the age of 12. The child needs to have at least 5 years of legal residence within the last 7 years, on permits each granted for at least 1 year.

Apart from that the general requirements apply: ‘Who can apply for Norwegian citizenship?’

Children as bi-persons

It is possible to apply for citizenship if:

• The father or mother of the child has already acquired Norwegian citizenship, or
• The father or mother is applying for citizenship at the same time. (This does not apply if the mother or father is a Nordic citizen and acquires Norwegian citizenship by notification)

The rules for children as bi-person do not apply to children who are married or registered partners.

Other requirements:

• The identity of the child needs to be clarified.
• The child has to live in Norway, and intends to continue living here.
• The child must not have been convicted
• The child needs in general to be released from previous citizenship.
• The child needs to have lived in Norway the last two years with permits each given for at least one year. (This means that children who arrived after the age of 16, needs to be at least 18 years before the residence requirement is met. They will consequently apply for citizenship on an individual basis based on the ordinary rules.)