What is a residence card?

A residence card is a credit-card-sized plastic card that proves that you have been granted a residence permit in Norway. The police will order a residence card for you.

If you have applied from Norway, you might receive your residence card without meeting at the police station again. If this applies to you, the police will send you the residence card in the mail. This means that you do not have to book an appointment. Read below to find out when you must book an appointment.

What do you need to do to receive the card in the mail?

• If you are a new postal recipient in Norway: fill in this form (external website, opens in new window) and hand it in at a post office or in-store post office. Remember to bring identification.
• If you are already a registered postal recipient, check that your correct postal address is registered with Posten (external website). The site requires login with BankID or MinID.
• Make sure you have your name on your letterbox, otherwise you will not receive the card. If the card gets lost in the post, it will take some time before you can get a new one.
• You should not book trips abroad until you have received your new residence card.

How long will it take until you get the card?

It will take at least 20 working days from your appointment with the police until you receive the card in the post. 

You must book an appointment to get a residence card

• If you have applied from abroad.
• If you have an expired Norwegian alien's passport or refugee travel document which you have not already given to the police.
• If your application was submitted by another person with a power of attorney (i.e. you must book an appointment with the police yourself to get a residence card).
• If you have applied for a residence permit in accordance with the Brexit regulations (you will be notified to book an appointment after your application has been processed).
• If you have applied for protection for the first time with the police, the police will summon you to class. You do not have to book an appointment yourself.

At the police station, the police will take a photo of you and register your fingerprints.

How to book an appointment?

Booking an appointment electronically

If you filled in and sent the application electronically, you can now log in to book the appointment.

Booking an appointment by phone

If you did not fill in an electronic application form when you applied for a residence permit, you must instead call your local police district to book an appointment. UDI cannot help you to book an appointment.

Some people must be tested for tuberculosis when they come to Norway.

You must get tested if

• you come from a country with a high incidence of tuberculosis. This means that your country is on The Norwegian Institute of Public Health's list of countries with high and very high incidence of tuberculosis (external website), and
• you are going to stay in Norway for more than three months

What should you do to test yourself?

If you are required to be tested for tuberculosis, you must contact the municipality where you will live. The municipality carries out the testing. You must test yourself as soon as possible after arrival to Norway.

If you have been granted one of the following types of permit, your spouse or cohabitant and children can apply for family immigration permit:

• study permit to study at a university or university college
• residence permit for a Norwegian language course for skilled workers
• residence permit for additional education

If you hold another type of study permit, your family cannot apply for family immigration.

You are entitled to different types of healthcare (external website) depending on your situation.

• If you are granted a study permit, you are automatically also granted permission to work part-time for up to 20 hours per week, including remote work, in addition to your studies and full-time during holidays.
• You can apply for a permit to work full-time during the academic year if the work is part of your education plan. You have to ask for this in writing when you apply, or later.
• You can not be self-employed or run your own business in Norway

You can travel into and out of Norway for as long as the permit is valid, but you must live in Norway for at least a total of six months each year.

Your decision states how long your permit is valid for and whether it can be renewed. If you wish to continue living in Norway, you must remember to renew your permit or apply for a new one 2–3 months before the permit expires. If you do not, you may experience problems travelling into and out of Norway and lose the right to work in Norway while you are waiting for a new permit.

In some cases, you may lose your residence permit.

Losing a permit means that UDI has decided that the residence permit is no longer valid. It may mean that you are no longer allowed to live in Norway or that you will be granted a new residence permit, and your residence period in Norway will restart.

There may be different reasons why you lose your residence permit, for example, if you:

• do not study
• live outside of Norway for more than a total of six months in one year
• work more than your permit entitles you to

Here you will find more information about revoking a residence permit.