What is a residence card?

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

Some applicants can get their residence card without meeting with the police again. If this applies to you, the police will send you the residence card in the mail, and you do not need to book an appointment. Read below who must meet with the police to get a residence card.

I have applied for protection (asylum) for the first time and have been granted a residence permit

If you have applied for asylum for the first time with the police, the police will contact you and give you an appointment. You must meet with the police, but you do not have to book an appointment yourself.

I have applied for a renewal of my residence permit, or I have applied for derived refugee status

You must book an appointment if you have a Norwegian alien's passport or travel document for refugees that has expired and that you have not already given to the police.

At the police, you must take a picture and give fingerprints.

You should not book an appointment if you handed in your old travel document to the police when you applied. You also do not need to book an appointment if you have applied for derived refugee status and receive a travel document for the first time. The police will send the residence card to you in the mail.

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

• Register as a new mail recipient in Norway at Posten (external website), if you have not already done so.
• Check that you are registered with the correct postal address at Posten (external website), if you are already registered as a postal recipient. The site requires login with BankID or MinID.
• Make sure you have your name on the mailbox, otherwise you will not receive the card. If the card gets lost in the mail, it will take some time before you can get a new one.
• You should not book trips abroad until you have received the new residence card.

How to book an appointment?

Booking an appointment in the Application Portal:

If you used the Application Portal to register your application, you can now log in here to book the appointment (external website).

Booking an appointment by phone:

If you did not use the Application Portal when you applied for a residence permit, you must instead call your local police district to book an appointment. You cannot call UDI to book an appointment.

You will be settled in a municipality. The Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDi) is responsible for finding a place for you to live.

• You are entitled to family reunification with any spouse or cohabitant and children you had before you arrived in Norway. There is no income requirement if the family applies within the deadline. 
• The application is not formally submitted until the family member has been at the embassy and handed in passport and other necessary documentation. The waiting time to get an appointment at the embassy may be up to several months, and you therefore should apply as soon as possible.

The police will order a National ID number for you. You do not have to do anything to get this.

• a registered address
• a valid and approved identification

• a valid foreign passport
• a valid travel document for refugees
• a valid immigrant’s passport

You must remember to apply to renew your residence permit while in Norway. In general, you are required to meet up in person to hand in your application for renewal to the police in Norway. If you have travelled from Norway and are abroad when your permit expires, your application will usually not be processed. This applies to you if you were granted a residence permit after applying for protection (asylum) in Norway.

In exceptional cases, however, UDI can consider processing your application for renewal even though it was handed in to a Norwegian embassy or diplomatic mission. For this to be an option, your reason for not returning to Norway to hand in your application must be due to circumstances beyond your control.

If you believe you meet the conditions another type of residence permit, we recommend that you apply. If you have family members in Norway, you can read about family immigration requirements at UDI.no to see if you are eligible.

• The decision letter from UDI will tell you whether the time you have this residence permit may be included if you later apply for a permanent residence permit.
• See information regarding the requirements for permanent residence 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: 

• have provided incorrect or incomplete information 
• have stayed too long outside Norway
• have received a new type of residence permit 

Here you will find more information about revoking a residence permit with refugee status (protection).