What residence period applies to you?

Five years of residence is required for those who:

• have residence after applying for protection
• have protection (asylum) because they are a family member of a refugee (derived protection/asylum)
• came to Norway as resettlement refugees
• have residence due to strong humanitarian considerations
• have family immigration with a person in any of the groups above, or have family immigration with a person in any of the groups above who has later been granted a permanent residence permit.

Three years of residence is required for those with other types of permits, such as:

• work immigration
• family immigration with a Norwegian or Nordic citizen
• family immigration with other foreign citizens whose residence is unrelated to protection or strong humanitarian considerations

Have you had different types of residence permits?

The residence permit you have at the time you apply for permanent residence determines whether you must have resided in Norway for three or five years.

What does it mean that your stay must be continuous?

In order for a stay to be deemed continuous:

• You must not have been without a residence permit for more than three months in total during the past three or five years. Stays without residence permits are calculated from the date your residence permit expired until you submitted an application for a new residence permit.
• As a rule, you cannot have stayed outside Norway for a total of more than seven months during the past three years.
• If the requirement of five years of residence applies to you, you must not have resided outside Norway for more than a total of ten months in the previous five years.
• If you hold a residence permit as a skilled worker, you may stay outside Norway for up to 15 months, provided that you can document that at least eight months of the stay are due to work-related travel on assignment for your employer.

What date will the residence period be calculated from?

• Suppose you were staying in Norway when you applied for your first residence permit that formed the basis for a permanent residence permit. In such case, your residence period begins on the date your residence permit was granted (the decision date).
• If you were granted your first residence permit before you entered Norway, your residence period starts on the date you reported to the police.
• If you have been granted asylum (protection), your residence period starts on the date you applied for asylum (protection).
• If you are a resettlement refugee, your residence starts on the date you arrived in Norway.