If an asylum seeker does not meet the requirements for a residence permit as a refugee, UDI and UNE will always consider whether he or she instead meets the requirements for a residence permit because of strong humanitarian considerations or because he or she has a special connection with Norway.  

The requirements for being granted a residence permit on humanitarian grounds are stringent, and it is only in special cases that asylum seekers are granted such a permit. An asylum seeker normally has to have a passport to be granted such a residence permit