Wait times for residence and Norwegian citizenship likely to grow longer
Waiting times for permanent residence and citizenship have gotten longer over the past year, and the issue could worsen as the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration may make more staff cuts.
Over the past year, the median waiting time for citizenship, permanent residence, and family reunification applications has increased.
The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) had told The Local that it had been subject to “a decrease in capacity strength” as staff numbers had been reduced due to budget cuts. Cuts at Norway’s immigration directorate were confirmed to The Local in March 2024.
READ ALSO: How budget cuts have impacted wait times at Norway’s immigration directorate
Waiting times could grow longer in the coming months as the directorate could be forced to make staff cuts to avoid going over budget.
“We have experienced a decrease in capacity strength, which refers to a reduction in staff numbers due to budget cuts. And staff numbers will need to decrease further,” Trude Beate Steen, Director of Finance at the UDI, told The Local Norway.
“This decrease in our capacity to process cases may lead to extended waiting times for residency and citizenship applications, although this will also depend on the volume of cases received,” she added.
So far, not all residence applications have been affected by increased waiting times. For example, the median wait time for a work permit has decreased by 10 days to 55 days between June 2023 and June 2024.
The median wait for a residence permit for a third-country national moving to Norway with an EEA citizen has also fallen from 169 days to 140 days.
When it first confirmed the budget cuts to The Local in March 2024, the UDI said that it would use greater automation to compensate for lower staff numbers.
Some application types at the UDI can be fully automated, including citizenship cases. When citizenship cases are automated, applicants typically receive an answer within a couple of months.
According to the UDI, citizenship applications take around 25 months to complete. The UDI website has a full overview of different waiting times.
On the waiting times section of its website, the UDI states that it expected to receive more applications in 2024 than it received in 2023 and that waiting times would increased throughout 2024.
It said that it due to setting aside more time to spend on case processing, applicants would find it harder to get through to the UDI’s phone information service.
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Over the past year, the median waiting time for citizenship, permanent residence, and family reunification applications has increased.
The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) had told The Local that it had been subject to “a decrease in capacity strength” as staff numbers had been reduced due to budget cuts. Cuts at Norway’s immigration directorate were confirmed to The Local in March 2024.
READ ALSO: How budget cuts have impacted wait times at Norway’s immigration directorate
Waiting times could grow longer in the coming months as the directorate could be forced to make staff cuts to avoid going over budget.
“We have experienced a decrease in capacity strength, which refers to a reduction in staff numbers due to budget cuts. And staff numbers will need to decrease further,” Trude Beate Steen, Director of Finance at the UDI, told The Local Norway.
“This decrease in our capacity to process cases may lead to extended waiting times for residency and citizenship applications, although this will also depend on the volume of cases received,” she added.
So far, not all residence applications have been affected by increased waiting times. For example, the median wait time for a work permit has decreased by 10 days to 55 days between June 2023 and June 2024.
The median wait for a residence permit for a third-country national moving to Norway with an EEA citizen has also fallen from 169 days to 140 days.
When it first confirmed the budget cuts to The Local in March 2024, the UDI said that it would use greater automation to compensate for lower staff numbers.
Some application types at the UDI can be fully automated, including citizenship cases. When citizenship cases are automated, applicants typically receive an answer within a couple of months.
According to the UDI, citizenship applications take around 25 months to complete. The UDI website has a full overview of different waiting times.
On the waiting times section of its website, the UDI states that it expected to receive more applications in 2024 than it received in 2023 and that waiting times would increased throughout 2024.
It said that it due to setting aside more time to spend on case processing, applicants would find it harder to get through to the UDI’s phone information service.
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