For urgent consular matters outside of the Embassy’s opening hours, please contact the Ministry of Foreign Affair's Response Center in Oslo by email 247@mfa.no or by phone on +47 23 95 00 00
One of the embassy's many tasks is to give advice and help to Norwegian citizens when there is a need for this.
Here we have added information about the different types of asstiance an Embassy can and cannot provide.
The embassy can assist with:
- The issuance of passports
- Contact family and friends to ask them to help you with money and/or tickets
- Give advice on transferring money from Norway
- Give advice and guidance on medical services, hospitals etc.
- Assist in obtaining legal assistance
- In very special cases, issue emergency loans for a return trip home to Norway
- Assist relatives in the event of death abroad
- In the event of arrest or imprisonment abroad, the embassy can provide contact during a visit to the prison
However, the embassy cannot assist with, among other things:
- Interference with legal proceedings
- Pay for legal defense/lawyer
- Obtain housing, work or a work permit
- Pay bills for hotels, doctors, legal assistance or other expenses
- Transfer/payment of social security benefits
- Translation of documents and certificates
- Assist in purchase law matters
- Cover hospital expenses
- Perform marriage ceremonies at the embassy. The Norwegian embassy in Ethiopia is not authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do so. Regjeringen.no has a list of all the Norwegian embassies with the authorization to perform marriage ceremonies.
You can read more about the kind of consular assistance an embassy can provide at regjeringen.no.
Please note: the price for adult passport will be applied from the age of 16 years.
The Embassy is changing the routine for appointment releases. We will start releasing appointments one month ahead only. We will release the appointments for May 2025 in the middle of April 2025.
An exact time will not be given in advance, however, appointments will be dropped towards the middle of the month ahead, usually on the 15th if this is a normal working day. Appointments will be released during office hours (8.00-16.00).
The demand for appointments continues to be higher than the Embassy's capacity, which leads to long waiting times. We are continously trying to improving our system and routines in order to increase our capacity. However, we do expect the lack of capacity to meet the demand to be an issue going forward..
Be considerate and cancel appointments you cannot attend. If you have an appointment that you cannot attend, please cancel your appointment so that others might take advantage of the free slot.
Everyone who applies for a passport must have a Norwegian national identity number. For children born in Ethiopia who do not yet have a national identity number, you must apply for a national identity number in order to apply for a passport for the child. For more information, see “National identity number to get a passport” here.
We advise you to book an appointment well in advance of your passport expiring.
The Embassy has prepared a checklist with documentation requirements for passport renewal:
Make sure that you have all the required documents before your appointment. The application will not be accepted without the required documentation.
It is important that you bring the old passport to your appointment, both when you apply and when you come to pick up your new passport. Previous passports must be handed in when a new passport is handed over. If the old passport contains a valid visa, we will shred the other pages and you will keep the passport.
If the old passport is expired, there may be requirements for extended ID checks (presentation of other ID-documents or DNA test). This follows from the Police Directorate Circular Letter 2020/008.
Please note that it is now more expensive to apply for a passport abroad than in Norway. For more information on passport fees, see here.
The Embassy uses a booking system for appointments for passport renewal. You must create an account and book an appointment:
Passport for children (0-18 years)
Parents and children are required to meet physically at the appointment. The original passports of parents as well as children must be presented at the appointment. If parental responsibility of the child is shared, both parents must give consent. If one parent is unable to attend the application appointment at the embassy, that parent must give consent prior to the appointment.
Consent can be given at all passport offices (police in Norway and Norwegian foreign service missions with passport authorities), see more about this here. The Norwegian Embassy in Addis Ababa is open for drop-ins on Thursdays between 1 and 2 pm in order to give consent.
Biometric data (photograph/fingerprint/signature) are recorded, also for children from 12 years old. For children between 10 and 12 years of age, photograph and signature will be recorded. For children under 10 years of age, only a photograph will be taken.
Please note that the validity period of passports for children under the age of 16 is shorter than for adults. Passports for persons under the age of 16 have the following validity period:
- 0 - 5 years old: 2 years validity
- 5 - 10 years old: 3 years validity
- 10 - 16 years old: 5 years validity
Passport collection
You will be notified by the embassy when your passport is ready to be picked up. When you have been notified by the embassy you may collect the passport on Thursdays between 1 and 2 pm.
Remember to bring old passports for shredding when handing over new passports.
It is no longer possible to send passports by post. Passports must be collected in person and signed for at the Embassy in Addis Ababa.
In order to apply for a Norwegian passport, you need to have a Norwegian national identity number. For children born outside of Norway, you apply for a national identity number at the same time as applying for a Norwegian passport for the child.
For a child to be given a Norwegian national identity number, at least one of the parents must be a Norwegian citizen when the child was born.
According to the Passport Regulations of 19.10.2020, only the passport authority (the Embassy) can submit an application for the allocation of a personal identification number. Before making an appointment, persons wishing to apply for a national identity number are requested to answer the questions on the Tax Administration's website. After all questions have been answered, the system will produce a list of documentation requirements and how to move forward with the application. The requirements for documentation may vary.
Before applying for a passport and national identity number for the child, paternity must be established.
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If the parents are married to one another and the marriage is registered in the Norwegian Population Registry, paternity follows Pater est-rule.
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If the Norwegian parent is permanently residing in Norway and not married in Norway or abroad, see more details here.
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If the Norwegian parent is permanently residing in Norway, and has gotten married in a country classified as Group 2 countries in section 8-4-2 of the National Registration Regulations, the Norwegian father must declare paternity by personal attendance at a tax office (Skattekontor). The father may also declare paternity by personally attending the appointment at the embassy.
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If the Norwegian parent resides abroad, see more details here.
The embassy has a checklist for documentation requirements for applications for a Norwegian national identity number:
Print out the list, check the boxes and sign once you are sure that you have all the required documents ready. Bring the signed checklist to your appointment along with the documents. The application will not be accepted without the required documentation.
Note! If the child was born in Somalia, read and follow the Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi's checklist (as it is this Embassy that covers Somalia). You can find the checklist here.
Parents and children are required to meet physically at the appointment, even if the child is an infant. The parents must identify themselves with a valid passport or a valid ID card with photo, signature and date of birth. If one parent cannot attend the appointment, please see procedure for how to give consent here.
If the ID document is not Norwegian, you will be required to have a certified copy of the document from the issuing authority. Information about the process for legalizing Ethiopian documents can be found here.
DNA testing of children and mothers is required in connection with the allocation of national identity numbers for children born in Ethiopia. This follows from Section 8 of the National Registry Regulations. You will find information on how to order a DNA test on the Norwegian Tax Administration's guide. NOTE! You must not drink or eat anything 20 minutes before testing. This also applies to children.
You can book your appointment for applying for national identity number and passport when:
- You have received a receipt and reference number from Oslo University Hospital for DNA-test.
- You can present all the required documents on the Tax Administration’s guide and the Embassy’s checklist
- All necessary non-Norwegian documents have been legalized
The embassy now uses a booking system for appointments. To set up an appointment, create an account and book your appointment.
The total processing time of applications may vary. Normally an application takes 3-6 months to process. The Norwegian Tax Administration state that their case processing time is 2-4 months, in addition to this there is case processing time at NAV and Oslo University Hospital (DNA-test) and the embassy's own case processing time. We advise that you do not book tickets for travelling with the child, nor plan visas for non-Norwegian parents, until the child has received a valid travel document.
The Embassy will inform you once the Tax Authorities have issued a Norwegian National Identity Number. It is not necessary to contact the embassy or other agencies while the application is being processed.
What is a legalisation?
Legalisation is a formality that is necessary for a document issued by foreign authorities to have legal effect in Norway. Foreign documents must be legalised by the authorities in the country which they were issued.
Legalisation does not prove the authenticity of a document or the truthfulness of its content.
For more information about legalization, see regjeringen.no.
The standard legalisation process is as follows:
- Original document is presented to a Notary Public
- A copy of the document is certified by the Notary Public
- Notarised document is legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ethiopia
- Original document and certfied copy that has been legalised is presented for confirmation by the Norwegian Embassy in Addis Ababa
Please note that if the original document is in a different language than English, you will need to bring a translated version of the document in English. The translation must also be notarised and legalised.
For your appointment you must bring the documents, as well as a valid ID document. If the passport is not Norwegian, a certified true copy must also be brought to the appointment. Legalisation will only be performed if all documentation meets the requirements outlined above.
If you are not able to present the documents for legalization yourself, you may authorize another person to do it for you. You must issue a power of attorney (Fullmakt) to this person, stating what the power of attorney concerns as well as the full name and date of birth of the person you are authorizing. At the appointment with the Embassy the authorized person must present the original power of attorney together with his/her original ID-document, as well as a certified copy of both your and his/her valid ID-document.
If you are in Norway, you must go to your local police station and present your original ID and original power of attorney and request that they send the documents to the embassy electronically to consular.addis.abeba@mfa.no.
If you have lost or had your passport stolen while you are in Ethiopia, contact the embassy as soon as possible.
In the event of passport theft, you must immediately report this to the nearest police station and obtain a police report. This must be legalized by the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The report is taken to the embassy together with ID. If you have a copy of the passport's main page, this is good. Passport number and social security number are also important information. You are welcome to bring other Norwegian IDs, for example a driver's licence, bank card, identification with a photo or a birth certificate.
At the embassy, you must fill in a loss notification form.
Please note that if you have reported your passport lost and then find it again, it must be handed in to the embassy or the police in Norway. The old passport will no longer be valid as a travel document.
If it is urgent to get a new passport for the return journey, the embassy can issue an emergency passport if necessary.
Emergency passports can in certain cases be issued at the embassy. The information on the personal information page is written by hand in emergency passports. Note! Emergency passports cannot be used for entry to some countries, e.g. USA.
The emergency passport costs more than an ordinary passport. It is only valid for a single journey and has a short period of validity. The emergency passport must be delivered to the police or border control when you return to Norway.
Emergency passports are only issued in situations where this is strictly necessary. This will mainly be in the following cases:
- A valid passport has been stolen and departure is imminent
- When there is an urgent need for a passport due to illness or death in the family
- Unforeseen and important business trips
- In other cases, when important welfare reasons speak for it
Contact the embassy by email for an appointment for an emergency passport. When you come to the embassy, you must bring 2 new passport photos (without any editing), ID and a copy of the main page of your passport, as well as cash for the passport fee.
You can read more about emergency passports on the Police's website.