What are consular matters?
Consular matters are often defined as the services that a country’s authorities can offer its citizens while they are abroad. From the dissolution of Norway’s Union with Sweden until the end of the 1950s these services were mainly directed towards seafarers and business people. Today most of the requests for assistance are for the most part put forward by tourists and other travelers, as well as from Norwegian citizens who have decided to emigrate to the specific country for a shorter or longer period of time. The most common consular services today are assistance to Norwegians who have been the victim of theft, illness or accidents, as well as applications for passports, legalizations of documents and maritime matters. Consular matters span a wide range of cases, both when it comes to complexity and resources – from simple matters like questions regarding visas and forwarding of applications which normally only takes a few minutes, to arrests- and child abduction cases that may take years of work and follow-up.
For further information please see Meld. St. 12 Assistance to Norwegians abroad Meld. St. 12 (2010–2011) (regjeringen.no)
The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
The Embassy provides consular services to Norwegian citizens in the following states:
- Arkansas
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- South Dakota
- Texas
The Consulate General in New York
The Consulate General in New York provides consular services to Norwegian citizens in the following states and areas:
- Alabama
- Bermuda
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Puerto Rico
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
The Consulate General in San Francisco
The Consulate General in San Francisco provides consular services to Norwegian citizens in the following states:
- Alaska
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Montana
- New Mexico
- Nevada
- Oregon
- Utah
- Washington
- Wyoming
Honorary Consulates
Norway has 29 Honorary Consulates around the United States, covering 36 states. Click on the heading for more information about which US states the Honorary Consuls cover.
Norwegian citizens who wish to apply for a new passport, must make an appointment and meet in person. This is also the case for children under the age of 18. Children born outside of Norway must apply for a personal number as well as a passport.
Norwegian citizens who are currently in the USA may apply for biometric passports at the Norwegian embassy in Washington, DC, or the consulates general in New York or San Francisco.
Applying for a passport for adults
- Everyone applying for a new passport must bring the old one. You must bring the old one even if it expired a long time ago.
- Current ID (if you do not have the old passport)
Norwegian citizens born abroad should also be aware that you in many cases must apply to retain your Norwegian citizenship before turning 22. You can read more here: Utlendingsdirektoratets hjemmesider.
Applying for a passport for children under 18
Please bring the following when you arrive for your appointment:
- Passport
- Birth certificate if you apply for your first Norwegian passport
- Both parents’ original passports
The child must be present during the appointment.
In the cases where both parents have custody of the child both parents must meet in person to give consent to issuance of a passport to the child. The parents must bring their own passports or national identity card to give consent. The consent can either be given when you meet in person during the appointment together with the child, or it can be given at another time. In the US it will only be possible to give consent at the embassy in DC or at one of the 2 consulates general. The child does not have to meet if you are only giving a consent. It is possible to give either a single consent or a permanent consent. The permanent consent will be valid until the child turns 18, so that for later passport appointments for the child only one parent needs to be present.
For more information please visit the Police website in Norway: Politiets hjemmesider.
General information regarding passports
Passport validity:
- Children under 5 years: 2 years
- Children between 5 and 10 years: 3 years
- Children between 10 and 16 years: 5 years
- Adults: 10 years
Passport fees:
Children under 16 years: $ 72
Applicants over 16 years: $ 121
Emergency passport (all ages): $ 158
The embassy and general consulates only accepts credit cards.
Pick-up of passports
You may pick up your passport (by appointment only) at either the embassy in Washington, DC or the consulates general in New York or San Franciso.
OBS: you must bring your old passport when you are picking up the new one
Appointments:
You must make an appointment prior to meeting at the embassy or one of the consulates general. To make an appointment, please use the underneath links:
Embassy, Washington, D.C.:
Ventus appointment (enalog.se)
Consulate general, New York:
https://www.norway.no/en/usa/norway-usa/new-york/
Consulate general, San Francisco:
https://www.norway.no/en/usa/norway-usa/san-francisco/
If you lose your passport or your passport is stolen, you can apply to be issued an emergency passport for travel home to Norway. You can do this at the embassy in Washington, DC as well as the consulates general in New York and San Francisco.
Loss or theft of your passport must be reported to local US police authorities. If you do not have time to have a regular passport issued before your travel back to Norway, you may apply for an emergency passport.
Criteria and requirements to apply for an emergency passport.
- You must bring documentation for your travel.
- You must bring current ID, for example ID-card, driver’s license, “bankkort” with a picture etc.
- You must bring a police report.
- You must bring 2 passport size photos.
- The emergency passport is only valid for one travel.
- You must give the passport to the border police when you enter Norway
NOTE: In New York, you will need a statement from the Embassy or Consulate General to take to the U.S. police to report it lost or stolen. You must bring the police report with you to the Norwegian Embassy or Consulate General when you apply for a new passport or emergency passport.)
The rules regarding consent to issue of passports to a minor are also enforced when it comes to emergency passports.
Please be aware that if you have reported your passport lost and then recover it, you must deliver it to either the embassy, consulates general or the police in Norway. The passport will no longer be a valid travel document.
The fee for an emergency passport is $158.
You may apply to reclaim your Norwegian citizenship only if you have previously been a Norwegian citizen and lost your citizenship when you became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
UDI has information on requirements, how to apply and what to submit: Want to apply: Notification of citizenship for those who have previously been Norwegian citizens - UDI
Download the step-by-step guide.
A person who acquired Norwegian citizenship at birth, but who has not resided in Norway for a total period of two years or in any other Nordic countries for a total of seven years shall lose his or her Norwegian citizenship upon reaching the age of 22. A person with sufficient connection to Norway may, however, apply for retention of his/her Norwegian citizenship. Sufficient connection is defined as visits to Norway that exceeds 180 days in total. The application must be submitted to a Norwegian Embassy or Consulate General before the applicant reaches the age of 22.
Please complete this checklist before your appointment.
The applications are processed by the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI). The application should be filled out online. Please print the completed application and sign the cover letter with barcode from the application portal, together with the checklist and bring to your appointment with all the required documentation.
UDI has information on requirements, how to apply and what to submit:
Want to renew: Keeping your Norwegian citizenship (retention of citizenship) - UDI
Documentation required
All documentation must be prepared before the appointment at the Embassy or Consulate General.
Please note:
Applications must be submitted to the Embassy or Consulate General before the applicant's 22nd birthday.
A signed cover letter from the application portal together with UDI's checklist must be included with the application.
If your application to retain your Norwegian citizenship was approved before October 19, 2015, this approval will not be reflected in the National Registry (Folkeregisteret). You can contact the Norwegian Tax Authority directly to have the information added:
Skatteetaten
Postboks 9200 Grønland
0134 Oslo
NORWAY
You need a Norwegian national identity number to get a passport. If you do not have a national identity number, the National Population Register must issue one as a part of the passport application process.
Please see information from the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten) website here: https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/person/national-registry/change/fodselsnummer-for-a-fa-pass/
Applications for a personal number must be submitted at the Embassy/Consulate General that has jurisdiction over your State of Residence. Please refer to the list at the top of this page.
Personal number checklist
Please download our personal number application checklist and sample letter.
The sample letter is also available in Word format for easy editing.
How to apply for a Norwegian personal number and passport for your child
It is required that both parents and the child meet in person at the Foreign Service Mission to apply for a personal number. As of 26 October 2020, married couples must register their marriage with the Norwegian Tax Administration in Norway (Skatteetaten — address below) before applying for a personal number for their child. Please send your marriage certificate with an apostille along with copies of your passports to the Norwegian Tax Administration in Norway. It is helpful to include a short letter where you state that you wish to have the marriage registered in the registry and that you wish to have the document returned. Please also include a return address so that they may send you the original document back.
Skatteetaten
Postboks 9200 Grønland
0134 Oslo
NORWAY
You must submit a separate application for a personal number for each child. It takes approximately 10 to 12 weeks to get a personal number.
Persons 9 years or younger may apply for a personal number and passport simultaneously, as long as they do not turn 10 years old before the personal number is assigned. Persons 10 years and older will have to come back for a passport once they have been assigned a personal number.
Paternity or co-maternity
If the parents were not married at the time of the child’s birth, they will have to establish paternity or co-maternity in Norway themselves prior to applying for a personal number for their child. Visit NAV’s website where you can download the application form and read the information about how to establish paternity or co-maternity:
Farskap eller medmorskap fastsatt i utlandet - nav.no
Send the completed form to:
NAV familie- og pensjonsytelser Oslo 2- kontorinformasjon
Postboks 6600 Etterstad
0607 Oslo
Adoption
If the child was adopted, the parents must apply for recognition of adoption abroad prior to applying for a personal number. Please see BUFDIR's website for more information:
Anerkjennelse av adopsjon gjennomført i utlandet | Bufdir
Are you wondering whether you already are a Norwegian citizen? Answer the questions in this guide, and you will get an answer.