Applicants wishing to apply for a residence permit to Norway may from 31 January 2011 use the Norwegian Application Portal. Portal applicants will be given priority, and can enjoy shorter processing times.
Applicants who wish to apply for a residence permit (family immigration, Au-Pair, student, seasonal, specialist, etc) to Norway at the Norwegian Embassy in Asmara must fill in the application form, pay the application fee and book an appointment on the secure Application Portal. This can also be done by the reference person in Norway. Afterwards, the applicant must submit his / her supporting documents at the Embassy. Applicants who apply online will be given priority.
Booking
All applicants may book an appointment on the Application Portal before coming to the Embassy to hand in their supporting documents. It is not possible to book an appointment without an application.
To cancel an application, you must contact the Consular Section in Asmara Monday to Thursday between 14:00 and 15:00. No requests for cancelling of an application will be accepted at other times. It is not possible to cancel an application using the Application Portal.
In order to cancel an application, call the Consular Section at 08 20 50 55. You may also send us an e-mail instead at emb.asmara@mfa.no.
No Internet access?
There are several Internet cafes in Eritrea.
It is also possible for the sponsor in Norway to complete all or part of the online process for the applicant (e.g. log on and pay the application fee).
How to apply - First time users
- Go to https://selfservice.udi.no/
- The first time you use the Application Portal, you must register as a user with a username and a password.
- Usernames and passwords should not contain any special characters such as @, %, &, etc.
- The password must contain at least 8 characters, at least one number and at least one CAPITAL letter (e.g. Asmara123).
- In a short while an e-mail will be sent to the address provided. Open the e-mail, click on the site given to activate your account.
- Go to migration portal, on the left hand side enter your user name and password and click on log on.
- You will be shown the first available appointment at the embassy.
- Choose the application you want to out: visa, family immigration, education, etc...
- Fill in the application completely (Please note that all the boxes with a star next to them are mandatory and have to be filled out).
- When the application is filled out and you have paid the application fee (using a credit-/debit card), a confirmation is sent to your e-mail.
- After completion of the application, you will be asked to book an appointment. A calendar will be available. Choose the month and day you want to submit your supporting documents. On the right hand side of the screen you will see a chart will all the available times for your chosen date. Click on the circle to choose the time you want.
- You will then receive a confirmation of your appointment on that same page, please print that page and bring it with you to the embassy on the day you have your appointment.
- Close all tabs and log out of the program.
- When you have registered yourself as a user on the Portal, you can fill in the application form (click on 'Apply for a visa'), pay the application fee (with a credit / debit card) and book an appointment at the Embassy.
Please kindly note that the reference person in Norway can apply online on behalf of the applicant.
There is no need to print or e-mail the embassy with the copy of your application, but you need to print and have the confirmation of your booked appointment when you come to the embassy. The embassy will receive the application electronically as soon as you have registered it online and will make all the necessary corrections in your application.
How to apply - Existing users (who have previously used the Application Portal)
Applicants who have used the Application Portal before can simply log on to https://selfservice.udi.no/, use the last application as a template and only change details such as travel dates, etc., pay the fee and book an appointment to hand in the supporting documents.
Supporting documents
For information on required documents for residence permits, please visit the following websites:
Family immigration For family immigration the following checklists/questionnaires must also be filled out before coming to the embassy: family checklist/questionnaire
Studies
Work
When the applicant has handed in all the supporting documents at the Embassy, the embassy scans the documents and finishes the registration of the case. The case is then transferred electronically to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) in Norway, which will handle the case. The UDI’s processing times can be found here.
Status Enquiries / Follow-ups
It is the UDI in Norway who assesses the application. The embassy cannot answer any questions relating to the application once it has been sent to the UDI.
Before making a follow-up to the UDI, applicants are respectfully requested to first check the current processing time for their type of application. If the processing time has not been exceeded, follow-ups should not be made (the answer is that 'The application is in a queue').
The main reason for the long processing time is that people make follow-ups before the processing time has been exceeded. That means that case handlers spend their time speaking / writing to applicants / sponsors, instead of processing cases.
If there is anything missing in the application or if the Directorate of Immigration requires any further information, the applicant (or the person with Power of Attorney) will be contacted.
Notification of decision
When the Directorate of Immigration has made a decision, the embassy will be notified and the embassy will notify the applicant.
In cases where the applicant has given “Power of Attorney” to someone else (the sponsor, a family member, a friend, etc), it is the person with “Power of Attorney” who will be notified, not the applicant.
Rejected applications
Applicants whom have been denied may re-apply or lodge an appeal. The appeal may be lodged by the applicant himself / herself or by a person with “Power of Attorney”. Only new information of conclusive relevance to the application may result in the former decision being reversed by the UDI. Otherwise, the appeal will be sent to the Immigration Appeals Board (UNE) for assessment.
Application fee
The application fee must be paid electronically (by credit / debit card) on the secure Application Portal after filling in the application form online. The application will not be sent to the Embassy before the payment has been successfully processed (usually within a few seconds). Applicants (/ sponsors, etc.) may pay by Visa or Mastercard.
To access the Application Portal, please click here: https://selfservice.udi.no/