Norway is finally offering dual citizenship, but that hasn’t meant it’s getting much easier to apply for it. Not only has the application process been severely disrupted during the Corona crisis, now the Parliament is sharpening language requirements for becoming a citizen.
Both the Labour- and Center parties supported the government’s proposal to raise the requirements for proficiency in the Norwegian language, even though 107 of the 121 people and organizations testifying at hearings on the law proposal were opposed.
Now foreigners who meet all the legal residence requirements will also have to pass language exams at the BI level, which is equivalent to the level native Norwegians have after 10 years of schooling. Earlier requirements amounted to passing three levels of Norwegian instruction for foreigners.
For those whose application process is already underway, it remains a challenge to obtain the critical interview needed with Norwegian police to present one’s documentation. The police cancelled all appointments through June, blaming the Corona crisis, and now the backlog is creating lengthy delays.
newsinenglish.no staff
