Can you claim Norwegian citizenship through a parent?
Citizen by birth (§ 4)
A child of a Norwegian parent is Norwegian from birth. Born abroad, you keep it past 22 by living in Norway or applying to keep it before then.
What would settle itWhether your parents were married at your birth, or paternity was established under the rules then in force.
- A child becomes a Norwegian citizen at birth if the father or mother is a Norwegian citizen, parentage following the Children Act. Norwegian Nationality Act (statsborgerloven), Act of 10 June 2005 No. 51, § 4
- A person who acquired Norwegian citizenship at birth but has not lived a total of two years in Norway, or seven years in Norway and other Nordic countries, loses it at 22; an application to keep it must be made before then, and loss never leaves anyone stateless. Norwegian Nationality Act (statsborgerloven), Act of 10 June 2005 No. 51, § 24
- Six months’ stays in Norway before 22, or living in Norway when the decision is made, count as sufficient ties; a late application is still heard if the applicant is not substantially to blame for the delay or losing citizenship would be unreasonable. Nationality Regulations (statsborgerforskriften), FOR-2006-06-30-756, Chapter 9: loss through absence from the realm, §§ 9-2 and 9-3
- Norway has permitted dual citizenship since 1 January 2020, so keeping Norwegian citizenship does not cost you your other one. Act of 20 December 2018 No. 121 amending the Nationality Act (abolition of the single-citizenship principle, in force 1 January 2020)
What changes the answer
- POSSIBLEIf someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was bornCitizen by birth
Norway stopped stripping citizenship for taking another one on 1 January 2020. Whether your parent was still Norwegian when you were born turns on the date they naturalized.
- POSSIBLEIf you were born before 2005
A child of a Norwegian parent is Norwegian from birth, but citizenship lapses at 22 for those born abroad without two years in Norway, unless an application to keep it was made first. Whether yours survived is the question.
- POSSIBLEIf the parent is your mother and you were born before 2005
A child of a Norwegian parent is Norwegian from birth, but citizenship lapses at 22 for those born abroad without two years in Norway, unless an application to keep it was made first. Whether yours survived is the question.
If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born, 2 more cases
- POSSIBLEIf you were born before 2020Reacquisition by notification (§ 22a), then descent
Before 2020 a Norwegian who took another citizenship lost Norwegian citizenship, so it did not pass to you at birth. Since 2020 your parent can take it back by simple notification, but that does not hand it on to a child already born; an adult child needs their own option.
- POSSIBLEIf the parent is your mother and you were born before 2020Reacquisition by notification (§ 22a), then descent
Before 2020 a Norwegian who took another citizenship lost Norwegian citizenship, so it did not pass to you at birth. Since 2020 your parent can take it back by simple notification, but that does not hand it on to a child already born; an adult child needs their own option.