Children born abroad

Are you Norwegian parents who have had children abroad? In order for the child to be registered as being resident in Norway, you must report to a tax office together with the child when you return to Norway.

You must bring the following

The child's passport

  • A Norwegian passport should be arranged via a Norwegian foreign service mission before you move/return to Norway.
  • If the child comes to Norway without a passport and was born in and moves to Norway from another Nordic country, instead of a passport you may bring a birth register extract/birth certificate and a photograph of the child similar to a passport photograph.
  • If the child is born in, and moves to Norway from a country within the Schengen area but outside the Nordic countries, considering the requirements to possess an identity document in these countries, you will normally have arranged for a passport for your child via a Norwegian foreign service mission before you move/return to Norway. If the child despite this has arrived Norway without a passport, you may instead of a passport bring a birth register extract/birth certificate and a photograph of the child similar to a passport photograph.

Completed change of address form for the child

You must report that the child, and the parents if they are not registered as Norwegian residents, is moving to Norway.

A child is a Norwegian citizen by birth if one of the parents is a Norwegian citizen at the time of the birth.

If the child is born in (country covered by the Group 3 countries in section 8-4-2 of the National Registration Regulations): 

  • Europe:  Andorra, Belgium, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Vatican State and Austria
  • North-America:  USA and Canada
  • Oceania:  Australia and New Zealand
  • Asia:  Japan

the birth certificate must be the original or a certified copy from a Norwegian foreign service mission in the country in which the child was born.

You must ask the foreign service mission to tell you whether an Apostille or legalisation will be necessary.

In addition to a birth certificate, a DNA test will usually be required if the child was born in (country covered by the Group 2 countries in section 8-4-2 of the National Registration Regulations):

  • Africa:  Burkina Faso, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe
  • Asia:  Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Iraq, Myanmar (Burma), Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi - Arabia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Yemen 
  • Europe: Kosovo

If the child was born in a country other than those mentioned above, the birth certificate must be endorsed with an Apostille or have been legalised by the foreign ministry of the issuing country.

If your family intends to live abroad, the child may be assigned a national ID number when the application for a Norwegian passport is received. You can obtain this by contacting a Norwegian foreign service mission in the country in which you are staying. Remember to take the child's birth certificate.

The woman who gave birth to the child will be considered the child's mother.

Even if the birth certificate from the country in which the child was born states that the Norwegian woman is the child's mother, this will not be accepted as a valid maternity in Norway if the woman did not give birth to the child.

According to Norwegian law, legal maternity can only be transferred through adoption.

Read more about registering a child born by a surrogate mother abroad.

The Directorate of Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufetat) processes applications concerning adoption, including the adoption of children from abroad and Norway.

After the adoption has been completed, Bufetat will notify the Tax Administration. The notification will form the basis for registering the child in the National Registry.

Adoptive parents who adopt from abroad must report that their child is moving to Norway.

When an adoption happens in another country without advance permission from the Norwegian adoption authority, the adoption must be approved by the Office for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufetat). The adoptive parents must in this case register the adoption with the Tax Administration themselves by submitting a copy of Bufetat's document of approval.

Surname

In connection with the adoption of children aged under 18, the child will acquire the mother's surname, unless determined otherwise during the adoption procedure.