Tanzanian Association Oslo

Residence in Norway after marital abuse.

Foreign women who are abused in marriages may apply for residence permits based on individual grounds. The assessment will be based on the information given by the women. - No foreign women should be forced to live in a violent marriage in fear of losing their residence permit, notes Director General of the UDI, Ida Børresen (below) in Bergens Tidende on October 2.

The newspaper Bergens Tidende reported September 29 on the situation of foreign women who are subjected to abuse or mistreatment after getting married to Norwegian men.

The Directorate of Immigration (UDI) can ensure that all information about abuse will be thoroughly assessed in the case processing. The law regulations have a low threshold to grant residence permits to women who have been abused in a marriage and therefore wish to break with their spouse or co-habitant, and that is respected by the immigration authorities.

The residence permit for foreign women who leave their spouses or co-habitants due to abuse will be assessed based on individual grounds. Most of the women who have informed that they have been in this situation have been granted a residence permit in Norway. Numbers from 2006 show that several women have been granted residence permit in Norway even if they have lived in Norway only for a short period of time. The women may, for instance, be granted a permit based on family reunion with their children, or because they would face problems returning to their home countries due to the relationship break-up.

The section concerning abuse in the foreigner regulation will first be considered when the conditions above do not constitute grounds for a residence permit. Of the approximately 80 women who had their cases assessed in relation to this section, more than 60 were granted a permit. This confirms that abused women, who after a short while break out of the relationship, will be granted a residence permit in Norway.