How is UNE organised

Director General

Ingunn-Sofie Aursnes has been the Director General of UNE since September 2012.

Legal affairs Director

The legal affairs director has a key role as an adviser on quality and legislation. He also supports the management in its comprehensive and strategic development and management of UNE.

Ketil Larsen is the legal affairs director in UNE

Process Director

The process director has overriding responsibility for case flow in UNE. Through close dialogue with managers and employees in UNE’s core activity, the process director monitors the flow of work processes to ensure common priorities and management of resources. The process director is a driving force for continuous improvement in UNE.

Anne-Karin Westbye is the Process Director of UNE.

Department of Board Chairs

UNE has 18 board chairs. They have the same qualifications as judges and consider all kinds of cases. They are independent decision-makers who cannot be instructed in individual cases.

Head of Department: Øyvind Havnevik

Department for preparation and case flow

This department carries out initial assessments of the cases that UNE receives and steers the cases into the right processing channels. The unit is also responsible for work on forecasts and statistics, flow and improvements, issuing notices of board hearings, the case information service and the switchboard. In addition to its permanent staff, the unit is also staffed, on a rotational basis, by case officers and board chairs.

Head of Department: Torgeir Tofte Jørgensen 

Case department 1

This department is responsible for asylum cases from Africa, citizenship cases, revocation, travel documents, permanent residence and identity.

Head of Department: Georg Magne Rønnevig

Case department 2

This department is responsible for asylum cases from Asia, family immigration cases, formal cases, children and families and unaccompanied minor asylum seeker (EMA) cases.

Head of department: Ingun Halle

Case department 3

This departement is responsible for asylum cases from Europe and America, EEA cases, expulsion of third-country nationals and Dublin cases.

Head of department: Marianne Granlund

Case department 4

This section is responsible for asylum cases from the Middle East and North Africa, visas, various work and residence cases, convert cases and Section 36 cases.

Head of department: Terje Østraat

HR Department

This department is responsible for sickness absence and leaves of absence, recruitment, wage negotiations and labour law. The unit’s work areas also include competence-raising measures and manager and employee development.

Head of Department: Erna Jensen Bøhler 

Financial and plan management Department

This department attends to, among other things, agency management dialogue, financial management, budget management, accounts, procurements and wage payments.

Head of Department: Petter Johansen 

Communications Department

The communications department in UNE works on user services, media services, transparency and access, the website, intranet, internal communication and contingency plans for crisis communication.

Head of Department: Bjørn Lyster

Technology and development Department

The technology and development department is responsible for all aspects of IT, mobile telephony and security in UNE. They programme and run all of UNE’s ICT solutions, and provide user support and training. The unit also coordinates all DUF changes and tests, and it is responsible for maintaining licences and certificates. The unit also attends to the day-to-day running of UNE’s office premises.

Head of Department: Tone Hankø

Legal support Department

The department has special expertise in immigration law, human rights and administrative law. It advises case officers, board chairs and the management on legal issues. The unit also has overall responsibility for chain cooperation and UNE’s quality assurance system for case processing, and it implements measures to ensure high quality and equal treatment.

Head of Department: Sonja Engen Siewert 

Litigation Department

The Litigation Department is an independent unit comprising attorneys and asscoiate attornyes, which attends to and pleads the bulk of legal cases on behalf of the state represented by UNE.

Head of Department: Kjell Handeland 

Here you can find the contact details for UNEs attorneys and associate attorneys.