The duty to leave Norway has been suspended for foreign nationals who in 2015 applied for protection in Norway having entered the country at Storskog border crossing.
This only applies to persons staying at a known address in Norway who hold an expired multiple-entry visa or residence permit in Russia.
The persons for whom the duty to leave has been suspended will now have their asylum applications considered on their merits. This means that the Norwegian immigration authorities will consider whether or not they are in need of protection. If such asylum applications considered on their merits in Norway are rejected, the persons concerned will be have to return to their home country.
UNE has not suspended the duty to leave for people whose applications have already been considered on their merits and who are obliged to return to their home country. Nor has UNE suspended the duty to leave for people who have already been granted protection in another country.
The suspension of the duty to return to Russia is a consequence of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security's instructions to the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) and UNE to consider on their merits the applications of more people who arrived in Norway via Storskog. These instructions were issued on 30 November 2016 under the title GI-15/2016 – Storskogporteføljen – behandling av asylsøknader fremsatt i 2015 fra personer som har flerreisevisum eller oppholdstillatelse i Russland som er utløpt i tid (‘GI-15/2016 – the Storskog portfolio – consideration of applications for asylum submitted in 2015 by persons who hold an expired multiple-entry visa or residence permit in Russia’).
This suspension of the duty to return to Russia will apply until otherwise decided and published.