If you have received a rejection of protection because you already had a residence permit, you may apply for protection again.
On 27 March 2026, the Supreme Court delivered a judgment in an asylum case. The judgment clarifies a key issue in the assessment of applications for protection (asylum). The fact that a person already has a residence permit in Norway does not provide grounds for rejecting an application for protection.
This legal clarification means that the interpretation previously applied in the practice of UNE and UDI is not correct. The clarification may be relevant for several cases that were rejected on the same basis.
What does this mean for you?
If you have previously received a rejection of an application for protection, and the rejection was wholly or partly based on the fact that you already had a residence permit in Norway, you may apply for protection again.
- It follows from UDI’s guidelines (UDI 2014-019, section 2.2.3) that where protection was previously rejected under instruction GI-15/2022, a new protection case must be created.
- A new application will be processed under the current regulations and in light of the clarification from the Supreme Court.
- It is up to each individual to decide whether they wish to apply again.
How do you proceed?
If you wish to have your case reassessed, you must contact the police to submit a new application for protection.
You can find more information on how to apply on UDI’s and the police’s websites.