To apply for Norwegian citizenship, applicants between 18 and 67 must pass the oral part of the Norskprøve at level B1 and also pass either the citizenship test or the social studies test in Norwegian. The B1 requirement applies to applications submitted to the police on or after 1 October 2022; before that date the level was A2. Two things are worth being precise about from the start: it is the oral subtest specifically, not all four parts of the Norskprøve — and passing it does not on its own make you eligible for citizenship. It is one condition among several.

Sources: UDI — krav om prøver for å få norsk statsborgerskap; UDI — endrede krav til norskkunnskaper for å få norsk statsborgerskap; UDI — unntak fra prøver ved søknad om norsk statsborgerskap; UDI — dobbelt statsborgerskap; HK-dir — meld deg på norskprøven; statsborgerloven §§ 7 and 8.

This article covers the language and knowledge tests only. Citizenship has other conditions — residence time among them — which are set out on UDI’s own pages and are not dealt with here.

The two tests

The oral Norwegian test at B1. This is the muntlig delprøve of the Norskprøve, administered by HK-dir. UDI accepts a result of B1 or B2 on that subtest, and also accepts the equivalent sign-language communication test at B1 or B2. Older qualifications count too: the oral subtest of Norskprøve 3 from Norsk språktest, taken between 2005 and 2014, and results from the Norskprøve under Kompetanse Norge (2017–2022) or VOX (2014–2017).

The citizenship test or the social studies test. You need one of them, and here the detail matters: the social studies test must be passed in Norwegian. A pass in another language is not sufficient for citizenship, even though it can be for other purposes.

UDI itself notes that the social studies test in Norwegian is harder than the citizenship test, and that someone with Norwegian at A2 may manage the citizenship test while not managing the social studies test in Norwegian. If you have a choice, that is a useful thing to know before booking.

What “oral only” means, and does not

The Norskprøve has four parts — listening, reading, writing and speaking. The citizenship requirement attaches to the oral part alone. You do not need to pass the written parts at B1 for this purpose.

That is genuinely narrower than many people assume, and it is worth stating plainly because it changes what you should be preparing for.

It is equally worth stating the limit in the other direction. Passing the oral subtest at B1 satisfies one of the conditions for citizenship. It is not the same as being granted citizenship, and it does not by itself establish that you meet the other requirements. Anyone planning around it should read UDI’s full list rather than treating the language test as the finish line.

The date that decides which level applies to you

The change of level was tied to a specific point in the application process, and the wording rewards care.

The B1 requirement applies if you submitted your application to the police on 1 October 2022 or later. If you submitted before that, the A2 requirement still governs your application.

Because there was a gap between registering online and attending the police, UDI set out how the boundary works: if you registered and submitted in the application portal before 24 September 2022 but could not get a police appointment before 1 October, your application is treated as having been made before 1 October — so A2 applies. If you registered on 24 September or later, you could not expect an appointment before 1 October.

For anyone applying now this is settled history, but it matters if you are looking at an older application, or reading guidance written before the change.

When A2 is enough

In some cases the oral requirement is satisfied at A2 rather than B1. UDI lists four situations, and it is worth reading all of them rather than only the best-known one:

  • you are stateless;
  • you are over 55 and came to Norway on the basis of an application for protection, or as a resettlement refugee;
  • you are over 55 and receive uføretrygd (disability benefit);
  • you applied for Norwegian citizenship before 1 October 2022.

None of these requires an individual assessment — they apply on their facts.

Separately, if health reasons, other weighty reasons, or personal circumstances outside your control prevent you from passing at B1, the position is that you must pass at A2 instead — or document why you cannot take or pass the test even at that level. That is an exemption request rather than an automatic entitlement, and UDI assesses it alongside the citizenship application itself. The exemptions article sets out how that works.

The accepted documentation at A2 mirrors the B1 list: the oral subtest of the Norskprøve at A2, the sign-language communication test at A2, or the oral subtest of Norskprøve 2 from Norsk språktest, taken between 2005 and 2014.

One thing that is no longer a problem

Norway has permitted dual citizenship since 1 January 2020. Acquiring Norwegian citizenship no longer requires giving up the one you hold.

Whether your country of origin permits it is a separate question, governed by its law rather than Norway’s, and worth checking independently.

Booking and preparing

The Norskprøve is run by HK-dir and registration goes through its test portal. If you have a right and obligation (rett og plikt) to instruction in Norwegian and social studies, you can take all the subtests once free of charge; adult education centres handle registration for those entitled. If you do not have a right and obligation, or you are resitting, you register yourself and pay — the price is set by your municipality and ranges from around 400 kroner for a single subtest to around 2 500 for the whole Norskprøve.

On preparation, the useful distinction is between the four subtests. If the citizenship requirement is what you are working towards, the oral subtest is the one that decides it — and speaking is the part of a language that is hardest to improve by studying quietly, because it is the only one you cannot practise silently.

What the CEFR levels describe is worth reading if you want a sense of what B1 and B2 mean in practice rather than what the labels suggest. (That article is written for the healthcare B2 requirement, but its account of the levels applies either way.)