Norway · The alternative

Statsborgerprøven or samfunnskunnskapsprøven: which one counts, and the language trap

Two tests satisfy the same requirement, and one of them only counts if you sat it in Norwegian. People find that out after the fact, which is the worst time.

Either test countsNorwegian onlyRetake required otherwise

7 days free, then 299 NOK a year. One subscription covers the iPhone app and the web app.

This is one piece of it. See the whole journey on belongnordic.app

Norway has two tests about Norwegian society and they exist for different reasons. Samfunnskunnskapsprøven is the one many people take first, often for permanent residence, and it can be sat in a range of languages. Statsborgerprøven is the citizenship one and is always in Norwegian.

For citizenship, UDI accepts either. That sounds simple and it is where the trouble starts.

The language condition, in UDI's own terms

The social studies test counts for citizenship only if it was taken in Norwegian. UDI puts it plainly: if you took it in another language, you must take it again in Norwegian. So a pass in samfunnskunnskapsprøven on your own language, which was perfectly valid for permanent residence, does nothing for a citizenship application.

Which one to sit

The other half of the requirement

Whichever social studies test you use, it is only one of two. UDI also requires an oral Norwegian test, at B1 or higher for most applicants aged 18 to 67, with A2 accepted in the defined cases listed on the scoring page. Passing statsborgerprøven does not satisfy the oral requirement and passing the oral test does not satisfy this one.

There are 7,100+ practice questions in the app.

2,431 of them are Norwegian, drilled chapter by chapter in the order the official material sets them, with a mistakes deck, spaced repetition and full mocks under the real clock.

Written by Belong Nordic from the authority’s own study material. They are not HK-dir’s questions, and the real sitting uses its own.

7 days free, then 299 NOK a year. One subscription covers the iPhone app and the web app.

More on Statsborgerprøven

See all Norway citizenship requirements