September 16, 2010, Dagbladet - Absurd innvandrings byråkrati - Absurd Immigration Bureaucracy
5:33 AM
"Immigrant" in Norwegian sounds strangely like “invader” in English. From the Vikings to Iraq, invaders have usually turned out to be a nasty experience for all involved. I'm a gay American who married into the kingdom of brown cheese and oil. In my year in Norway, I've learned one thing: Norway has created an immigration system that guarantees immigrants are second-class citizens.
Norway's system isn't designed to encourage the benefits that many immigrants offer. To be a foreign teacher in Norway, you must go through a criminal check and have your degrees verified (NOKUT). When NOKUT is accomplished, you must go through the UDIR, which is very much the same process. Norway needs teachers, but knowing delay times, this process will take years.
Norway, on the surface, wants immigrants to assimilate. In the United States, there's a sink or swim approach to immigrants. No one is forced to learn English. A new non-EU immigrant to Norway must complete 250 hours of (mind-numbing) Norwegian instruction and 50 hours of (useless) Norsk assimilation within three years of arrival. It's the nanny state on acid. It's insulting to be treated like children and half-wits.
Immigrants face subtle discrimination. That's fine. We're not children. The not-so-subtle discrimination is more scary. Open attacks in editorials posing as constructive criticism. Renting to a foreigner is a no-go for some. Employment applications actively encourage people with immigrant backgrounds to apply, but nearly anyone with a non-Norwegian name goes under S for “soppel”. There's a hierarchy, and you mustn't step out of it. Swedes=waiters, non-Europeans=taxi drivers, everybody else=caregivers/maids. There's no way to go up in the Norwegian system. Norway is for the Norwegians.
The United States absorbed nearly 1/3 of Norway when Norwegians weren't so rich or arrogant. Norwegians could be a bit more tolerant. It's imaginable that the wretched service and delays immigrants go through are simply because Norwegians know that immigrants won't, or can't, complain. Even if they do, who cares? Nobody is listening anyway.
Many Americans, when faced with other complaining Americans (or ones who don't agree with them), yell, “Love it or leave it!” If it were only that simple. Immigrants add something to the kingdom of brown cheese and oil. We're not “invaders”. We're second-class citizens in our own new land.
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Mr. Kinney,
vi er mange innfødte nordmenn som vet at systemet er nedverdigende og idiotisk, og noen av oss bryr oss såpass mye at det gjør oss flaue og irriterte i det daglige. Jeg skammer meg over å være norsk, mange av mine venner skammer seg også. Vi føler oss dessverre maktesløse, og fortviler med våre venner som kjemper for et verdig liv i dette latterlige nanny-systemet. Dette var bare en kommentar for å fortelle at vi er mange som VET, og vi er ikke arrogante, men skammer oss.
Hi Charles, I agree with what you write, and am especially interested in this topic since my wife (she is from the US) may soon go through the same process.
I also want to mention that the experience of immigrating to the US may not be much better. It is an expensive, confusing, insulting, drawn out and nightmarish process, as I can attest to from own experience.
I can understand why it is this way. Most countries - especially the more attractive ones - want to make it less attractive to move there, so they put up a set of hurdles.
Since I am a Norwegian citizen, my experience with the Norwegian system if of course different. But I have to say that I in general much prefer the Norwegian bureaucracy to the US one. It is often much smaller, people are friendlier, and I am treated as a real person. Unfortunately, that is usually not my experience in the US.
Hei,
I am very glad that you have written this article in Dagbladet. I am from Kosova and have been taking a master degree in Norway. A year ago I met a Norwegian and we have been in a relationship since then. This year my visa expires and we have been thinking of solutions so I can stay here. The problem is that despite the fact that my average grade is A I can't get a job here.I have been applying all month and I don't even get called for an interview. This is not such a problem right now since I have a student loan but next year I will not have it anymore. This is very frustrating since I have been working very hard with school and I thought that hard work pays off but haven't experienced this so far here in Norway.
Mr.Kinney,
I am an American and have lived in this ("#1 place to live in the world")Norway for 13 years. I married a Norwegian woman when I lived in the US and it was an easy experience when she had to go through the immigration process. We were married in the US and she was allow to live there during the short wait for her "Green Card". It really was not so difficult. And she found a job right away and I never saw or heard any discrimination towards her. Well history would have it that I would move to Norway in and my immigration was very easy also. All of this is before the EU. Now that Norway is committed to EU regulation I believe that the EU has caused most of the problems for Norway. If one is a member of the EU they can walk right in to Norway and do what they please BUT, if you are outside of the EU then you get your ass kicked from here to next year and back. Three years ago I married here in Norway a Russian doctor. We applied to UDI and was told that she would have to wait OUTSIDE of Norway until she has been approved. It took a long 14 months before they decided to let her in and what I had to go through to get her approved was very depressing. So she is finally here and we are one happy pair - right! Wrong! We are going on 3 more years now just waiting for her to take her Norwegian Medical exam. The hoops to jump though, documents to submit, and expenses we have had to endure is enough to want to write a book or to teach a course to others.
I think that Norway has had an explosion of foreigners coming from the EU and they only way for them to curb this influx of people is to make it more difficult for non-EU members to enter. And remember Americans are non-EU members.
As for me it has been difficult living as an immigrant, difficulties finding work and problems with the culture. I still can not speak good enough Norwegian and I will never understand the way things are here. Norwegians are a very serious type of peoples and many are introverts. Just saying Hello is sometimes a problem. But there are many good things about this country and we should focus on the positives and this is what keeps me going, plus all the beautiful women :-) Never give up! BTW did you know that Norway now wants foreigners to live 5 years in Norway before they are allowed to work with children? Soccer coach, teacher, childcare...hmmm. Because us foreigners cause all the crimes towards the kids. Better check that one out if your a teacher....Don't cha just love it here :-)
Mr.Kinney,
I am an American and have lived in this ("#1 place to live in the world")Norway for 13 years. I married a Norwegian woman when I lived in the US and it was an easy experience when she had to go through the immigration process. We were married in the US and she was allow to live there during the short wait for her "Green Card". It really was not so difficult. And she found a job right away and I never saw or heard any discrimination towards her. Well history would have it that I would move to Norway in and my immigration was very easy also. All of this is before the EU. Now that Norway is committed to EU regulation I believe that the EU has caused most of the problems for Norway. If one is a member of the EU they can walk right in to Norway and do what they please BUT, if you are outside of the EU then you get your ass kicked from here to next year and back. Three years ago I married here in Norway a Russian doctor. We applied to UDI and was told that she would have to wait OUTSIDE of Norway until she has been approved. It took a long 14 months before they decided to let her in and what I had to go through to get her approved was very depressing. So she is finally here and we are one happy pair - right! Wrong! We are going on 3 more years now just waiting for her to take her Norwegian Medical exam. The hoops to jump though, documents to submit, and expenses we have had to endure is enough to want to write a book or to teach a course to others.
I think that Norway has had an explosion of foreigners coming from the EU and they only way for them to curb this influx of people is to make it more difficult for non-EU members to enter. And remember Americans are non-EU members.
As for me it has been difficult living as an immigrant, difficulties finding work and problems with the culture. I still can not speak good enough Norwegian and I will never understand the way things are here. Norwegians are a very serious type of peoples and many are introverts. Just saying Hello is sometimes a problem. But there are many good things about this country and we should focus on the positives and this is what keeps me going, plus all the beautiful women :-) Never give up! BTW did you know that Norway now wants foreigners to live 5 years in Norway before they are allowed to work with children? Soccer coach, teacher, childcare...hmmm. Because us foreigners cause all the crimes towards the kids. Better check that one out if your a teacher....Don't cha just love it here :-)
You're all a bunch of whiners. Either you adapt, or you leave. Easy.
That goes for you too, Hanne....
Either you adapt, or you leave. Easy.
How can you adapt when you can't get a job and can't integrate into the society? How can you adapt when in the job market just because your name is not Norwegian you are automatically dismissed as a canditate? How can you adapt when everytime you talk to people they perceive you are an idiot just because you don't have the perfect Norwegian accent?
Can you answer these questions?
OH DAIM! That Anonymous guy just got OWNED! AUCH!