One and a half hours waiting in line at fremmedpolitiet. A minute at the counter. Half of that was spent listening to a Norwegian who’d matter of factly by-passed the queue to complain loudly about some foreigners who were misusing her address and she couldn’t possibly stand in line, no, this was too important! They sent her elsewhere, took my passports, old and new, and told me to come back and pick it up on Friday. I wonder whether I can bribe them to mail it to me instead.
I'm Jill Walker Rettberg, author and professor of Digital Culture at the University of Bergen in Norway. I co-direct the Center for Digital Narrative, a 10-year Norwegian Centre of Research Excellence, and I lead the ERC project Machine Vision in Everyday Life. This site started as my blog in October 2000.
Eirik
The Immigration Police routine is a learning experience indeed. Among other things, it’s fairly obvious how having pink skin simplifies so many things…
Ida
I guess I was fortunate – only one hour fifteen minutes in the queue (in the cellar of the Police station in Stavanger), 3 minutes at the counter to get a sticker….
Yes! I was at the “fremmedpolitiet” today to get my 2-year sticker sayig that I have “Permanent Oppholdstillatelse”. Funny that, I have permanent residency (married to a Norwegian man for, soon, 24 years and I do not have to apply for anything but I need to personally turn up at the immigration office every two years in order get this sticker. I aksed if I could make an appointment so that I would not have to take 1,5 – 2 hours to get this pretty sticker in my passport… No can do. I MUST turn up personally. Without this valid sticker I will not be able to re-enter the Schengen area. I can leave but cannot return. There must be other ways to control that we are in the country. How about the stamp that we get in our passports on entry / exit to Norway? What about the tax returns filed each and every year that shows that we are working in the country. What about bank transactions? Despite having lived in Norway for several decades and having 3 children (all of whom hopefully taxpayers in the medium to long term), every two years, I am slapped with a reminder that I am a foreigner.
Well, the lady at the counter was very nice, courteous and efficient – if only the queue wasn’t so long.