New rules for travellers between Svalbard and the Norwegian mainland

From 1 February 2011 all travellers between Svalbard and the Norwegian mainland will be controlled.

Immigration regulations have so far only allowed for controls of foreigners coming from Svalbard to the Norwegian mainland. The Schengen rules and regulations states that anyone who passes an external border in the Schengen area, shall be controlled.

Since Svalbard is not part of the Schengen area, anyone travelling between Svalbard and the Norwegian mainland must be controlled. From 1 February 2011 travelleres will be controlled both at entry and exit. This applies to both Norwegians and foreigners (ie. individuals covered by the EEA Agreement or the EFTA Convention, and third country nationals).

Passports or national identity cards will satisfy Schengen regulatory requirements for identity verification. Since national ID cards are unavailable in Norway, Norwegians can identify themselves with a driver's license issued after 1998, credit cards or Ministry of Defence Identity Card. This is a transitional arrangement that applies until a national ID card is introduced in Norway. The documents must be issued in Norway and at least contain the traveller’s name, photo and date of birth. Persons under 18 years will in many cases be unable to have such documents issued. Norwegian children can therefore be identified by an adult accompanying the child to the plane or travelling with the child. After national ID cards are introduced, Norwegians (including children) must identify themselves with a passport or national ID card.