More Norwegians resort to emergency passports
In the second quarter of this year, 17,545 emergency passes were issued at Norwegian police stations and embassies abroad. That is 32 percent more than at the same time last year.
– This is not a desired development. The figure says something about the desire to travel in the Norwegian population and that many are not so good at planning ahead in order to obtain an ordinary passport in time. It is demanding for the police. Many are too sloppy, says Atle Roll-Matthiesen, in the Police Directorate to NRK.
In the eastern police district, under the Gardermoen Police Station, 4,582 emergency passports were issued in May, June and July, constituring an increase of 39 percent from the same period last year.
No other valid Norwegian ID system
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is also a growing problem that Norwegian citizens travel on holiday without a passport and get problems when they return home. Since Norway is among the 27 countries in the Schengen area, one can theoretically travel without a passport between those countries. In practice, it doesn’t work that way, especially since Norway does not have any other valid ID card system in place.
– Since a passport is the only valid identification document for Norwegian citizens, it’s important to bring it along, even for trips in Europe, says press spokesperson in the Foreign Ministry, Astrid Sehl.
As Norway Today has previously pointed out, the police have also not had enough resources in place to issue regular passports in the period
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
