Norway has refused entry to or deported multiple investment citizenship holders from five Caribbean nations since August, despite official denials of any policy change.
The refusals affect citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, and Saint Lucia who obtained nationality through citizenship by investment (CBI) programs.
When IMI contacted Norway’s immigration directorate (UDI) in August about reports of entry refusals, officials explicitly denied that any policy change existed.
“Citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis are visa-free to Norway and the Schengen area, and there have been no recent changes to this,” a UDI press advisor confirmed. The official extended this assurance to cover all five Caribbean CBI jurisdictions.
Border officials simultaneously enforced a different policy. At least five separate refusals of entry occurred between August and November at Bergen and Oslo airports, where officers questioned travelers specifically about how they obtained their Caribbean citizenship.
An Indian national arriving at Bergen Airport on August 9 presented his Saint Kitts and Nevis passport for a tourist visit. Officers asked whether he held an “investment passport,” unto which he confirmed obtaining it through investment, but clarified it is not called by that term.
Police removed him from Norway that day under Immigration Act Section 17, which addresses invalid travel documents. The official decision, which IMI reviewed, declares the passport “not valid in Norway” because Norway requires personal attendance when applying for a passport.
“In Norway, personal attendance is required when applying for a passport,” the police removal order states. “If there is no personal attendance, the passport is not valid.”
This legal reasoning applies Norwegian passport application standards to foreign-issued documents. Saint Kitts and Nevis, like most nations, issues legally valid passports under its own sovereignty and procedures.
St. Vincent Times
