Earlier ID cards During the Second World War, the authorities issued a mandatory identity card. This card was abandoned after the end of the war, as it was strongly associated with the
occupation force and its control regime.
Norway Post started issuing a photo identity card on 1 March 1957, initially free for all residents over 15 years old. These were intended for use at the post offices, but were quickly adopted by other public and private instances as a valid photo ID. For several decades these were along with passports and driver's licenses the only widely recognized ID in Norwegian society. During the 1970s the postal ID cards were the only valid IDs for proving age on public transport. Bank cards were launched in 1977, originally only serving as an ID card. These were intended for a clerk to be able to verify the identity of the person writing the check. By the 1980s the cards were used as
debit cards, and even after checks were phased out of common use in the early 1990s, the bank cards retained a photo ID, including the
national identity number of the person. The widespread use of bank cards as ID gradually led to the termination of postal ID cards. The banking sector was strongly in favor of replacing bank card-based IDs with government-issued IDs. Banks had no obligation to issue IDs. One issue was that the banks bore the cost of issuing the IDs. The other was that the banks did not have the same ability to authenticate people with confidence as government authorities, increasing the risk of fake IDs being issued. With the announcement of the National ID Card plans, a number of banks stopped issuing ID fields on their bank cards.
Need for a new ID card system By the mid-2000s the situation had become untenable, with no generic, government-issued ID card available. Postal ID cards were phased out, banks were wanting to rid themselves of their obligation, passports could only be issued to Norwegian citizens and driver's licenses were restricted to those with the right to drive motor vehicles. Some people were left using their passports as their only valid ID. Certain group of immigrants were not able to acquire IDs altogether. Non-Norwegian citizens could not be issued passports, and without a government-issued ID card which showed their national identity number, they were unable to open a bank account. This further hindered them from getting jobs, as Norwegian anti-money laundering laws require wages to be paid to a bank account.
Development and introduction Norway decided in 2007 to introduce a voluntary national identity card, to be usable for travel to EEA countries. They were since delayed until introduced on 30 November 2020. The reason for the delay was that the responsible authorities required absolute security on both the cards and the validation of the identity at issuance, issuing new security requirements repeatedly. The entire implementation cost, including development and upgrades to the passport offices, for the combined ID card and passport project, had reached 596 million
Norwegian krone by 2018. 120 million of this was the cost of rebuilding the passport offices. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security will send out a hearing, about making it possible for all people that have a national identity number, to get a national identity card. The card will not state nationality and therefore it cannot be used for travel. Until then, resident non-Norwegian citizens are not able to get ID cards, and for such people without a driver's license many still have no way of getting and ID card with their personal identity number. From , the various identity card styles currently in use in the EU became standardized through Regulation 2019/1157, which was later replaced by
Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1208. On 1 February 2024, through incorporation into the EEA agreement,
Norway,
Iceland and
Liechtenstein became bound by the Regulation with some amendments, including the lack of a requirement of an EU flag. Nevertheless, Norwegian identity cards have already been compliant with the Regulation since July 2021. With the introduction of the National ID Card, a number of major banks announced that they would be discontinuing the ID section on bank cards. Some stated that bank card ID would be an opt-in for their customers, while others stopped offering IDs entirely. An all-out retirement of bank card IDs may happen at a future date, once the National ID Cards have been fully implemented. There has been trouble because the card was initially less well known in Norway and therefore not accepted. For example, airlines has occasionally (due to a lack of staff training) not accepted it for flights from Norway to other Schengen countries. From 1 April 2025, the non-travel version of the ID card is also available to EU/EEA citizens who hold a
Norwegian national identity number, intended for use as official identification within Norway only. This will later become available for all foreign residents (outside the EU/EEA). == Issue ==