. The Norwegian Police are now texting residents whose passports have expired with a reminder to renew their passports if they need them to travel.
You have to avoid everyone applying at the same time
Police expect many people to want to renew their passports when more travel becomes available, and many passports expired last year without renewal attempts due to the pandemic.
"To avoid everyone applying at the same time and having long waiting times, many of them now receive a reminder to renew their passports in good time if needed," says Arne Isak Tveitan, head of section at the Police Directorate.
Police have warned about scammers before, but this is a safe SMS
Not all residents receive text messages, so the police recommend that everyone who knows they will travel in the future and need a new passport to make an appointment with the police. Police previously warned against fraudsters who impersonate the police via SMS.
SMS from the police to renew passports
- Residents can be sure that this is a message from the police. It doesn't include an invitation to share personal information, just an invitation to book a passport appointment if needed, says Tveitan.
The information contained in the text message comes from the police passport register and the Register of Contacts and Reservations. The sending of these text messages is based on where you last applied for your passport and begins with passports that expired at the beginning of March 2020.
