Norwegian Embassy in Colombo will be closed permanently

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Norwegian Embassy in Colombo will close on 31 July 2023, permanently.

The Embassy said in a statement that from 1st of August, the Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi will be responsible for Norway's bilateral relationship with Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

"This Facebook page will be closed. We invite you to follow the page of the Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi for more updates on our ongoing cooperation with India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives!," said a post on the Facebook page operated by the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo.

It further added that visa matters will handled by the office in New Delhi, and the process was in operation since 2019. 

"There is a VFS office in Colombo where applicants can hand in their documents. There is no change to these procedures," it added.

In September 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway said that it would make several changes to its missions abroad, and five overseas missions will be closed down, including the Embassy of Norway in Colombo.

Accordingly, Embassies in Bratislava (Slovakia), Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Pristina (Kosovo), the embassy office in Antananarivo (Madagascar) and the Consulate General in Houston (USA) will be closed down, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anniken Huitfeldt stated in September 2022.