Ramin-Osmundsen, age 42, is taking over as the director of Norway's Directorate of Immigration (Utlendingsdirektoratet, UDI) after Trygve Nordby, who left in January to head the Norwegian Red Cross. She already has been acting director and deputy director before that.
Perhaps more importantly, she knows what it's like to be on the other side of the fence, so to speak, having had to deal with UDI as a newly arrived immigrant herself in the early 1990s. Many would-be immigrants view UDI as a faceless bureaucracy that takes months on end to review cases and issue the work and residence permits necessary to live in Norway. And then those permits must be renewed every year for three years, until permanent settlement permits can be granted.
In the meantime, immigrants live with a high degree of uncertainty, even when they've been recruited to Norway because of special job skills or education, when they're sponsored by an employer or married to a Norwegian citizen. Ramin-Osmundsen is acutely aware that decisions made by UDI play a huge role in the personal and everyday lives of many people, Norwegians and immigrants alike.
"Therefore we will be more sensitive towards our users, and develop services and channels that will offer good and effective service," she said after her appointment was made official on Friday.
Caribbean roots
Ramin-Osmundsen is originally from Martinique and studied law in Paris. She speaks several languages fluently, and moved to Norway 14 years ago, where she quickly mastered Norwegian. She's married to Terje Osmundsen, a former top executive at Telenor, Kværner, Norway's employers' organization and an attache in Paris.
She's earlier called her work at UDI "incredibly exciting and complex." She first joined UDI in 2002 as deputy director, after several years working for Norway's anti-discrimination agency.
She notes that UDI's 500 employees deal with a difficult balance in having to decide the fate of would-be refugees and immigrants coming from all over the world. The work, she says, "is full of dilemmas and demanding considerations. Immigration laws barge right into people's lives."
Ramin-Osmundsen's appointment was widely expected, given her strong qualifications. Criticism abounded when she was passed over last year for a new government chief for integration issues.
