Subordinate to the Directorate, there are five regional offices, to which some procedural functions have been delegated in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 22. In most cases, applications for adoption shall be made to the competent regional office, which is authorised to grant advance approval for the adoption of a child resident in another state. The Directorate is the appellate instance. If, in an exceptional case, an adoption is to be arranged without the services of an accredited adoption agency, the Regional Office for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, Eastern Norway will grant the advance approval in the first instance. The Directorate is then the appellate instance. The regional offices and their addresses are:
Regional Office for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, Southern Norway (Barne-, ungdoms- og familieetaten, region sør) PO Box 2233, 3103 Tønsberg, Norway
Regional Office for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, Western Norway (Barne-, ungdoms- og familieetaten, region vest) PO Box 2233, 3103 Tønsberg, Norway
Regional Office for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, Eastern Norway (Barne-, ungdoms- og familieetaten, region øst) PO Box 2233, 3103 Tønsberg, Norway
Regional Office for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, Central Norway (Barne-, ungdoms- og familieetaten, region Midt-Norge) PO Box 2233, 3103 Tønsberg, Norway
Regional Office for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, Northern Norway (Barne-, ungdoms- og familieetaten, region nord) PO Box 2233, 3103 Tønsberg, Norway