Minnesotan has made local allies as he fights expulsion from Norway

Residents in the Norwegian city of Kristiansand and beyond are rallying around a Minnesotan who faces deportation from the Scandinavian country.

Lee Michael Shults has lived in Norway for most of the past decade; this summer, he married a Norwegian woman whose 5-year-old daughter he has helped raise. Now, he and his family are scrambling to ensure he is allowed to stay. His uncommon tale of fighting deportation has resonated in Norway, drawing media coverage, backing from high-ranking politicians and kind words from strangers.

"Hundreds of people have come to me in the street and expressed their support," said Shults, who grew up in Burnsville and New Brighton. "It has been really powerful."

Shults moved to Norway in his teens after his father started a job at the University of Agder. He finished high school there and started college. Around that time, he left a meeting with immigration officials believing he had permanent residence.

Shults came back to Minnesota for two years to complete his bachelor's degree in philosophy and psychology at Concordia College in Moorhead. Then, he returned to Norway.

These days, his life is rooted in Kristiansand, Norway's fifth-largest city. He is completing a master's in religion at the University of Agder and working at a microbrewery. In 2014, he fell in love with a single mom and boutique manager named Berit Ness and quickly bonded with her daughter.

All along, he paid taxes and traveled abroad without problems.

The first inkling of trouble came in late 2014, after he and Ness visited Shults' sister in Hawaii. An airport official told Shults he couldn't board his plane back to Norway. He stayed behind for a month and secured a student visa to travel back.

But last fall, after Shults applied to renew the visa, he received a letter from authorities saying he had been living and working in Norway illegally. He would need to leave the country for at least two years before he could apply to return.

An attorney traced the glitch back to a letter about renewing Shults' residency that had gone to an old address years earlier. He assured Shults and Ness the issue would be resolved. But in July, just weeks after the couple had a planned wedding ceremony, Shults received another letter: He would be deported. (Because of his immigration problems, he and Ness could not get a marriage license.)

"If Lee has to leave the country, it would be devastating for our family," said Ness. "This whole case is surreal."

As their attorney set out to appeal the decision, the couple considered moving to the United States. But the biological father of Ness' daughter can prevent the girl from leaving. Shults says he should have made sure his paperwork was in order, but he believes there should be a way to fix his mistake.

Shults says the response is encouraging, but he still worries his case could stretch for years.

"The uncertainty and stress are just crippling," he said.