A woman in Bergen, Norway, who claims she forgot she was married, faces bigamy charges after marrying another man while her husband was on vacation.

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The 36-year-old unidentified woman, a Norwegian citizen originally from Africa, told police she forgot her marital status when entering into the latest marriage since coming to Norway in the 1990s, the Bergens Tidende newspaper said.

In August 2004 the woman's husband went away on holiday and while he was gone the woman took another African husband. When he applied for residency permission in Norway police got suspicious and the woman's marital history came to light.

"The woman has been reported to the immigration division of the police. An investigation has begun and we believe the last marriage was purely a formality," police lawyer Anette Vangsnes said.