Advice sought on options -

[mikmcconnell]

Hi,

First up, thanks for providing this board, it's very useful.

I'm currently awaiting a decision on a family reunification application which I submitted in February this year. I'm a New Zealand man in his late 30s with a Danish wife (born in Denmark) and two Danish children (born in NZ, but holding Danish passports).

Given recent publicity in Denmark about cases that have gone through under the new rules, we're not hopeful that our application will be approved.

If our application isn't successful, what are our other options?

I'm likely to be able to apply under the pay limit scheme, but would rather not be a visa hostage in a job situation if at all possible (I don't want to be in a job that I have to stay in for visa reasons) and it's tricky to apply for jobs from New Zealand.

I don't fully understand how the EU rules work or how the Swedish rules work.

Could it be that we could live in Germany for, say, 3 to 6 months, gain residency for me (how does that work?), and then move to Denmark? (and the residency I had gained in Germany would be automatically recognised in Denmark?)

With thanks in advance.

[evc]

You can use a joke-card called 'Sweeden'. Many use Sweeden because it is closer to Denmark, but in reality it could be any other country member of the Union. If you live there for 3 months and then move to Denmark, you can make the application under European law, which is waaaay more flexible.

There is a tutorial the sweet people from ÆG made a few years ago. Ask your wife to read this and then this.

[mikmcconnell]

Superb, thanks.

Any idea if the Danish authorities give you an unduly hard time if you take that route, having previously been rejected under their rules?

[mh1]

It is a different authority all together which handles the cases where a Danish citizen returns from another EU-country and wishes to bring her/his spouse/partner. In that case you apply to 'statsforvaltningen' (read here in English): http://www.statsforvaltningen.dk/site.aspx?p=6394

So no, there is absolutely no negative consequences of using the perfectly legal de-tour around Sweden, Germany or whichever other EU-country you wish/find practical. But make sure you follow the rules meticulously, no cutting corners. Ask again, rather than taking any chances.

[mikmcconnell]

You folks are great, thanks.