American staying in DK w/ GF

[dreda38]

Hey Everyone,

I am looking everywhere for help on a problem I am having so I want to thank anyone who has advice and say I really appreciate your time and help.

I moved to Denmark in January 2012 and have been living with my Danish girlfriend ever since. At first it was easy to be here with my student visa but that has since run out so now I am looking for new options. I should start by listing all the options I have looked into and what I am pursuing:

1. I am 23 and she is 24; but even if we could, we don't want to get married out of convenience and we have not been living in the same place together for a year and a half so a co-habitation visa is out of the question.
2. Normally I would have a applied for a Green Card cause I am an American National with a Bachelor's degree from a top 100 World Uni. I am virtually a shoe-in for the green card scheme but as my last classes exams were lost by the Copenhagen IT University, I am waiting through a long process of getting them transferred home and having my Diploma printed which could take many months still. Waiting for my diploma is not really an option at this point as I have been given a deadline to leave the country by 18. April for the following reason...
*3. Most importantly... I have applied and been rejected for an Internship Visa by the Danish Immigration Office. They rejected my application claiming my Bachelor's focus was in History has no natural relevance for a Content Writing Internship with BetterNow Worldwide ApS. I have decided to appeal this decision of course because becoming a technical writer is a very natural and popular profession for History Major's and one of the major reasons I chose it... But anyway... I am concerned they might not allow me to stay in the country during the appeal process and force me to go home before 18. April anyway which would be a very expensive endeavor as I am from California.

I am hoping for any advice anyone may have from their experiences. Any ideas about appealing, internship visas etc. I am at a complete loss as to what I can do, I am stunned by the rejection decision and confused about my rights here. Thank you all for your help.

[fundiver199]

I am not sure, anyone here can do much for you unfortunatly. This internship thing has nothing to do with family reunification, which is the focus of Marriage Without Borders, so we know nothing about rules or practice in this area, since it is really not relevant for our members.

Your main reason for wanting to be in Denmark is apparently your girlfriend. And then the answer is, that you should get married and apply for family reunification. I know, you write, that you don`t "want" to get married yet. But really it does not hurt, and it is a requirement, if you want to stay here mainly because of her.

If that really bothers the two of you, she could move to Sweden, since they have a more lax law in this area and actually allow family reunification of fiancees / boyfriends / girlfriends without a requirement for 18 month uninterrupted cohabitation.

So basically the possible solutions are marriage or Sweden. This might not be the answer, you were hoping for, but at least there are possible solutions.

[Sunnyd3791]

The Swedish solution is really a good option.

My boyfriend (now husband) and I moved here in January and got my residence permit in 3 weeks. I am also an American who studied in Copenhagen ( I have a BA in Biology) and found out that there are limited options available VISA speaking. We are also a younger couple (22 and 24).

If you get married you may fit the qualifications to get family reunification in DK, but if not you should really look into Sweden. The positive aspect of Sweden is that you can move back to DK under EU law after you have established and can proved that you have moved your life to Sweden (usually 3-6 months, although it is suggested to wait closer to 6 months or longer if your partner isn't working in sweden) and get a 5 year residence permit back to DK IF you are married, otherwise you will have to stay in Sweden a lot longer (over 18 months) before you can try and move back to DK as a co-habitated partner.

If you have any questions or want to know more about our recent experience I'm more than willing to help and give advice