Ægteskabudengrænser.dk

Hi,

I’m citizen of Poland and have been living in Denmark last few years. I’m now in Thailand and recently got married. My wife is from Philippines. We are expecting a baby. We are coming to Denmark on 1st December (3 months tourist visa for my wife). We are planning to live in Denmark but we want also to spend some time with my family in Poland during first few months. We will apply for family reunification in Denmark under EU law and I have few questions about it:

1. I’m not working at the moment. Is it enough if I will be self-employed in Denmark and if so, than is there minimum income required for us to qualify for family reunification?
2. Our baby is planned to be born at the beginning of march (1 week after my wife’s visa ends). I was checking private health insurances, but they don’t cover pregnancy and giving birth if the person is already pregnant. Can my wife be entitled to public health insurance before receiving decision on family reunification? I have red somewhere that giving birth in Denmark is free of charge regardless of health insurance, is that true?
Would it also cover checkups before giving birth?
3. In one of post I have red that decision on family reunification can take up to 6 months. My wife has visa only for 3 months. What to do in case decision takes more than 3 months?
4. Is it possible for us to apply at the same time for residence permit in Poland (under polish law, in case we get negative decision on family reunification in Denmark). Is it ok (legal) for my wife to have residence cards from 2 EU countries at the same time?

Thanks a lot for help. Any other suggestions useful in our situation are welcome.

1. Self-employed is also generating income, so of course you can be self-employed and qualify. As long as you generate more income than the minimum social welfare benefits, you will be fine. In practise you will be fine as long as you don't seek any social help.

2. In Denmark urgent medicial help is offered free of charge to everyone. However, giving birth is not usually considered "urgent" as it is something you can plan. Most hospitals, however, offer to help free of charge with the actual birth but not all. So you will need to contact the hospital you intend to use and ask them about it. Pre-screenings for sure is not free of charge so you will have to pay for those yourself if you wish to have it done. Please note that even though pregnancy is not covered by any travel insurance, your wife will still need to take out a travel insurance that will cover any illness while she is travelling.

3. Your wife can exercise her rights in Denmark from the moment she has handed in her application. In practise it means she can stay in Denmark until she receives the residence card. However, she can't travel freely and then return to Denmark once her visa has expired.

4. If Poland will accept an application while you are still living in Denmark, I don't know. You will have to ask the relevant Polish authorities. In any case, you can only live in one country at a time so if you move to Poland, the Danish residence card will become invalid.