Step-by-step - Family Reunification - Danish Rules - With Updates

[Kim P. Nyberg]

Your spouse has come up to you and is now planning to move in with you. In other words, you want to be reunited as spouses. You can use this guide as a chronological reference work of what to do and what to be aware of. The overview is organised chronologically, so you can jump in right where you are in the process.

If you have minor children with Danish citizenship, scroll down to frame/comment no. 3 of this Step-by-Step and read about the special rules regarding this.

A. DO YOU FULFIL THE REQUIREMENTS?

1. the housing requirement:

You must have your own home. This means that the home must be in your name. It must not be owned by anyone else, unless it is a co-operative home or a home in a housing association. As a rule, the home must not be shared with others. The home must be at least 20 square metres per person (measured on the entire living space) OR there must be a maximum of 2 people per livingroom or bedroom. Please note that you do not have to fulfil both size requirements. If you both move here from abroad, there is a "coming home" rule, which means that the housing requirement must be met no later than 6 months after you arrive. However, the application for family reunification must be submitted no later than one month after your arrival in Denmark if you are on the coming-home rule.

2. Backward-looking self-support:

If you are already living in Denmark, you must not have received benefits under the Act on Active Social Policy (the Active Social Policy Act) in the 36 months prior to the application for spouse reunification, nor while the case is being processed. The benefits include cash benefits, rehabilitation, integration benefit, educational assistance and resource programme benefits. It can also include individual one-time benefits, such as help from the municipality for a dental bill. Unemployment benefits from the unemployment insurance fund, sickness benefit, housing allowance, child allowance and child cheque, free childcare, etc. have no consequences for family reunification, neither before, during or after. When it comes to benefits under the Active Social Policy Act, it does not help to offer to pay back the amount. Just the fact that you have received one or more benefits under the Active Social Policy Act or the Integration Act is enough to set the table.

3. Future self-support:

As long as your spouse is in the country on a temporary residence permit, both you and your spouse are barred from receiving benefits under the Active Social Policy Act or the Integration Act. The list of "prohibited" and permitted benefits is listed in section 2 above. Receipt of "prohibited" benefits may result in cancellation of your residence permit or refusal to extend an existing residence permit. It doesn't matter whether we are talking about 50 øre or 50,000 kroner.

4. Bank guarantee:

You must be able to provide a bank guarantee in the amount of DKK 113.823,30 in 2024-level (approx. 15.272 euro). The guarantee must only be provided when specifically requested by the Danish Immigration Service. The guarantee can be provided in two ways, and you agree with the bank which one suits you best. One is called deposit, which means that you hold all the money in your hand and ask for it to be placed in a separate account and blocked. The other is called a demand guarantee, where the bank provides the guarantee on your behalf and you pay a fee four times a year to the bank to manage it for you. A demand guarantee requires credit approval. The money is locked for 10 years. You usually have 3 weeks to provide the guarantee, but again: Wait until you are specifically told to go to the bank. The bank guarantee increases by 2% every year at New Year.

5. integration requirements:

There are a total of 6 requirements here. The first three are for the person already living in Denmark, while the last three are for your spouse. In total, you must fulfil 4 of the 6 requirements. It doesn't really matter how they are divided between you, as long as you fulfil 4 requirements in total. However, requirement no. 1 for you is mandatory and relates to your schooling. The other requirements are about language skills, education and work experience. Be thorough when reading through the requirements. The smallest hair in the soup and you won't fulfil the requirement in question.

6. Your marriage/cohabitation:

The marriage must be recognised under Danish law. You may have been married in other countries, in which case it must have taken place according to the normal customs and laws of the country in question. Your marriage cannot be recognised if one of you was under 18 years of age at the time of the marriage. Marriages by proxy, forced marriages and arranged marriages are also not recognised. If you are not married, you must have lived together at a common, permanent address for at least 18 months prior to the application for family reunification. Alternate visa visits to each other do not count as permanent cohabitation. The date of marriage has nothing to do with the 24-year rule.

7. 24 years rule:

This rule has two purposes: to avoid forced and arranged marriages and to ensure that young people complete their education before creating a family. In relation to family reunification, the rule means that both parties must be at least 24 years old before they can be granted family reunification. However, you can submit the application as soon as the younger of you is 23½ years old. Applications submitted before that time will be rejected.

8. The visitation requirement:

This requirement is often misunderstood. Officially, it is stated that the foreign national must have visited Denmark at least once. Some believe that the foreign national must complete their entire first visa visit here, then return home and only on their next visit can they apply for family reunification. If the purpose is to keep the airlines alive, that's probably a nice thought, but the requirement really only covers the fact that the foreign national has been in the country for a single overnight stay at some point in their life. Then they can apply for family reunification. If the foreign national is outside Denmark and has never been here before, but still applies for family reunification directly, the application will be rejected. However, if the person has been in Denmark before, they can submit their application either here in Denmark or to a Danish embassy.

9. Stepchildren:

If you have children from a previous relationship (known in law as stepchildren or special children) with whom you have a permanent connection, you must disregard the housing requirement, all financial requirements and the integration requirements in the above points. The same applies if you cannot be directed to exercise your family life in the spouse's home country because of your sexual or religious orientation or because of a severe disability. However, you must pay the fee for the application for family reunification, which will be refunded once the case processing is complete if you fulfil the conditions in section 9.

10. Be thorough:

It is important that you delve into every little detail of every single requirement to find out if you fulfil it. This is because the smallest little mistake they can find in the Immigration Service costs a rejection of the entire application - even if everything else far outweighs the error. And the Immigration Service is deliberately looking for errors. So be thorough.

[Kim P. Nyberg]

B. THE PRACTICAL SEQUENCE

1. Go to www.newtodenmark.dk. Click on "You want to apply", "Family", "Family reunification", "Spouse or permanent cohabitant" and "How to apply" and then find form FA1. It takes up about 40 pages when printed out. However, the Danish Immigration Service prefers that you use the digital application form as much as possible, and it is also easier for you because you will not be asked irrelevant questions.

2. you can fill out the FA1 in Danish or English, depending on your preference. Read the instructions carefully before completing the individual sections to make sure they are filled out correctly. You may need a few days or weeks to complete it, so you don't get completely lost. Ask in the group if you're unsure about anything. That's what we're here for. Remember to make a copy of every page for your own use.

3. Several places in FA1 you will find checklists. Go through them as you come to them and find the documentation that appears on the list. This should be attached to the application itself when you get this far.

4. When you are ready to submit, go back to www.newtodenmark.dk and create a case number and pay the fee. You can submit the application and attachments electronically or in person. The Danish Immigration Service has a new headquarters in Næstved and has branches in Rønne, Odense, Aarhus and Aalborg. The fee for submitting the application in 2024 is DKK 8.575 or 1.151 euro.

5. After that, all you have to do is wait. The case processing is expected to take up to approx. 7 months. However, some cases are currently being decided within 1-3 months. Your spouse is allowed to stay here while the case is being processed (called procedural residence) - even if any visa expires during the process. However, the foreigner is not allowed to work in the country while the case is being processed, neither voluntarily nor unpaid.

6. When the case is finalised, you will be notified by the Danish Immigration Service with either a refusal (which must be justified) or an approval. If it is an approval, you will now be asked to go to the bank and provide the guarantee (unless you are exempt, cf. the special child rule in point A 9 above). Once you have provided the guarantee, it will take about 3-4 weeks for the final notification that the residence card is on its way. A work permit is built into the residence card.

7. Within 5 working days of receiving the letter stating that the residence card is on its way, you must take your spouse by the arm and go to the municipality's citizen service centre. Here your spouse must be registered in the population register and get a personal identity number. The yellow health insurance card will arrive in the post.

8. Soon afterwards, you will be called to a meeting at the municipality. This usually takes place at either the job centre or the integration department. You will be asked to sign an integration contract with the municipality, and the interviewer(s) will explain the content of the contract. If you have any doubts about the contract, don't hesitate to ask the caseworker. They are usually willing to answer.

9. No later than 6 months after your spouse has been registered, your spouse must pass a test in Danish at A1 level. This is a very easy test and failures are few and far between (most refusals are on the basis that the person in question forgot to take the test on time). It's a 40-question test and you need to get 32 correct. You have 5 seconds for each answer. Please note that the test can NOT be taken at your local language school. The test can ONLY be taken in either Vejle or Glostrup. You are not allowed to bring any materials to the test. You sit in front of a computer with earphones and a microphone and are shown an image. If you see a carton of milk, for example, you say "milk" in the best Danish you can. And so on. After 20 minutes, the test is over and you'll get an answer after about 14 days. If your spouse passes, DKK 22.764,66 will be released in your bank guarantee.

10. No later than 9 months after your spouse has been registered, your spouse must pass another test, this time at A2 level. It is slightly more difficult than A1, but it takes place in the same place as A1 and under the same basic conditions. Only the level of difficulty is increased. If you pass the test, an additional DKK 11.382,33 is released in the bank guarantee. If your spouse has good language skills and can pass A2 within 6 months of registration, you can skip the A1 test and go straight to A2. If you pass A2 within 6 months of registering, you will receive DKK 34.146,99.

11. The first residence card is valid for 2 years and is conditional on your spouse passing the above-mentioned tests within the deadlines. Thus, it is not enough to complete the tests, they must also be passed within the deadline.

C. EXTENSIONS

1. At the earliest 3 months before the residence card expires, you can apply for an extension. This can only be done electronically. You both need to provide some information using your respective Mit-ID. Once you have both filled out the electronic form and are ready to send it, save it first. Then you create a case number on www.nyidanmark.dk and pay the fee. Once that's done, you can submit the form. Again, you must physically go to the Danish Immigration Service to have your biometrics taken.

2. The case processing time is approx. 7 months. Your spouse is free to continue working and/or attending language school during the waiting period. This is also stated in the acknowledgement letter you will receive from the Danish Immigration Service, as well as on www.newtodenmark.dk.

3. The residence card your spouse receives at the first extension is valid for 4 years or until 3 months before the passport expires (whichever comes first). If there is only one year left on the passport before the extension, it would be a good idea to have the passport renewed before applying for an extension of the residence card.

4. When renewing for the second time (i.e. after the 4 years), each future renewal is for 6 years or until 3 months before the passport expires - whichever comes first. Each time you renew, you need to remember the trip to the authorities for biometrics and that the earliest you can apply for renewal is 3 months before the old card expires. There is no upper limit to how many times you can renew.

5. Please note that if you move address at any point during the programme, the housing requirement (see point A 1 above) must be met again. However, as long as you stay at the address you already have, the requirement does not have to be met when extending your residence permit. Not even in the event of a family increase.

[Kim P. Nyberg]

Regarding the change in practice of 14 October 2022 regarding joint children with Danish citizenship:

If you fulfil the following, there is no need to worry about all of the above, because then the above does not apply to you.

If you fulfil the following:

- The child and one parent are Danish citizens,
- You, as parents, live together (you do not have to be married)
- The child is a minor and lives with you
- Both parents participate on equal terms in the child's upbringing, socially, emotionally and financially,

... you can get family reunification after the change in practice that came in October 2022. With this, it is not you parents who will be reunited, but instead the foreign parent who will be reunited with the child. The first residence permit is valid for 2 years and each subsequent residence permit is valid for 4 years at a time.

The application form is called AO1 and can be submitted online from wherever you live, no matter where on the globe. There is no application fee.

If you have a residence permit under the "ordinary" rules mentioned above, you cannot switch to the change of practice unless you have had a small family member added since the last time you applied for or extended your residence permit.

If you have been unlucky and no longer fulfil the aforementioned "normal" conditions, and you have minor joint children with Danish citizenship, for example because you have had to get social benefits from the municipality, the Immigration Service will offer the foreign parent a residence permit according to the rules of the change in practice.

It is recommended to aim for a permanent residence permit when the time comes. This is because the residence permit based on the change in practice expires when the child turns 18. If you do not have a permanent residence permit by that time, the Immigration Service will ask you to return to your home country or apply for family reunification according to the "normal" rules.