Denmark’s parliament normally votes through two naturalization bills a year, but since the last bill passed on June 11th, 2025, the system has ground to a halt with a bills scheduled for October and January both shelved. Here’s a breakdown of who is waiting.
A whopping 2,055 people were proposed as future Danish citizens the law submitted on January 22ndmore than twice as many as the 1,086 voted through by parliament as citizens in the last bill in June last year.
But with the law shelved because of the general election and no visibility on when or if it will be resubmitted, these people are in limbo, waiting for the new government to decide on what to do next.
We went through the 2,055 on the list to better understand where they come from.
Syrian citizens comprise the largest group of citizens in the new bill, with 148 prospective citizens, followed by Germans, with around 125 individuals proposed. Ukrainians take third place, with 108 individuals in the bill.
So where do they come from?
‘Western countries’
Just under a third of the applicants, or 621 people, come from so-called ‘Western’ countries, with 26 coming from a Nordic country, including 12 citizens of Sweden, 11 of Norway, and three citizens of Finland.
The Western country with the most citizens in the bill Germany, with around 125 individuals proposed for citizenship.
‘MENAPT’
Some 686 people are from the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, or Turkey or are stateless, fitting the controversial MENAPT category used in Denmark.
Syrian citizens comprise the largest group of citizens in the new bill, with 148 prospective citizens.
‘Other non-Western countries’
Finally 722 people come from “other non-Western countries”, including India, the Philippines, Thailand, Ukraine, Nepal, Vietnam, China, and Russia.
Ukrainian citizens comprise the third largest group of prospective new Danish citizens, with 108 entries on the list, followed by India with 90 individuals.
Will there be more additions to the next bill?
It’s possible. The Ministry of Migration put the processing of new citizenship applicants on hold after the election was announced in February, so no new applicants will be added to the list of possible inclusions for a future bill until this freeze is listed.
If processing resumes before a new citizenship bill is submitted to parliament, however, the list could swell even more.
