Denmark’s ongoing citizenship freeze is causing real practical issues for many foreigners in Denmark, with several expressing anger and disappointment at what they see as an unfair, irrational and even racist decision.
Of the nearly 60 respondents The Local received for our survey, less than ten felt that the Danish immigration ministry’s decision to pause processing of citizenship applications at the start of March was in any way justifiable.
The rest said that they found the decision “frustrating”, or “unfair”, “disappointing” and even “cruel” or “anti-immigrant”, with several reporting that the pause was having a real practical impact on their lives.
Denmark suspended processing of almost all applications for citizenship via naturalization on March 6th, with the country’s immigration ministry announcing that it needed to wait for clarity on rules until after the election.
But a spokesperson for the immigration ministry told The Local that the formation of a new government and the appointment of a new immigration minister last week was not enough to provide the needed clarity. Citizenship processing could not restart, he said, until the government strikes a new parliamentary agreement on the issue.
Vijay, who lives in Farum, said that the continuing break had affected him emotionally.
“I’m feeling stressed out and frustrated with the whole process,” he told The Local. “It goes against all sense of justice to change the rules after you have submitted your application and met the requirements.”
“I’m gutted,” agreed Alexander, a foreigner living in Copenhagen. “It’s completely unfair because there’s no due process. I feel unwanted in this country despite doing everything I’ve been asked to.”
Kat, also in Copenhagen, said she felt that the decision was actively “hostile”.
“It sends the signal: “we don’t know what we want, exactly, but we know we want to make the process harder for you,” she said.
Samantha Bjørnlund-Robbins, another foreign resident in Copenhagen, said the ongoing break made her feel like a prisoner.
“It makes me feel like a hostage in a situation where I have no voice,” she said. “I’ve waited for so long and been so diligent and patient, I feel as if there is no end in sight.”
Life on hold
Several respondents reported turning down promotions or job offers as a result of the break, while others said that they had postponed studies.
“I’ve already turned down a promotion abroad because leaving would have reset my residence,” complained one respondent, who chose to remain anonymous. “It cost me a real career opportunity. I had to turn down a promotion because it required relocating abroad for a year.”
Vijay complained that the break was putting his “life on hold”.
“My biggest dream is to educate myself and contribute even more to Denmark, but I can’t start my education because I have to wait years for a decision on citizenship,” he said.
One respondent, called Greg, said they even tried to limit the amount of driving they did to avoid an accident that could endanger their application.
“The freeze means even longer waiting in limbo, where driving a car is risky and traveling too much is not a good idea.”
Several respondents said they had separated or were separating from the Danish parent of their children and felt that the ongoing pause to citizenship processing made their situation frighteningly insecure.
“It’s extremely disconcerting because I have a son in Denmark,” said Fiona, also based in Copenhagen. “My husband is Danish but we are splitting up and it creates a lot of uncertainty about the future.”
Another woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, expressed similar fears.
“My son is half Danish but of course he can’t have a passport because his father isn’t named,” one said. “For every year I’m able to claim financial support, I have to add that to my waiting time to apply for the Danish passport.”
Irrational and unfair
Several respondents worried that the suspension in processing was a sign that new, even tighter, conditions for citizenship were coming, arguing that the ministry would have no reason to freeze applications if these new conditions were not expected to apply to applications that have already been made.
“I fulfilled all conditions required of me when I applied almost two years ago. If they change the conditions can it affect my application retroactively? If not, why the freeze?” asked Lucie.
She was not the only respondent to worry that new, retroactive legislation was coming, with Vijay reporting “rumours that they will raise the language requirement, and even do it retroactively.”
“It goes against all sense of justice to change the rules after you have submitted your application and met the requirements,” he complained.
The uncertainty over future requirements was one of the things respondents found most troubling.
“After 12 years of living, working and paying taxes here, a new government could rewrite the rules and apply them retroactively to my pending case,” said one of the anonymous respondents. “I could meet every requirement today and be told tomorrow that I no longer qualify. You can’t build a life on that.”
Ronnie, from Randers, said he was worried about what new requirements would be imposed.
“The scariest part of this is not the pause itself. It is the new minister’s views on how citizenship should be handled. Morten believes there should be screening of “fundamental Danish values”. This is extremely problematic because ‘anti-democratic attitudes’ is a vague concept that can be interpreted differently depending on who is in power.”
Cristina Gamba, another Copenhagen foreigner said it was strange that the impressively well-run Danish state struggled with citizenship processing.
“It seems surreal that in the country of paperwork efficiency, this is such a complicated and lengthy process, now even stopped, while everything else is business as usual,” she said.
An anonymous respondent complained that they had met every single one of the onerous conditions for Danish citizenship and were still blocked.
“I did all of it. I lived up to every expectation they set. And after meeting all of that, this is how I’m treated: frozen indefinitely, with no end date and no recourse, for reasons that have nothing to do with me.”
Racist and anti-immigrant
Several respondents questioned whether the rationale the immigration ministry had given was in fact the real reason for the suspension.
“It’s a bad excuse and cover up for the prejudice this country supports,” said a foreigner based on Bornholm. “They’re targeting a particular ethnic group but have to tar everyone with the same brush because that’s the rules they’ve always had.”
An anonymous respondent living in Frederiksberg, dismissed the pause as “continued anti-immigrant rhetoric from a country that loves to promote itself as progressive.”
Several respondents said they felt they were the victims of a kind of game or trick.
“The indefinite pause on citizenship feels more like a clever legal trick to avoid having to actually follow through on the promise of integration and becoming a citizen,” one said. Another argued it was “just a game to not give citizenship until people just give up”.
The end goal, others argued, was to take advantage of immigrant workers without ever giving them the rights of a Danish citizen.
“Denmark needs temporary immigrants to come and pay taxes in their golden years and then drives them crazy with strict rules and games to the point they give up and leave,” said one respondent.
“It feels like they will always find an excuse not to welcome you as a Danish Citizen,” said another. “It’s a horrible feeling.”
“After 12 years of living here, working, and paying taxes, being paused like a file in a drawer instead of treated as a person sends one clear message — that no matter how long you stay or how much you give, your place here is conditional. That is a hard thing to feel about the country you’ve chosen as home.”
Thinking of leaving
Several respondents said the long wait for citizenship had made them regret after their decision to move to Denmark.
“It is more and more clear that Denmark doesn’t want any immigrants regardless of how much they contribute to society,” said a foreigner based in Frederiksberg. “I feel cheated of my golden time I have invested in this country, and wonder what if I have chosen another country to work for.”
“It makes me question staying here,” said another.
