Denmark’s immigration ministry has announced that it is stopping processing almost all citizenship cases until the next government gives ‘more clarity’ on citizenship rules. Our readers had a lot of questions, which we’ve done our best to answer.
Our members contributed the following questions during a live Q&A on Monday, with The Local Denmark’s editor Michael Barrett answering in close to real time. If you have any more questions of your own, please post them in the comments below.
Given the current situation, should the new applicants who have completed all the requirements wait until the elections are over or continue with our application regardless? By when can we know about the new changes in the criteria for citizenship?
Michael Barrett: I’m a bit reluctant to give you definitive advice on what to do in this situation because it seems like there might be a legal aspect. The timeline for changes (if indeed any happen) is unclear at this point, and depends largely on who gets elected and their policies, as well as the expert report on screening (which we’ve written about separately).
The high fee for applying (6,000 kroner) would personally make me reluctant to apply given the large amount of uncertainty currently. The downside to this of course is that rules could be made stricter than they are at the time you applied, or the fee put up again (it would cost the state more to individually screen everyone, for example, and they might want to pass this cost on to applicants).
If new rules are implemented will these affect people whose application is already submitted or does it only impact new applicants in the future?
MB: I can’t say whether any new rules will apply retroactively. It will depend on the specific proposals that may be made and eventually adopted.
For people who have already submitted their application how will it impact their timeline for getting passport incl. cost of application/new fees and etc?
MB: For those whose applications are pending, it stands to reason there will be a delay, making the waiting time longer than the 24 months stated to applicants in 2025. We’ve asked the ministry if it can give a clear idea of how much this will delay existing applications and will report any response we receive.
My family member would have been on the October 2025 naturalization bill that never happened, and instead ended up on this recent one that was cancelled. I’m wondering when/if the naturalization bill is going to resume. Is that another thing that won’t be clear until after the election?
MB: That’s a very good question and I can’t say whether future bills will happen on schedule. The ministry did not comment on this in the statement in which it announced a freeze on processing. As far as I understand the twice-yearly bills are a longstanding convention. The October 2025 cancellation was an administrative decision by parliament, not the policy of an individual party. The bills can of course be blocked if there’s a parliamentary majority against them, and wouldn’t be tabled if this was an expected scenario.
Will the 4 year rule of being employed without a 6 month gap be affected by this or will it stay the same?
MB: On the employment criteria, no party has any policy to change these at the moment as far as I’m aware, but of course this could change either before or after the election.
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They are constantly moving the finish line. I’m so done. I was about to fulfill the criteria in 2021. Then Mette Frederiksen pulled the same move. They added extra requirements retrospectively and I couldn’t apply anymore. Now when I fulfilled all criteria again and applied, and waited already 18 months – they are moving the finish line again.
MB: There are some exceptions but they are very narrow. Some stateless people born after 1993 are excepted, while citizenship cases that don’t require naturalization (such as Danes who have given up their nationality in the past and can reclaim it, or Nordic nationals who have different rights) can apply without needing to be processed and go on a parliamentary bill
If most processing is currently on hold, what work will the Ministry staff be focusing on until the working group presents its results on individual screenings later this summer?
This is still up in the air. The expert panel which was appointed to examine the feasibility of screening is not due to publish its report until later this year. We’ve asked the ministry about the impact of this on waiting times, so I hope we’ll be able to answer that soon.
Is the October 2026 naturalization bill still expected to proceed, or is it likely to be delayed/cancelled?
It’s important to distinguish between the processing of applications and the bills themselves (when parliament essentially votes to rubber-stamp the approved applications). The ministry has announced that processing has been put on hold, with no mention of whether naturalization bills are still going to be tabled in parliament. However, the wording of the statement is vague enough that nothing is guaranteed. I do not know how ministry staff will be spending time freed up by this decision.
