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Danish nationalisation can take over a year after citizenship test: report

Ritzau/The Local
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
Danish nationalisation can take over a year after citizenship test: report
Photo: Joachim Ladefoged/Polfoto/Ritzau

3,693 people took Denmark’s citizenship test (indfødsretsprøven) on Thursday, hoping to take a step closer to becoming Danish nationals.

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But passing the test is one part of a long process on the path to citizenship of the Scandinavian country.

Figures from the Ministry of Immigration show that the average waiting time from sending a citizenship application to becoming a fully-fledged Dane is 14 to 16 months.

According to broadcaster DR, the waiting time has been high for several years. Although politicians tried to hasten the process in 2013, in initiative that had some short-term effect, average waiting times now again exceed a year.

Long waiting times are problematic for those wishing to demonstrate they are ‘Danish enough’ according to Torben Møller Hansen, director of the New Danes Association (Foreningen Nydansker).

“[Citizenship] is one of the few sharp lines whereby if you get to that stage, there is general acceptance that you have done enough,” Hansen told DR.

“So it also means a huge amount when [applicants] can’t quite get over the line,” he added.

The citizenship test consists of 40 questions on Danish society and culture, with a strong focus on historical events and figures.

It is held twice yearly – in June this year, 49.8 percent passed the test by correctly answering at least 32 out of 40 questions on the test.

Results from Thursday’s test will be published on December 20th.

Politicians from both sides of the aisle, including Red Green Alliance immigration spokesperson Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen and Liberal party citizenship spokesperson Jan E. Jørgensen, have spoken critically of the drawn-out application process.

“I have done everything I can short of chaining myself to the door at the ministry. And we have been promised that things are going the right way,” Jørgensen told DR.

READ ALSO: One in two failed Danish citizenship test

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