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LIVING IN DENMARK

Denmark announces new tightening of citizenship rules

A cross-party parliamentary majority has agreed to back a series of legislation changes on naturalisation of new Danish citizens, the country’s immigration ministry has announced.

Published: 20 April 2021 16:40 CEST
Denmark announces new tightening of citizenship rules
A citizenship ceremony in Copenhagen in February 2020. Photo: Ida Guldbæk Arentsen/Ritzau Scanpix

In a statement, the Ministry of Immigration and Integration confirmed an agreement for new citizenship rules had been reached between the Social Democratic government and three conservative parties: the Liberal, Conservative and Liberal Alliance parties.

Under the deal new rules will require citizenship applicants to have been in full time work or self-employment for three and a half of the last four years.

Five questions are to be added to the existing citizenship test, asking applicants about “Danish values”. 

“There is strong agreement amongst the parties that it is crucial an applicant has accepted Danish values,” the ministry statement reads.

Foreign nationals applying to become Danish citizens could also face individual interviews designed to test whether they have “Danish values”. The immigration ministry is to set out a model for the potential future introduction of such interviews.

Both the interviews and additional citizenship questions are in line with a proposal made by the Liberal party in February.

The Liberal party’s citizenship spokesperson Morten Dahlin called Danish nationality “a gift which must be earned”.

“The people whom we welcome into the Danish family must have taken Denmark on board and must stay on the right side of the law,” Dahlin added.

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Under Danish law, citizenship can only be granted to foreign nationals via legal nationalisation: applications must actually be voted for by a parliamentary majority.

Accepted applications are normally processed via bills put in front of parliament twice yearly, in April and in October.

The bills will now be organised according to the nationality of applicants, a notable change from the current practice of listing them alphabetically.

As such, it will be easy to see which applicants are in the categories set out in the new agreement: “Nordic countries”, “other Western countries”, “‘Menap’ countries [Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan ed.] plus Turkey”, and “other non-Western countries”.

That appears to fall in with a suggestion made by the extreme right wing Nye Borgerlige (New Right) party during talks over the new rules, although that party is not a signatory to the final agreement.

Theoretically, categorising applications this way could make it easier for parliament to reject, or for individual parties to vote against, otherwise-approved citizenship claims based on the source country of the applicant.

The new rules also clamp down on would-be citizens who have broken Danish laws.

Under the new rules, persons with previous convictions for which they have received conditional or unconditional sentence are permanently barred from being granted Danish citizenship. Current rules allow people with unconditional sentences of up to one year to be granted citizenship following a suspension period.

Additionally, people who have received fines of at least 3,000 kroner for breaching immigration laws, welfare fraud or negative social control will now be required to wait for a suspension period of six months before being acceptable for naturalisation.

The agreement also states parliament will look into the possibility of revoking citizenship entirely from Danish nationals who have committed crimes, according to the ministry statement.

READ ALSO: Which European countries have the tightest rules for gaining citizenship?

The measure should aim to ensure citizenships can be “revoked as broadly as possible” according to the statement.

In the statement, the government also says that “if there is a sharp increase in the number of applicants for Danish naturalisation from applicants from outside of Europe, the government is obliged to summon the agreeing parties. The parties will then consider the need to change the existing rules”.

“We need to draw a line in the sand. People who have had prison sentences will not have Danish citizenship,” immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye said in the press release.

Member comments

  1. absolutely the right way to go. I moved to DK from another EU country last year – and would not expect to be treated any other way. I am guest in this country and if I want the citizenship (which my husband and son have), I need to behave and be relevantly “naturalised” (and that is not something happening in a few years).

    I have done a similar process in Switzerland – where my family moved when I was just a kid – and never felt anything else but being a guest in this country and having to behave accordingly before I could even think of applying for the citizenship (which btw was also an interview process in the commune, being questioned on “Swissness” by 5 people; it was fine). tough luck if you decide to break the law….

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For members

LIVING IN DENMARK

Six useful products I discovered in Denmark

Denmark is well known for its tradition for high quality design, but which products make a difference to everyday life?

Published: 22 March 2023 17:52 CET
Six useful products I discovered in Denmark

Inbuilt bike locks 

There’s no need to carry around a heavy and impractical chain to lock up your bicycle in Denmark, as these all come fitted (or you can cheaply add) an inbuilt lock on the frame of the bike.

The lock is the form of a circular bar which is released by a key and goes between the spokes of the back wheel, meaning it can’t be turned when the lock is in the fixed position.

This way, bikes can be locked while still standing freely – which is just as well, since there are not enough railings and bike stands in the country to accommodate the many, many bicycles.

Of course, a locked bike can, in theory, be picked up and carried away even if the wheel doesn’t turn and unfortunately, this does happen sometimes. But not enough to undermine the public trust in bicycle wheel locks.

Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Rain trousers

Rain trousers/pants (regnbukser) can be bought on their own or with a matching jacket as part of a regnsæt (“rain set”).

These waterproof pants are a novelty to those of us who don’t come from bicycle cultures, but after your first rainy day cycling commute leaves you at the office with drenched trousers, you’ll understand the appeal.

They are designed to fit over your regular trousers and can be stretched over the top of your shoes and held underneath them with a piece of elastic attached to the bottom hem.

While primarily designed for cycling, they also come in handy for walking around during Denmark’s regular spells of cold, damp weather.

Photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

READ ALSO: Essential rain gear for a wet Danish winter (and spring, summer, autumn)

The flatbed toaster

There’s something indefinably satisfying about putting two slices of bread in a toaster and waiting for the ‘ping’ as they pop up, warm and ready for spreading.

However, there’s no getting around the fact that toasters are a bit impractical when it comes to thick slices and rolls.

Of course, you can also warm bread in the oven, but it’s more hassle and not for quite the same result.

Enter the flatbed toaster. This device is much more popular in Denmark than the pop-up version and enables easy, simultaneous warming of several slices of bread of various shapes and sizes – including of course, the national favourite, rye bread.

Pro tip: turn the dial less for toasting the second side of the bread, because the element will already be warm. This way you avoid burning the second side.

Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix

The cheese slicer

Cheese products popular in Denmark include havarti and the Cheasy range from dairy Arla.

These are both soft cheeses and should be cut with an ostehøvl (cheese slicer), a quintessential Danish kitchen utensil.

There are two types of ostehøvl: a wire-based type and a version that looks a bit like a trowel, with a raised edge and a gap in the middle for the sliced cheese to pass through.

Cutting Danish soft cheese with a knife will turn the block into a crumbling mess, so in this setting you can’t really avoid using the specialised slicers. And while their usefulness is diminished for something like cheddar, there are plenty of softer cheeses in other countries that would surely benefit from being set about with an ostehøvl.

One thing to be aware of: injudicious use of the slicer can cause a “ski slope” cheese block, creating uneven slices and leaving one side of the block thicker than the other. Slice evenly.

READ ALSO: Why does Denmark produce so much cheese?

Foam washing cloths for babies

If you’re a parent and have found yourself struggling with a pile of dirty wet wipes or cotton pads after changing your baby, you may have found yourself wondering if there’s another way.

In Denmark, there is: the engangsvaskeklude (disposable washing cloth) comes in tightly-stuffed packets of 50-100 small, square foam cloths, around 20 square centimetres in size.

The cloths are made from thin slices of polyether foam, a type often used in sofa cushions. Manufacturers say it is better for the environment than other types, and the advantage against wet wipes is they are perfume-free.

They just need to be made damp with a splash of lukewarm water, then you’re ready to wipe – they tend to have a good success rate for picking up baby poo.

A sticker saying ‘no thanks’ to junk mail

We’re talking about physical junk mail here, not the type that goes into your email spam box although if there was a sticker for this, I’d be at the front of the queue.

The reklamer, nej tak (“advertisements, no thank you”) sticker can be ordered from FK Distribution, the company which operates Denmark’s tilbudsaviser (“special offer newspaper”) deliveries. These result in piles of paper leaflets, detailing offers at supermarkets, being pushed through letter boxes every day.

These leaflets are useful for bargain hunters, but many people take them out of their overfilled letter box and dump them straight into recycling containers. If you have a nej tak sticker on your letter box, you won’t receive any of the brochures in the first place.

You can also choose a sticker which says “no thanks” to adverts but excludes the offer leaflets, so you can cut down on the junk mail while still keeping abreast of good deals.

Have I missed any good ones? Let me know.

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