Aside from being born to Danish parents, there are other ways to acquire Danish nationality.
You can be regarded as a citizen of the Kingdom of Denmark after you’ve resided in the country for close to a decade and completed the entire naturalization process.
Are you are interested in naturalizing for this European country and obtaining dual citizenship rights for both Denmark and your home country? We have listed everything you need to know to have a successful application.
Application requirements
If you want to become a citizen of Denmark, you will have to go through a lot of complicated procedures and fulfill some conditions before your application can be accepted.
You must have lived in the country for a certain number of years and possess a permanent residence permit. If you do not have a permanent residence permit, you can apply for one online or obtain it at the Danish Immigration Service.
You should have stayed in Denmark continuously for at least 9 years (without living elsewhere for more than 3 months) before you can qualify to begin filing your citizenship application. The continuous residency requirement is even shorter for Nordic nationals and British citizens.
If you have refugee status during your stay, you must live in Denmark for 8 years continuously before you can begin your naturalization application. Factors such as imprisonment and overdue debt to public authorities will prevent you from being listed in a naturalization bill.
Even before you begin your application, you’ll have to prove that you can support yourself financially. To prove this, you must not have received any public benefits within the past year.
You must also have been independent (self-sustaining) for 4 years and 6 months in the last 5 years before you began processing your application.
Anticipatory pensions, old-age pensions, and education grants & loans provided by the government will not prevent you from obtaining Danish nationality.
You can head to any of the offices of the Minister for Integration to pick up your citizenship application form and begin processing your request.
Cost of application
Before you can file your application for processing, you are to pay a non-refundable application fee of DKK 1,100. Once you pay this fee, your application will be sent for review.
During your application, you will have to prove your Danish skills by providing an examination certificate and the results of your citizenship test.
The citizenship test is taken by all foreign nationals applying for citizenship to ensure that they have sufficient knowledge of Danish culture, history, and society before can be given citizenship rights. If you pass this exam, you will be given a certificate and you’ll need it to complete your application.
After application, it would take about 3-4 months for your application to be reviewed, processed, and given feedback.
If your application is approved, you will also need to sign a declaration and pledge your allegiance and loyalty to Denmark.
You will also be obligated to declare your willingness to observe and obey the Danish rules and regulations, respect all fundamental Danish principles, and be patriotic in all your endeavors.
How to naturalize for Denmark
Being the happiest country in the world, Denmark doesn’t offer a lot of options for foreign nationals to naturalize and become legal citizens of the country. There are two primary ways to attain Danish citizenship: by birth and residency.
Nationalization by birth
One of the easiest ways to obtain Danish nationality is if one or both of your parents are Danish nationals. As soon as you are born, you automatically become a citizen of Denmark by birth even if you were born abroad.
Naturalization by Continuous residency
You are also entitled to apply for Danish citizenship after 9 years of uninterrupted residence or 8 years of continuous residence if you are a refugee.
If you plan to naturalize and you are married to Dane, each year of marriage reduces the requirement by one year, to a maximum of 3 years.
This means you can apply for Danish citizenship after you have lived in the country for 6 years in a row and you’ve been married to a Dane for 3 years during that time.
Can I lose my Danish citizenship after naturalization?
Yes, if a person acquired Danish nationality by birth, was born abroad, and has never lived in the Kingdom of Denmark or any other Nordic country for an aggregate period of no less than 7 years by the age of 22 years, he/she would be considered a stateless person.
You can also lose your citizenship by court order if you acquired your Danish nationality by fraudulent conduct, sham marriage, treason, violation of any provisions of Parts 12 and 13 of the Danish Criminal Code or you voluntarily renounce your Danish citizenship.