EU Residence as a Family Member of an EU Citizen

You are a family member of a (non-Danish) EU citizen living in Denmark who has independent grounds for residence in Denmark under EU regulations. As a family member you can either be an EU citizen or a citizen of a country outside EU, EEA or Switzerland.

Your relationship must be genuine and not established solely for the purpose of obtaining grounds for residence.

Special rules and conditions apply if you apply for EU residence as a family member of a Danish citizen who has resided in another EU country or is otherwise covered by EU regulations.

The sponsor must be residing in Denmark under EU regulations. This can be as a worker, student, self-employed person, person with sufficient funds or posted service provider.

The sponsor can also have permanent residence under EU regulations.

The sponsor’s grounds for residence may not be as a family member to an EU citizen.

The sponsor must therefore have undertaken an actual and real relocation to Denmark. It is not enough that the sponsor has registered at a Danish address or is the owner or tenant of a home in Denmark.

Each family member must submit an application. For example, if you are a family of two adults and two children, you must submit a total of 4 applications.

Copy of the data page in your passport and/or your national ID card

Copy of your sponsor's passport or national ID card

As documentation for your sponsor's current grounds for residence you must attach:

Marriage certificate or documentation of cohabitation (see below)

Birth certificate

There will be an expiry date on your residence card. When the card expires, you must either apply for an extension of your residence or, if you meet the conditions, for permanent residence.

However, as a third-country citizen, whether you have the right to work while the application is being processed depends on whether you meet the conditions for residence as a family member of an EU citizen.

You must be the spouse, cohabiting partner or a child under the age of 21 of either the sponsor or the sponsor’s spouse or partner.

Other family members - e.g. children over the age of 21 and parents - can in certain circumstances get an EU residence document, provided that a number of specific conditions are met.

As a cohabiting partner you are living at a joint residence and is in a longstanding relationship with the sponsor. As a rule, you and the sponsor must have been cohabiting partners for at least 18 to 24 months prior to submitting the application.

If you are a third-country citizen, i.e. a citizen of a country outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland, and you meet the conditions for residence as a family member of an EU citizen, you have the same rights to reside and work in Denmark as the EU citizen.

When your grounds for residence are as a family member, your family cannot get EU residence based on their relationship with you.

You have the right to permanent residence when you have had actual and real residence in Denmark under EU regulations for a period of at least 5 years.

If you have EU residence as a family member of a (non-Danish) EU citizen living in Denmark with residence in Denmark under EU regulations and you no longer meet one or more of the conditions, your grounds for residence will normally be terminated.

This would be the case, for instance, if you are divorced from the sponsor, if the sponsor has left Denmark or the sponsor no longer meets the conditions for his or her grounds for residence.

The years must be consecutive and for the entire period you must continuously have met the conditions for residence under EU regulations.

Temporary residence abroad for a total of less than 6 months per year, however, will not in and of itself prevent you from getting permanent residence under EU regulations.

The same applies to absences of up to 12 months due to weighty reasons such as pregnancy and birth, serious illness, educational activities or vocational training or being stationed abroad.

If you have been granted permanent residence and will be staying outside Denmark for more than 2 years and you then intend to return to Denmark, you may in special cases get a dispensation, so that you do not lose your right to residence.