Family Reunification with a Danish Citizen — EU Rules

You are a family member to a Danish citizen who has used their right to free movement and established genuine and effective residence in another EU country. You have resided and lived together as a family with the Danish citizen in the other EU country. You now want to return to Denmark. In the following text, we use the term "EU country" as a collective term of the EU/EEA countries and Switzerland.

In very special instances, it is possible for you to be covered by the EU regulations as a family member to a Danish citizen, even if your Danish family member has not established a genuine and effective residence in another EU country.

lives and is self-employed in Denmark, and in this capacity, to a certain extent, provides cross-border services to other EU countries. As a result of this, your Danish family member must spend a certain amount of working hours on business trips to other EU countries

is employed by an employer in Denmark and performs a certain amount of weekly work in another EU country (business trips), within the framework of their employment contract.

In certain instances, you can also be covered by the EU regulations if your Danish family member lives in Denmark and is an employee under the EU regulations in another EU country and, as a result of this, regularly travels to the other EU country (cross-border worker).

As a rule, your Danish family member has used their right to free movement if they, up until their return to Denmark, have resided in another EU country under the EU regulations as, for example, one of the following: an employee at a company in the other EU country a self-employed person in the other EU country a student at an educational institution in the other EU country that is approved or publicly financed a person with sufficient funds (self-supporting).

This means that your Danish family member must maintain their grounds for residence in the other EU country (e.g. as an employee) up until their return to Denmark.

A genuine and effective relocation to that EU country must have taken place, and not simply a short-term stay, for example in a hotel room or family visit.

There is no minimum requirement to the length of your family member’s residence in the other EU country, but it is a condition that your Danish family member has established a genuine and effective residence in the country, which normally implies a residence of a certain length.

You must have resided in the other EU country with your Danish family member and have lived together as a family.

If you enter Denmark after your Danish family member has returned to Denmark, we will do a specific assessment of whether your family life can be considered interrupted or expired during the period that you have not spent together. The same applies if you send an application after your Danish family member returns to Denmark.

In this step you have access to the relevant application form OD2A-C.

You and the Danish citizen are each required to complete a part of the form.

A copy of all pages in your passport (including front and back cover)

Documentation that the Danish citizen has had genuine and effective residence in another EU country (see examples below)

Documentation that the Danish citizen has had grounds for residence and has used their right to free movement in another EU country. This may, for example, be as an employee or as a person with sufficient funds (see examples below)

Documentation of your familial relationship to the Danish citizen (see examples below)

Documentation that you have resided in another EU country together with the Danish citizen (see examples below).

As part of the application process, you must have an ID check done.

If you a a citizen of a country outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, you must also have your biometric features recorded in order to be issued a residence card. This means that you must have a facial photo taken and submit your fingerprints. Your facial photo and your fingerprints will be stored in a chip on the residence card you will receive, if you are granted a residence document.

If you are a citizen outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, you may work while we process your case if you fulfil all the conditions for residence as a family member of an EU citizen under the EU regulations.

You may be covered by the EU regulations as a family member to a Danish citizen if you are the spouse of a Danish citizen, have been a cohabiting partner of the Danish citizen for at least 18 to 24 months or if you are under the age of 21 and the child of either the Danish citizen or the Danish citizen’s spouse.

Other family members - e.g. children over the age of 21 and parents - can, in certain situations, be covered by EU regulations if a number of specific conditions are met.

If you have a child under the age of 21 who has resided with you and your Danish family member in the other EU country, the child may be covered by the EU regulations. A separate application must be completed and submitted for the child.

If you have grounds for residence because you are a family member, your family cannot obtain an EU residence document based on their relationship with you. In other words, your family cannot derive a right to reside from your own derived right of residence.

In some cases, your family will be able to obtain an EU residence document as family members to the Danish citizen. This requires, amongst other things, that your family member has resided in the other EU country together with you and the Danish citizen.

You can stay in Denmark for as long as you continue to meet the conditions for your grounds for residence.

If you are a third-country citizen and accompanying family member to a Danish citizen under the EU regulations, you have the right to stay in Denmark while we process your application. If you have received a residence card, it will be valid for as long as you meet the conditions for your grounds for residence. There will be an expiry date on your residence card, but your EU right of residence will be terminated if you no longer have grounds for residence in Denmark. Regardless of your situation, you must apply for an extension of your residence card when it expires.

If you continuously have met the conditions for grounds for residence in Denmark under the EU regulations for five years, you can – regardless of whether you are a citizen of an EU country or a country outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland – apply for a permanent right of residence under the EU regulations. If you hold a permanent right of residence, you do not necessarily need to continue to meet the conditions for your original grounds for residence. Please note, however, that your permanent right of residence can terminate if you reside outside of Denmark for an extended period.

You have the same rights as with a non-permanent EU residence document. With the addition, however, that you no longer need to meet the conditions of your original grounds for residence. This means that you do not lose your right to residence if you, for example, get divorced.

If you have obtained permanent EU residence and plan to reside abroad for more than 2 years and you subsequently intend to return to Denmark, you may in special cases receive a dispensation, so that your right to residence does not terminate.