Immigration News December 2023

19 December 2023

This month’s newsflash covers the latest immigration updates from the Danish Immigration Service and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Simplified application process for permanent residency

When applying for permanent residency in Denmark, applicants have been required to submit a permanent residence application with the Danish Immigration Service (DIS) and an extension application with the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI). With immediate effect, applicants no longer need to submit the extension application with SIRI. 

Effects of the change

The employees can now submit the application solely by themselves, without needing to involve the employer. The applicants will only need to deal with one immigration authority, DIS, which will minimize the number of contact points and make the process smoother.Our team can still assist the employees with the permanent residence application to DIS, so please reach out to us, if you want to offer this service to your employees.

Family reunification changes applicable to Danish nationals

The Danish government will ease the process for Danish nationals relocating back to Denmark with their non-EU family members.

There have been examples during the past couple of years where highly skilled Danish nationals, residing abroad, have rejected attractive job offers due to difficulties in bringing their non-EU families with them.

In connection to this the government has proposed a new scheme, where Danish nationals will be able to bring their families on the same terms as foreign nationals working in Denmark.

The Danish government will also adjust the Danish language requirement for Danish nationals applying for family reunification. Instead of having to pass language test level 3, the language requirement will be considered fulfilled if the person has worked for at least 5 years and a minimum of 30 hours a week at a job where Danish has played a significant part of the communication,

Effects of the change

Danish companies might find it easier to attract highly skilled Danish nationals residing abroad, if it becomes easier for them to bring their non-EU family members.

News regarding business visa

The Minister for Foreign Affairs has decided to increase the number of staff at several embassies to reduce the processing time for business visas. Business visas for Denmark have recently taken up to 3 months to be processed, which will now be reduced to 15 days. The embassies affected are London, Dubai, Nairobi, Guangzhou and Bangkok. The embassies in Teheran, Delhi and Islamabad will receive additional staff temporarily.

The long processing time has been caused by a surge in applications post-covid, lack of staff and a new practice coming into effect in 2022. With an improved application process for business visas due to the recent exemption rule for employees of affiliated Danish companies and the increased staffing the case processing time will hopefully decrease significantly.

Effects of the change

Companies will not require to conduct advance planning to the same extent as before when for example planning meetings with business connections or employees outside of Denmark.

Deloitte’s conclusion

We welcome these changes as they will benefit companies in Denmark. The permanent residency application process will become smoother for the applicant. Danish nationals residing abroad might find job offers in Denmark more attractive, when bringing family will be less challenging. Lastly, the reduction of the business visa processing time will help Danish companies conduct business meetings in Denmark and make Denmark a more attractive place to do business.

If you have any immigration-related queries or requests, please do not hesitate to reach out to our team.