Christian Wenande
January 16th, 2017

Share

Getting tough on permanent residency applicants again (photo: Voice For Justice Greencard Denmark)

Friday the 13th is considered unlucky for some, and last Friday those hankering for permanent residence in Denmark must have felt the same.

Less than a year after Parliament passed more stringent rules regarding permanent residence on 26 January 2016, the government has proposed applying even tougher legislation to the area.

The proposal would increase the number of years that applicants must have spent in Denmark to eight, instead of the current six – a year ago it was the EU-standard five – while applicants would need to have worked full-time for 3.5 out of the last four years (as opposed to 2.5 out of the last three as it is now).

The prospective new law would also mean applicants would not be permitted to have acquired any social assistance for the past four years (instead of the current three), while those with prison convictions of six months or more can never be given permanent residence (instead of the current one year or more).

Furthermore, there would be a six-year waiting period for applicants who have received a suspended prison sentence.

READ MORE: Immigration lawyer: Government and DF are ‘sneaking in’ stricter permanent residence rules

Unintended impact
Aage Kramp, a noted immigration lawyer and head of the law firm ImLaw (imlaw.dk), said that many people would be left in the lurch unintentionally.

“The six-years waiting time for criminal records would for example impact on au-pairs convicted of not informing the authorities that they have a child back in their home nation, or those convicted of not having divorced properly before entering into a new marriage,” Kramp told CPH POST.

According to Kramp, the good news is that, opposed to last year, the new law proposal would not be approved completely retroactively – most probably due to the intense protest from the over 1,300 applicants who were impacted.

“This time the law stipulates that you can still apply from today, and until the law is presented first (out of three) times for debate in the Danish Parliament. This date is unknown and will probably not be published beforehand,” said Kramp.

“So apply immediately if you are close to fulfilling the present rules, and seek professional advice (usually 2,000 kroner for a consultation) or application support  (usually 10,000 kroner in total) if you are in doubt.”