The path to Danish citizenship is a long and complex one for most foreigners. This site provides a small insight into what you need to do in order to become Danish, mainly for people who don’t yet speak Danish – maybe you’ve just moved to Denmark, or are considering moving to Denmark and want to know what you need to do.
If you do understand Danish and have lived in Denmark for some time, you should refer to official Danish language sources for all the details you need about obtaining Danish citizenship.
Becoming Danish
The rules for obtaining citizenship in Denmark are not the same for everyone. The majority will fall under the rules for foreign citizens (udenlandske statsborgere). But there are special rules for Nordic citizens (Finns, Icelanders, Norwegians and Swedes), people who have previously held Danish citizenship, and “Danish minded” people from Southern Schleswig. The information on this site primarily focusses on the requirements for foreign citizens.
You need to…
KNOW DANISH
An essential requirement to becoming a Danish citizen, is being able to speak, read and write in Danish. As well as having to document your Danish skills in your application, the majority of information about citizenship, including the application form are only available in Danish.
LIVE IN DENMARK FOR 9 YEARS
For foreign citizens it is a requirement that you have lived in Denmark for 9 years by the time your citizenship application is handled. In some cases this can be less, for example if you are married to a Danish citizen for 3 or more years, you may be able to get citizenship after only 6 years in Denmark (though you need to fulfill all other requirements, such as having permanent residency).
It’s also important to note that time spent outside of Denmark can be detrimental to obtaining citizenship. For example, if you travel a lot for your work, or visit your home country often, you may be seen as not having a strong connection to Denmark and your application would be denied.
HAVE PERMANENT RESIDENCY
Before you submit your application for citizenship, you must have permanent residency in Denmark. You must have had permanent residency for 2 years at the time your name is adopted into law. Permanent residency in Denmark can usually only be achieved after 8 years in Denmark (or 4 after special rules). If you’ve done the math, you can see that it can be difficult to get citizenship even after 9 years in Denmark, so in many cases you may have lived in Denmark for 10-11 or more years before you can become a citizen.
HAVE A FULL TIME JOB
In April 2021 the government introduced new rules (beskæftigelseskrav) meaning you must have a job of at least 30 hours a week for 3.5 of the last 4 years at the time you are granted citizenship. These rules are very strict and it is also only certain kinds of employment which count. For example your contract has to be unlimited, meaning you can’t be on a temporary contract. Also if your employer goes bankrupt, you would suddenly be ineligible for citizenship, even though it is through no fault of your own.
AND MORE
There are many more requirements which will be updated here in the future. You can find the full list of requirements for foreign citizens on the website of the Ministry of Immigration and Integration (in Danish).
How long does it take to become a Danish citizen?
When you are ready to submit an application (most likely after 8-10 years in the country) you will need to make sure you have a great deal of patience. In the past few years the application handling times have increased, with the last publically announced average handling time being 24 months.
The application process is also only part of the journey to becoming a Danish citizen. Once your application has been reviewed and accepted, you then need to wait for your name to be presented on a bill to parliament. This happens only twice a year, sometimes only once. That bill then needs to pass through parliament three times before it is adopted. Whilst some people (for example Nordic citizens) will become Danish the day the law is adopted, most will need to wait to attend a constitution ceremony (grundlovsceremoni) in their local municipality where they must sign a declaration and shake the hand of the mayor (without gloves, palm to palm). This ceremony can at the earliest be held one month after the law is adopted, and up to four months after it is adopted. After the ceremony you are officially Danish! (It will then take a few days for this to be officially registered in governmental systems.)
Below is a basic illustration of the timeline from the day you submit an application until the day you become a Danish citizen. This is a generalisation based on available information and is by no means certain. Some cases may be handled sooner, and others may take even longer.
