The government together with the “blue” parties (Venstre, Konservative, Liberal Alliance) have agreed to transform the following guidelines into law along the course of this year. This means that you can still apply for citizenship on the old rules until summer (or even later).
- Conduct requirement – If you have received a prison sentence (conditional or not), you cannot apply for Danish citizenship. If you have received large fines (f.ex. for negative social control), you need to wait 6 years before you can apply. P.S – Traffic violations are not included. P.S2 – You can apply for dispensation and your case will be evaluated individually.
- Citizenship Test – 5 questions about Danish values will be added to the Citizenship Test. To pass the Citizenship Test, you need to answer at least 4 out of 5 questions correctly. The questions will be about freedom of expression, equality, relationship between religion and legislation, etc. P.S – The June test will not be affected by this change.
- Residence requirement – Your permanent residence needs to be at least 2 years old (by the time the citizenship law – April / October – is voted). However, if you are stateless or a refugee, your permanent residence can be only one year old.
- Employment requirement – You need to be employed or self-employed at least 3 years and a half (out of the last 4 years) before you can apply. Also, you need to be employed or self-employed while your application is processed.
- Debt requirement – You cannot have overdue debts to the public institutions.
- Cost of citizenship– The cost of applying for citizenship will increase.
- Categorize applicants – The applicants will be divided into 4 categories – “Nordic countries” – “Other Western countries” – “MENAP countries + Turkey” – “Other non-Western countries”. If the applications from one category increase significantly in the next few years, then a temporary moratorium (a complete stop) will be introduced for that category.
