legal and social conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in ...

– to stay at an address determined by the police;
– to report to the police at specified times.
There is no maximum length to the detention, but the measure is reviewed by a court under the
same conditions as for asylum seekers. To obtain its prolongation, the police must demonstrate
that detention continues to serve its stated purpose, i.e. deportation. Aliens who cannot be removed
for reasons beyond their control are generally released.
Applications from abroad
Section 7.4 of the Aliens Act provides for the submission of asylum applications from abroad via a
Danish diplomatic representation. Since the entry into force of the Dublin Convention on 1
September 1997, applications can no longer be filed in another EU state.
The criteria for accepting such applications are that the asylum seeker must be outside his/her
country of origin and must either have lived for an extended period in Denmark, have close family
members living in Denmark, or have other close links with Denmark. If an application contains no
indication of a close connection with Denmark, it may be rejected immediately by the diplomatic
representation.
Applications accepted from abroad are sent to the Immigration Service and, as with applications
submitted within the territory, will be placed in either the manifestly unfounded procedure or the
normal procedure. When considering applications submitted from abroad, the authorities take into
account both whether the applicant meets the conditions to be granted refugee status and whether
he/she has sufficiently close connections with Denmark. Both requirements must be met in order to
obtain an entry visa as a refugee.
Family Reunification
Convention and de facto refugees
A person who is married to, or has lived in a stable relationship – including homosexual relationship
– of some duration with a Convention or de facto refugee in Denmark can obtain a residence permit
in Denmark. There is no legal definition of the duration of the relationship, but in practice a period of
time of at least one½ or two years is required. The residence permit is only granted if both
spouses/partners are over 18 years old.
Unmarried children under the age of 18 can also be granted a residence permit in Denmark.
Parents who are over 60 years can also apply for a residence permit, but it will only be granted if the
refugee living in Denmark both can and will support the parents.
Under current legislation, reunification with Convention and de facto refugees is not conditioned on
any housing or financial requirements.
Persons with other types of residence permit
In the case of family reunification with a spouse/partner, the same rules as for Convention and de
facto refugees apply, on condition that the residing spouse/partner has been holding a permanent
residence permit in Denmark for three years.
In the case of family reunification with minor children, the same rules apply, on condition that the
person in Denmark has a permanent residence permit, which is granted after a period of three or five
years, depending on the status.
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Denmark