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

Other types of residence permit
Humanitarian status
Under Section 9.2.2 of the Aliens Act, a residence permit may be issued to an alien provided he/she,
“in cases not falling within Sections 7.1 and 7.2 [Convention or de facto status], is in such a position
that essential considerations of a humanitarian nature conclusively make it appropriate."
Humanitarian status is rarely granted. Those who benefit are usually families with young children
from areas in a state of war or with extremely difficult living conditions (for example risk of starvation).
Factors such as serious physical or mental illness and/or close relatives living in Denmark can also
influence the granting of a residence permit on humanitarian grounds.
Persons granted such status are issued with a residence permit valid for six months, which can be
renewed first for another six months, then for one year and after that for three years. After a total of
five years with temporary residence, they may be granted permanent residence permit.
Residence permits on exceptional grounds
According to Section 9.2.4 of the Aliens Act, “a residence permit may be issued to other aliens,
provided exceptional reasons (...) make it appropriate.”
Exceptional residence permits are usually granted, after an individual assessment, to children who
arrive in Denmark unaccompanied and whose parents are not resident in the country. Furthermore,
the residence permit may be granted to asylum seekers, who have received a final rejection in the
determination procedure, but who during a minimum period of 18 months have not been able to be
removed from the country even though they themselves have been willing to co-operate with the
removal procedure.
When the status is granted due to the impossibility to enforce a removal order, the residence permit
is issued for a six-month period, which can be extended for another six months and then for four
years. When this five-year period has expired, the alien can apply for a permanent permit.
Unaccompanied minors can obtain a permanent residence permit after just two years and ten
months following the submission of their application.
Temporary protection
In recent years, a number of laws or new sections in the Aliens Act have been introduced for specific
refugee groups:
(a) Under Act No. 933 of 28 November 1992, temporary residence permits were granted to certain
persons from the former Yugoslavia who, as a result of the war, ethnic cleansing or for similar
reasons, found themselves in a situation of mass flight;
(b) Under Act No. 34 of 18 January 1995, a new Section 9.2.5 was added to the Aliens Act, entitling
certain persons from the former Yugoslavia with temporary protection pursuant to Act No. 933 to a
further temporary residence permit. Such residence permits are granted to persons who have been
rejected under the refugee determination procedure, but who are unable to return to their place of
origin because of continuing hostilities or other disturbances, and therefore are considered to be in
need of continued temporary protection;
(c) Under Act No. 290 of 24 April 1996, a new Section 9.2.6 was added to the Aliens Act. This
stated that residence permits may be issued to citizens of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(Serbia and Montenegro) who had applied for asylum before 11 October 1995 and been rejected in
the determination procedure, but who were unable to return to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(FRY).
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