Overview Denmark

last update: January 2012

Getting residence permit in Denmark is not easy. It is possible to obtain residence permit through work and study, but that require high skills and can be very costly. There is also the possibility of family reunification and residency on the basis of humanitarian reasons (if you are very ill). Apart from this applying for asylum is the only way of getting residence permit in Denmark for people outside the European Union. This overview introduces the current political situation relevant for asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.

In september 2011 a new government was elected in Denmark. The current government is a socialdemocratic-liberal alliance and has promised minor improvements of the asylum system and immigration policy, which during the last ten years has become increasingly strict. However the current government generally wants to maintain the policy as it is and there are no promises of easening the asylum process or granting more people asylum.

Since July 2011 there has been border control in Denmark, carried out as random "spot checks". At the time it was very debated but it's hard to say wether it has actually become harder to cross the border without papers.

There are currently no deportations to Greece.

Compared to many other european countries the number of migrants seeking asylum in Denmark is fairly small and the standard of living is decent. However the asylum process can be very long and the danish asylum system is known for letting people live in uncertainty in the camps for years. Living underground is not easy and if you have an asylum case don't expect that the system will treat your case in a fair way.

The asylum and detention system in Denmark is a big bureaucracy and of high political priority. However that does not mean that it is always effective and makes rational decisions. As a client within the Asylum system you are likely to feel that decisions made by the Migration Authorities are random and not always meaningful.