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RESIDENCY PERMITS

Can you travel in and out of Denmark if you lose your residence card?

Non-EU nationals who legally reside in Denmark are issued with a plastic card which functions as a residence permit and must normally be presented when entering the country. What do you do if you misplace it?

Published: 6 September 2022 16:25 CEST
Can you travel in and out of Denmark if you lose your residence card?
Danish residence card holders must present their permits when re-entering the country, but can apply for an emergency permit if waiting for a new card to be delivered at time of travel. File photo: Søren Bidstrup/Ritzau Scanpix

I’ve lost my residence permit. What do I do?

Everyone who is granted a Danish residence permit receives a residence card – they are issued automatically and delivered by post 2-3 weeks after the permit is granted.

The residence card is proof of your right to reside in Denmark and must be kept on you at all times – although in practice, most people only ever have to produce it when returning to Denmark after a trip abroad.

You can – indeed, should – apply for a new card if you have lost your residence card, but also for other reasons such as a change of name or if you have reached the age of 18 and need the card for the first time.

If you have lost your residence card, you must complete a police declaration form declaring a lost passport or identity document. This can be downloaded via the website of the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI), the agency which processes the application.

It is available in three languages: Danish, English and German. Here is a direct link to the English one.

The declaration must be signed and stamped by the police – so you’ll need to visit your local station. It can then be submitted along with your application for a new residence card. 

You can find a link to the application system along with a checklist for the paperwork on SIRI’s website. Required documentation will include a copy of your passport. Note a fee is payable either using a Danish bank card (Dankort) or the MobilePay app, except in certain cases (like if you are sent a card with erroneous data).

You may also need to book an appointment with your local Borgerservice (Citizens’ Service) to have biometric data recorded for the ID.

If you received your original card within the last 10 years, however, this step won’t be necessary because biometric features (fingerprints and facial images) are stored for 10 years. If you later become a Danish citizen, by the way, this data is deleted.

I’ve applied for a replacement residence card but have a trip abroad coming up soon. What can I do?

If you need to travel outside the country before your new permit is delivered, you can apply for a one-time re-entry permit for a specific trip.

This requires an in-person appointment with SIRI although there is no fee for issuing the re-entry permit. You can book an appointment with your closest SIRI branch office here.

When you go to the appointment, you must bring a passport and a completed and printed application form. The form can be downloaded from SIRI in Word or pdf format.

The re-entry permit takes the form of a visa sticker in your passport.  Conditions apply to its being granted, such as legal residency in Denmark and possession of a valid passport.

Normally, you can only be granted a re-entry permit for a specific trip, valid for 90 days. SIRI will usually ask for documentation of your journey (flight tickets, for example).

If you are already outside of Denmark when you lose your permit, you can submit your application for a re-entry permit at the nearest Danish diplomatic mission. A list of these can be found on the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The application is normally processed immediately when you submit at a SIRI office, but will take longer when applying from abroad.

READ ALSO: Danish residence cards promised to ‘no surname’ foreign nationals

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BREAKING

‘We’ve found a solution’: Denmark extends deadline for post-Brexit residency

The Danish government announced on Monday that British nationals, who had missed a previous deadline to secure their post-Brexit residency status, will now have until the end of 2023 to apply or resubmit their late application.

Published: 27 March 2023 14:37 CEST
'We've found a solution': Denmark extends deadline for post-Brexit residency

After the UK left the EU, Britons resident in Denmark before the end of 2020 were required to apply to extend their residence status in Denmark and receive a Danish residence card under the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

A significant number of British residents – at least 350, according to official figures released at the beginning of this year – did not apply before the original deadline of December 31st, 2021, however.

Many were subsequently given orders to leave Denmark and Danish immigration authorities came in for much criticism from rights groups representing Britons in Europe, who accused them of not correctly applying the rules of the Withdrawal Agreement.

But on Monday the Danish government announced that the initial deadline will now be extended until the end of 2023.

This extended deadline will apply to all British citizens who applied after the original deadline and whose applications were subsequently not processed.

Brits who had moved to Denmark before the end of 2020 but never submitted an application to extend their Danish residency after Brexit will also have until the end of this year to submit an application, the Ministry of Immigration and Integration said.

A major complication with the original application deadline was an error relating to information letters sent out by the authority that processes the applications, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

The information letters, sent in 2020, were intended to inform all British nationals living in Denmark of the need to apply for their residence status in Denmark to be continued after Brexit. But an error at the agency resulted in most people who moved from the UK to Denmark in 2020 not receiving the information mails.

The Local has previously reported on individual Britons who faced having to leave homes, jobs and loved ones in Denmark over the issue.

READ ALSO:

“I am very pleased we have found this solution,” Minister for Immigration and Integration Kaare Dybvad Bek said in the statement.

“It has always been the government’s intention to make it easy and smooth for resident British nationals to stay in Denmark. There are some people who didn’t apply on time and we want to give them an extra chance,” he said.

Mads Fuglede, immigration spokesperson with coalition partner the Liberals (Venstre), said that “In light of Brexit, we decided in parliament that it should not harm British residents of Denmark that the United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU. I am therefore also pleased we have found a solution for the Britons who did not apply on time”.

All British residents of Denmark applying within the new deadline are still required to be eligible for ongoing residence in Denmark under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, meaning they legally took up residence in Denmark under the EU’s free movement provisions prior to the UK’s exit from the EU. This does not represent any change to the rules under the earlier deadline.

British residents who must now submit applications by the new deadline should be aware of the distinction between an earlier application being rejected, with it not being processed.

In general, late applications under the old deadline were not processed, unless SIRI deemed there to be special circumstances justifying the late submission. In these cases, SIRI informed the applicant that their application could not be processed, citing the missed deadline as the reason for this.

Persons whose applications were processed but were rejected because they did not meet the criteria for ongoing residence under the Withdrawal Agreement will not be given the chance to reapply, the ministry said.

People who moved to Denmark after the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31st, 2020 are still subject to general Danish immigration rules for third-country nationals.

The deadline extension will require a legal amendment which will be sent into the hearing phase of parliamentary procedure “as soon as possible”, the ministry said in the statement.

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