Denmark to introduce new fee for repeated citizenship applications
The Danish government will ask persons applying for citizenship for the third or subsequent time after previous rejections to pay additional fees, the Ministry of Immigration and Integration has announced.
Under current rules, a person whose application for citizenship is rejected can apply again in future without paying an additional fee.
The government has decided to change this so that a third or subsequent application by the same person will incur an additional fee, the immigration ministry said in a statement.
The fee for applying for citizenship is currently 4,000 kroner. When a person submits an application, they can apply again at no extra cost should their application not be successful under the existing rules.
There are a number of reasons a Danish citizenship application can be rejected, including criteria related to residency, language, criminal records and financial self-sufficiency. A Danish citizenship test must also be passed before applying.
READ ALSO: How to apply for citizenship in Denmark
The government says it does not intend to impose an additional fee for a second application, but that an extra cost would apply to further applications after this.
The objective of this is to “prevent applicants who receive a rejection from uncritically reapplying in cases with no outlook towards a different result, thereby risking increased processing times for naturalisation cases”, the immigration ministry statement reads.
“The ministry has seen numerous examples of an applicant applying several times and receiving a rejection every single time. The government does not question the right to apply, but there is no use in being allowed to apply again and again without having to pay a fee,” Immigration Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek said in the statement.
“I think it is entirely fair to say that if you want to apply for the third, fourth or fifth time, you must pay at the checkout,” he continued.
“At the same time, I think it is fair enough that you can reapply a single time without paying a new fee, for example if there was just a single thing that has prevented someone from becoming a Danish citizen,” he said.
In addition to new fees for third or subsequent applications, the government wants to reduce the application fee for young people who were born or grew up in Denmark.
The European Convention on Nationality requires that young people born and raised in Denmark should have an easier path to citizenship, the ministry statement notes.
“In Denmark, we have generally strict rules when it comes to acquiring citizenship. And that’s how it should be. But when it comes to young people who were born and raised here, we have special obligations under the Convention on Nationality and I therefore think it is appropriate to reduce the fee for this group,” Bek said.
The existing fee for applying for citizenship in Denmark far outstrips the equivalent in neighbouring Sweden, where it costs 1,500 Swedish kronor to apply. In Norway, the fee is 6,500 Norwegian kroner if you are over 18 years old, but lower for citizens of other Nordic countries and people aged under 18.
READ ALSO: How do Denmark’s citizenship rules compare to Sweden and Norway?
A law change would be required to implement the new fee for repeated citizenship applications. The government said it expects to table a bill in the next parliamentary year, which commences in October.
Because the coalition government has a parliamentary majority, any bill it tables has a high chance of being adopted.
No decision has yet been made on either the amount of the additional fee, or on the reduction for young people who were born or grew up in Denmark.
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Under current rules, a person whose application for citizenship is rejected can apply again in future without paying an additional fee.
The government has decided to change this so that a third or subsequent application by the same person will incur an additional fee, the immigration ministry said in a statement.
The fee for applying for citizenship is currently 4,000 kroner. When a person submits an application, they can apply again at no extra cost should their application not be successful under the existing rules.
There are a number of reasons a Danish citizenship application can be rejected, including criteria related to residency, language, criminal records and financial self-sufficiency. A Danish citizenship test must also be passed before applying.
READ ALSO: How to apply for citizenship in Denmark
The government says it does not intend to impose an additional fee for a second application, but that an extra cost would apply to further applications after this.
The objective of this is to “prevent applicants who receive a rejection from uncritically reapplying in cases with no outlook towards a different result, thereby risking increased processing times for naturalisation cases”, the immigration ministry statement reads.
“The ministry has seen numerous examples of an applicant applying several times and receiving a rejection every single time. The government does not question the right to apply, but there is no use in being allowed to apply again and again without having to pay a fee,” Immigration Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek said in the statement.
“I think it is entirely fair to say that if you want to apply for the third, fourth or fifth time, you must pay at the checkout,” he continued.
“At the same time, I think it is fair enough that you can reapply a single time without paying a new fee, for example if there was just a single thing that has prevented someone from becoming a Danish citizen,” he said.
In addition to new fees for third or subsequent applications, the government wants to reduce the application fee for young people who were born or grew up in Denmark.
The European Convention on Nationality requires that young people born and raised in Denmark should have an easier path to citizenship, the ministry statement notes.
“In Denmark, we have generally strict rules when it comes to acquiring citizenship. And that’s how it should be. But when it comes to young people who were born and raised here, we have special obligations under the Convention on Nationality and I therefore think it is appropriate to reduce the fee for this group,” Bek said.
The existing fee for applying for citizenship in Denmark far outstrips the equivalent in neighbouring Sweden, where it costs 1,500 Swedish kronor to apply. In Norway, the fee is 6,500 Norwegian kroner if you are over 18 years old, but lower for citizens of other Nordic countries and people aged under 18.
READ ALSO: How do Denmark’s citizenship rules compare to Sweden and Norway?
A law change would be required to implement the new fee for repeated citizenship applications. The government said it expects to table a bill in the next parliamentary year, which commences in October.
Because the coalition government has a parliamentary majority, any bill it tables has a high chance of being adopted.
No decision has yet been made on either the amount of the additional fee, or on the reduction for young people who were born or grew up in Denmark.
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