Published 12-04-2022

Case processing times within the Immigration Service and SIRI

The war in Ukraine has led to a large influx of displaced persons from Ukraine to Denmark. The Danish parliament has passed a Special Act that ensures that persons driven away from Ukraine can quickly obtain a residence permit and thus start school, an education, or a job. Part of the purpose is also to prevent the Danish asylum system from coming under so much pressure that it cannot keep up, which will be to the detriment of both the displaced from Ukraine and others who seek protection in Denmark. The Special Act came into effect on 17 March 2022, and the Immigration Service has since and up until now received approximately 19,000 applications.

On this basis, the immigration authorities have decided that there are overriding considerations that argue in favor of prioritizing the processing of applications under the Special Act. To secure the necessary resources for the processing of applications under the Special Act, it is necessary to downgrade and in some cases temporarily suspend the processing of certain other cases for a time.

Thus, very significant personnel resources within the Danish Immigration Service, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI), the Ministry of Immigration and Integration, and the Danish Return Agency have been devoted to the processing of the large number of applications under the Special Act. Assessments are made on an ongoing basis as to whether further measures are needed to secure the necessary resources for the Immigration Service. At the same time, there is a focus on recruitment across all institutions within the Ministry of Immigration and Integration's concern to ensure the greatest possible capacity to carry out the overall area of responsibility both now and in the long term.

The prioritization of processing cases under the Special Act has consequences for the case processing times in the Immigration Service's and SIRI's other case areas.

This means that a longer case processing time can be expected for cases concerning residence permits on the grounds of asylum, family reunification, extension of residence permits, permanent residence, etc.

Additionally, an extended waiting time can be expected for available appointments at the Immigration Service's Citizen Service.

In May, the Immigration Service will provide further information on the expected, revised case processing times in the agency's case areas.

As to the derived consequences for case processing in SIRI, refer to SIRI's article on expected case processing times in the second quarter of 2022.

See SIRI's article on expected case processing times in the second quarter of 2022