Residing privately with friends or family
As an asylum seeker, you can apply to the Danish Immigration Service for permission to live with family or friends in a private residence in Denmark until you are granted a residence permit, leave Denmark or are deported.
Because it is the responsibility of the Immigration Service to ensure that asylum seekers’ living conditions are acceptable, the residence, as well as you and the person you would like to live with, need to meet certain requirements in order to be approved.
Requirements for residing privately with friends or family
The friend or family member you would like to live with needs to meet the following requirement:
- He/she needs to be a legal Danish resident
- He/she must be registered in CPR at the address stated in the application.
As an asylum seeker, you need to meet the following requirements:
- You must live at an asylum center or another type of accommodation center approved by the Immigration Service until we have processed your application for private accommodation.
- You need to enter into a contract with the Immigration Service specifying the conditions under which you may live in the residence. These conditions include co-operating with the immigration authorities seeking to process your application for asylum and/or assisting with the deportation process if you have received a final refusal of your application for asylum, or if you have withdrawn your application
- At least 6 months must have passed from the time you applied for asylum
- The Immigration Service must have decided that your application for asylum is to be processed in Denmark
- The Immigration Service may not be processing your request for asylum according to the manifestly unfounded procedure or the expedited version of the manifestly unfounded procedure. Read more about processing applications for asylum
- Neither you nor a member of your household may, at any time, have been expelled (administrative expulsion) because you were considered a danger to national security or a serious threat to public order, safety or health
- Neither you nor a member of your household may, at any time, been sentenced to expulsion by a court
- Neither you nor a member of your household may, at any time, have been sentenced to prison (served or suspended) for criminal offences committed in Denmark or another form of sanction that involves or allow detention for an offense committed in Denmark, which would have resulted in a sentence of this character
- Neither you nor a member of your household may be covered by the grounds for exclusion in the Aliens Act section 10 and be on a tolerated stay.
- Neither you nor a member of your household may have had a residence permit that has lapsed in pursuant of the Aliens Act section 21 b (that means where there is reason to believe that the person during a stay abroad, has participated in activities that threaten, or have the potential to threaten, national security, the public order or the security of other states).
The residence you would like to live in needs to meet the following requirements:
- It needs to be suitable accommodation for your household
- It may not be located in a municipality that is not receiving refugees in accordance with the Integration Act (integrationsloven). As of 1 January 2024, these are: Albertslund, Bornholm, Brøndby, Gladsaxe, Glostrup, Høje-Taastrup, Hørsholm, Ishøj, Læsø, Odder, Rebild and Vallensbæk.
You can receive healthcare and cash allowances
You can still receive cash allowances and necessary healthcare at the asylum centre with which you will be affiliated. You will also continue to be offered education and other activities.
You may work if you meet the requirements. Read more about employment options for asylum seekers
If you are a minor
If you are a minor asylum seeker, you may only be permitted to reside privately with friends or family if, after a specific assessment of i.a. age and maturity, the Immigration Service finds that it would be in your best interests to live in a private residence, and if certain requirements are met.
If are under the age of 18 years and apply for permission to live with a parent in Denmark, you must be aware, that it is not a requirement that:
- at least 6 months must have passed from the time you applied for asylum,
- The Immigration Service must have decided that your application for asylum is to be processed in Denmark, and
- the residence is not located in a municipality that is not receiving refugees in accordance with the Integration Act (integrationsloven).
Your parent needs to support you financially. This means that you will not receive cash allowances. Nor will your healthcare costs be covered, should you require treatment.
If you are under the age of 15 and are to reside privately with other than your parents, the Immigration Service is obliged to obtain a child certificate for all persons over the age of 15 who reside at the given address. This applies regardless of whether said persons are related to the child or not. The child certificate contains any decisions (i.e. convictions, etc.) concerning violations of a number of provisions of the Criminal Code relating to sexual offences against children.
Apply to reside privately with friends or family
Use application form IN3 when applying for permission to move into a private residence with friends or family. The application form includes detailed instructions for how to fill it in, and which types of documentation you need to enclose.
You can fill in the application form in Word format on your computer before printing it out. The application form is also available as a PDF file that can be printed out and filled in by hand.
Download form IN3 for print:
If your application is approved
The Immigration Service’s approval to live in a private residence with friends or family applies until you are granted a residence permit, depart Denmark or are deported.
The Immigration Service can revoke its approval to live in a private residence (meaning that you and any family members living with you would need to resume living at an asylum centre) if you no longer qualify, or the other requirements specified in the contract are no longer met. Situations that would result in your approval being revoked include failing to co-operate with the Immigration Service seeking to process your application for asylum or no longer assisting with the deportation process if you have received a final refusal of your application, or if you are expelled or incarcerated.
If your application is refused
If the Immigration Service refuses your request to live in a private residence, you can appeal the decision to the Immigration Appeals Board within 8 weeks of receiving the decision. However, refusals based on the residence’s geographical location cannot be appealed.