Information for people from Syria and their family members

If you have applied for a residence permit as a refugee (asylum) from Syria, the processing of your case will now resume.

On 30 June 2025, the Refugee Appeals Board’s Coordination Committee decided to lift the suspension of cases concerning persons from Syria. This means that pending cases before the Refugee Appeals Board will be remitted to the Danish Immigration Service for renewed first-instance processing. In continuation of this, the Danish Immigration Service is lifting the suspension of asylum cases concerning persons from Syria. This applies to Syrian nationals, stateless persons from Syria, and stateless Palestinians from Syria.

The Danish Immigration Service is currently collecting and assessing background information about the situation in Syria, which will enable us to process asylum applications from persons from Syria.

If your case has been on hold, you will receive a letter stating that the Danish Immigration Service is in the process of collecting and assessing background information about the situation in Syria in order to process asylum applications from persons from Syria.

The Danish Immigration Service expects to begin summoning persons from Syria for asylum interviews in the fourth quarter of 2025. As a general rule, interviews will be conducted in chronological order, starting with the oldest cases.

In continuation of the lifted suspension of cases concerning persons from Syria, the Danish Immigration Service is currently collecting and assessing background information about the situation in Syria, which will enable us to process asylum-related cases from persons from Syria.

If your case concerning a change of status has been on hold, you will receive a letter stating that the Danish Immigration Service is collecting and assessing background information about the situation in Syria in order to process cases from persons from Syria.

If you hold a residence permit as a refugee based on a specific and individual risk of persecution or abuse, your case has not been suspended. Your residence permit may continue to be extended, provided all conditions are met.

This generally applies if you hold a residence permit under Section 7(1) or Section 8(1) of the Aliens Act, or under Section 7(2) or Section 8(2) based on a specific and individual need for protection.

If you hold a residence permit as a refugee based on the general security situation in Syria, your case has been suspended, but this suspension has now been lifted.

This generally applies if you hold a residence permit under Section 7(3) of the Aliens Act, or under Section 7(2) or Section 8(2) based on the general security situation in Syria.

The Danish Immigration Service will begin processing these cases concerning extensions based on asylum. If we require further information in your case, you will receive a letter from us.

As a general rule, cases will be processed in chronological order, starting with the oldest. You will hear from us once we reach your case. You may continue to reside, work, and study in Denmark while awaiting a decision.

If you are family reunified with a Syrian refugee whose case concerning extension has been suspended, your own case regarding the extension of your residence permit has also been suspended.

We are now resuming the processing of cases concerning refugees from Syria. Once the family member with whom you are family reunified has had their residence permit extended, we will proceed with the processing of your case.

You will hear from us once we get to your case. You may continue to reside, work, and study in Denmark while awaiting a decision.

If you have applied for family reunification with a Syrian refugee whose case regarding extension has been suspended, your application for family reunification has generally also been suspended. This also applies if your family member held a valid residence permit based on the general conditions in Syria.

We are now resuming the processing of cases concerning refugees from Syria and, consequently, the cases on family reunification that could not previously be decided due to the suspension.

You will hear from us once we get to your case.

As a general rule, the Danish Immigration Service processes all applications for permanent residence permits.

However, if you are a refugee who has been granted a residence permit on the basis of the general conditions in Syria, or if you have been granted family reunification with such a refugee, the Immigration Service will assess whether the basis for the residence permit still exists, including whether it would be contrary to Denmark’s international obligations to refuse to extend the residence permit.

If refusing to extend the residence permit would be contrary to Denmark’s international obligations, the Immigration Service can complete the processing of your application for a permanent residence permit.

If refusing to extend the residence permit would not be contrary to Denmark’s international obligations, further processing of your application for a permanent residence permit will be postponed pending the establishment of a practice for the assessment of extension cases through decisions in specific asylum cases by the Immigration Service and the Refugee Appeals Board.

In order to assess whether the basis for the residence permit still exists, the Immigration Service has obtained new background information on the conditions in Syria.

If your case regarding dispensation to prevent your residence permit from lapsing has been suspended, we will now resume the processing of your case.

The Danish Immigration Service is currently collecting and assessing background information about the situation in Syria, which will enable us to assess the need for protection for individuals from Syria.

If your case has been suspended, you will receive a letter informing you that the Danish Immigration Service is collecting and assessing background information about the situation in Syria in order to assess the need for protection for individuals from Syria.

If you have a valid residence permit, no action is required.

If you are a refugee, you do not need to apply for an extension of your residence permit yourself. When your residence permit expires, the Danish Immigration Service will automatically assess whether it can be extended.

We will contact you a few months before your residence permit expires.

Once your residence permit as a refugee has been extended, you may apply for a Convention passport or alien’s passport. Until your permit is extended, you should be aware of the following options:

• If your child is going on a school trip: Children holding residence permits in Denmark may usually travel to another EU country without a passport if listed on a school travel list. You can read more about school travel lists here
• If you need a laissez-passer (emergency travel document): You can read about the option to apply for a laissez-passer here