Family reunification - Independent reasonably sized residence

An independent residence is a residence that has a separate entrance and appears as one unit.  It is not a requirement that the residence has its own kitchen or toilet.

To have a residence at your disposal means that you must own, co-operatively own (andelshaver or anpartshaver), sublease or rent your place of residence.

If the residence is a rental or a sublease, the lease period must be permanent or extend at least a year and a half beyond the date on which the residence permit application is submitted.

If you rent and the landlord co-operatively owns the place of residence, the lease period must be permanent and this must not conflict with the co-operative association’s rules.

The housing requirement can be met even though you own or rent the residence together with one or more people. Normally, the part of the residence occupied by you needs to appear as an independent residence.

The housing requirement is normally not met if the residence is a rented room in a house owned by your parents, unless the rented part of the house appears as an independent residence.

You do not meet the housing requirement if you rent your place of residence or part of your place of residence by a loan agreement. By a loan agreement is meant, for example, an agreement that you have a rented residence at your disposal free of charge, or that the agreed rent only constitutes a symbolic amount. In assessing whether it is a symbolic rent, we compare the rent with the rent for other similar residences. Here we place particular emphasis on the size and location of the residence.

If you are a landlord renting out one or more rooms, and, as a result, do not have an independent entrance to the residence, the housing requirement can normally still be met.

If you have a one or more rooms in shared housing, you can meet the housing requirement in certain cases. ‘Shared housing’ is normally understood to mean a place of residence consisting of at least two bedrooms and a common room. If others living in the same residence are closely related to you, the residence is less likely to meet the housing requirement.

In addition, the residence must be of reasonable size. This means that once the family reunification is completed, the residence must meet at least one of the following requirements:

• the total number of people living in the residence may not be more than double the number of rooms, or
• the total residential area must be at least 20 sq. meters per person.

The requirement that the residential area must be at least 20 sq. meters per person is relevant when a residence consist of fewer but larger rooms. As an example, a one-room apartment with a size of 60 sq. meters can fulfil the housing requirement, if a maximum of three persons will be living in the residence after the family reunification is completed.

If you have one or more children after the family reunification is completed, it has no effect on whether you meet the housing requirement as long as you are living in the same residence. The children will first be included in a new assessment of whether you meet the housing requirement if you move to a new residence.

Read Executive Order on the house requirement (in Danish only)