You have got a no to asylum
Here you can read more about what to do when your application for asylum in Denmark has been refused.
Questions and answers
If your application for asylum has been refused, your possibility to appeal is depended on whether your case was processed in the normal procedure, in the manifestly unfounded procedure or in the expedited version of the manifestly unfounded procedure. Read more about the processing of asylum applications
The normal procedure
If your application for asylum has been refused by the Danish Immigration Service after being processed according to the normal procedure, it will automatically be reviewed by the Danish Refugee Appeals Board. The Refugee Appeals Board is an independent panel set up like a court. It reviews appeals of various forms of asylum-related decisions. Cases are heard orally. The asylum seeker has the right to be represented by a lawyer. The Refugee Appeals Board can appoint a lawyer to represent the asylum seeker. The Refugee Appeals Board’s decisions are final.
Read more about the Refugee Appeals Board
The manifestly unfounded procedure and the expedited version of the manifestly unfounded procedure
Applications the Immigration Service deems manifestly unfounded are sent to the Danish Refugee Council for review.
If the Danish Refugee Council agrees with the Immigration Service, the decision will be upheld. If the Danish Refugee Council disagrees with the Immigration Service, the application will be processed according to the standard procedure. If an application is rejected, the Refugee Appeals Board will automatically review the decision. The board’s chair or vice chair can make a written decision in the case on their own unless the board assumes that there is reason to change the decision made by the Immigration Service.
Once you have received the final refusal of asylum, you must leave Denmark within the deadline provided in the decision. You must depart within the specified time period. If an asylum seeker whose application has been rejected does not leave voluntarily, the police will escort the individual out of the country.
If you are an unaccompanied minor asylum seeker when the final refusal is given, a departure date will not be given by the Refugee Appeals Board. The Immigration Service will in this case automatically decide whether you can be granted residence permit in accordance with Aliens Act Section 9c (3).
If your application for asylum has been refused and your date of departure has passed, you are residing illegally in Denmark and you are required to leave Denmark. The Danish Immigration Service is responsible for supporting you until you leave Denmark or is deported.
If you are residing illegally in Denmark due to other reasons than a rejected application for asylum, you are also required to leave Denmark. You may request the Immigration Service to cover necessary living expenses and necessary healthcare expenses until you leave Denmark or is deported from Denmark.
If the Immigration Service pays for these expences, the Immigration Service will usually require you to live in an asylum centre. However, you cannot use the programs that provide access to the labour market and to move out of the centres, since these programs only apply to foreign nationals who have submitted an application for asylum.
The Immigration Service can decide where you are to live in Denmark regardless of whether or not you are supporting yourself or paying for your own healthcare.
If your application has been refused and you are ordered to leave immediately, or if you refuses to leave, you can be expelled from the country and banned from entering the EU or another Schengen country, including Denmark, for 2 years. Expelled individuals can be forcibly removed from Denmark by the police.
If you refuse to leave, you will be banned by the Danish Immigration Service from returning for 2 years. For repeat offences, the ban is five years.
If there are very special considerations, such as respecting the right to family unity, an entry ban can be lifted.
If you do not leave voluntarily, you can be forcibly deported by the police. In some cases, however, it is not possible to expel you, e.g. if a passport cannot be readily issued. However, any rejected asylum seeker required to leave the country is obliged to cooperate with authorities in securing his/her exit. This includes cooperating to obtain passports and travel documents, and in any other way required by the police.
The Immigration Service can issue a temporary residence permit if:
- the police have attempted without success to deport you for at least 18 months,
- if you have cooperated fully,
- and if deportation continues to remain improbable.
All three conditions must be met in order to get a temporary residence permit. If you do not cooperate with the police, you cannot be granted a permit, even if the police are unable to deport you. A residence permit issued on the grounds of that deportation has not been possible is valid for an initial period of 12 months.
After this, you can apply for an extension of the permit, provided that it remains impossible for you to leave Denmark by your own free will, and that the police are still unable to enforce deportation.
Read more about extension of a residence permit when you are hindered of deportation
You are obliged to leave Denmark if your request for asylum has been rejected and you have exhausted all avenues of appeal. If you remain in Denmark after your deadline to depart, you will normally have to live at a return centre until you leave Denmark.
If your application for a residence permit as an unaccompanied minor under the Danish Aliens Act, section 9c (3) is refused, the case can be appealed to the Refugee Appeals Board.
If an appeal regarding an application for a residence permit under the Danish Aliens Act, section 9c (3) (ii) is submitted less than seven days after the Immigration Service has announced its decision to you, you may stay in Denmark during the appeal process. However, if the appeal is submitted after this point, you will normally have to leave Denmark during the processing of the case.
The Ministry of Immigration and Integration can, if there are considerable humanitarian reasons for doing so, approve applications for temporary residence permit. The regulations for residence on humanitarian grounds apply in only a few specific instances, and as a result, few such applications are approved. Read more about residence on humanitarian grounds
Furthermore, an unaccompanied minor who requests asylum can be granted asylum in accordance with Aliens Act Section 9c (3). This would be the case if there were particular reasons for not requiring that an application be processed or if the applicant's application for asylum has been rejected. Residence permit can also be granted if it can reasonably be assumed that returning a child to his/her home country or country of residence would result in a hardship due to a lack of family or residence and care facilities. Read more about unaccompanied minors
In certain instances, such as in cases relating to family unity or the welfare of an applicant under the age of 18, the Danish Immigration Service can grant residence permit in accordance with Aliens Act Section 9c (1). Such considerations will generally apply in cases in which Denmark rejecting an application for a residence permit would be in violation of Denmark’s international obligations, including Article 8 of the European Human Rights Convention.