Apply for a residence permit as a family member of a person evacuated from Afghanistan after assisting Danish authorities

You may be granted a residence permit as a spouse or a cohabitant partner of a foreign national who has been granted a residence permit under section 1 (1) of the Special Law. Under the Special Law a residence permit can only be granted to one adult spouse or one adult cohabitant partner. 

You may also be granted a residence permit if you are minor child of a foreign national who has been granted a residence permit under section 1 (1) of the Special Law, and you are unmarried. 

Residence permit under the Special Law has been granted to the following main groups:

• A foreign national who is a former locally based employee of the Danish Embassy in Kabul or who has had another work-wise relation to the authorities within the field of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Afghanistan,
• A foreign national who is a former locally based employee of the Danish Armed Forces or who has had another work-wise relation to the authorities within the field of the Danish Armed Forces in Afghanistan,
• A foreign national who has been recommended in accordance with an agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs due to the person’s affiliation to NGOs or other cooperation partners in Afghanistan, or
• A foreign national who has been recommended by the UN, NATO or the UE in accordance with an agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

If your family member in Denmark has been granted a residence permit on a basis which is different than section 1 (1) of the Special Law, it will not be possible for you to apply for a residence permit under the Special Law. You may read more about your possibilities below in the paragraph “Can you apply for a residence permit on a different basis?”

You may be granted a residence permit under section 3 of the Special Law.

Your residence permit will be temporary and will be valid as long as the person due to whom you have been granted family reunification has a residence permit under the Special Law. 

There is no deadline for applying for a residence permit under section 3 of the Special Law, but it is a requirement that the person due to whom you are applying for a residence permit has a valid residence permit under the Special Law. 

If you have a family member who has been granted a residence permit under the Special Law in Denmark, you may apply for a residence permit under section 9 c (1) of the Aliens Act if you do not fulfill the conditions for obtaining a residence permit under section 3 of the Special Law. 

Under section 9 c (1) of the Aliens Act a residence permit may be granted if particularly specific reasons make it appropriate. It is the regard for the unity of the family and the regard for the best interests of any minor children which is decisive in terms of the access to family reunification.  

The protection of family life is focusing on the ordinary traditional European nuclear family, i.e. the parents and their minor children.

The temporary residence permit that your family member has obtained in Denmark under the Special Law will in principle imply that the character and the extent of you and your family member’s relation to Denmark will be limited and that the short duration of the stay in Denmark will have a considerable impact on the assessment whether you are entitled to family reunification in accordance with Denmark’s international obligations. At the same time, another aspect will also have a large impact on the decision, namely whether you and your family can expect to live your family life in your home country or in another country.

In each particular case, a specific assessment will be made in order to establish whether the applicant in question has a right to be granted family reunification.

Only in quite exceptional cases will a residence permit be granted to other family members than spouses and minor children under the provisions of section 9 c (1) of the Aliens Act. It will be a requirement that you will be able to establish that there is a quite particular relation between you and the person who is already resident in Denmark and that the relation is closer than the mere relationship implies.

Read more about how to apply for family reunification under the Aliens Act

Please pay attention to the fact that, as a general rule, you must pay a fee for introducing an application under section 9 c (1) of the Aliens Act. However, you may be exempted from the requirement regarding the fee if Denmark’s international obligations make it appropriate. This may for example be the case if it is a matter of a family life worthy of protection between the applicant and the person who is already resident in Denmark.

It is the Danish Immigration Service that will assess whether you fulfill the requirements for being granted a residence permit under the Special Law. 

If the Danish Immigration Service finds that you do not fulfill the conditions laid down in the Special Law, you will have the possibility of filing a complaint against this decision to the Danish Immigration Appeals Board. Any complaint must be filed within 8 weeks after the decision has been served on you. 

If you are staying in Denmark and you file your complaint within 7 days after the decision has been served on you, you will have the right to stay in Denmark while your complaint is being processed.