Apply for family reunification as spouse/partner of a refugee in Denmark

Legally valid marriage

If you are married, your marriage needs to be legal under Danish law. In order for your marriage to be declared valid in Denmark, it needs to have been valid in the country where it took place. A marriage can’t be declared valid in Denmark if it violates Danish laws.

This means that:

• Both you and your spouse need to have been present during the wedding ceremony
• Neither you nor your spouse can have been represented by someone else during the wedding ceremony
• You and your spouse need to have turned 18 at the time of the wedding
• If you are not married, or if your marriage can’t be validated in Denmark, the Immigration Service will instead assess whether you have been permanent cohabitants, and if this can be used as grounds for qualifying for a residence permit. 

Permanent cohabitation

The Immigration Service defines ‘permanent cohabitation’ as living together at the same address for a minimum of 18 months. Read more about documenting whether you and your partner have been permanent cohabitants

The Immigration Service can suspend the 18-month requirement in special situations. For more information, see the Ministry of Integration’s memorandum of 9 May 2007 (in Danish only)

Your partner in Denmark must assume responsibility for supporting you financially if you need it. The application form includes a statement declaring that your partner assumes responsibility for supporting you. Your partner needs to sign this statement.

The Immigration Service will not grant you a residence permit if it is doubtful that either you or your spouse/partner entered into your marriage/relationship voluntarily.

The Immigration Service looks at all aspects of your application when assessing this.

If you and your spouse/partner are closely related, the Immigration Service will most likely find that your marriage/relationship is not voluntary.

If others in your immediate family have been involved in a forced marriage, the Immigration Service will most likely find that your marriage/relationship is not voluntary.

Examples of the things the Immigration Service will look at when evaluating your marriage/relationship are:

• The wedding and the contact you had with your spouse before you got married
• Your age
• How long you have been married
• How much contact you had with each other’s families before getting married
• Your finances, work history, educational history and other personal details
• Information about any contact that either of you have had with a crisis or counselling centre.

The Immigration Service may also consider the role your families had in the marriage. But just because your parents or your spouse’s parents were involved in arranging your marriage does not make it a forced marriage.

For more information, see the Ministry of Integration’s memorandum about forced marriage (in Danish only)

Counselling for young people who risk being forced into marriage

You can get counselling from the Immigration Service if you are about to get married and it is not fully in accordance with your own wishes. Read more about counselling

A marriage or relationship that has the primary goal of qualifying you for a residence permit will be considered a ‘marriage of convenience’. The Immigration Service will look at all aspects of your application to determine whether your marriage/relationship is a marriage of convenience, or whether it qualifies you for a residence permit.

Examples of the things the Immigration Service will look at when evaluating your marriage/relationship are:

• Whether you and your spouse/partner have lived together
• Whether you can communicate in the same language
• Whether there is a big age difference between you and your spouse/partner
• How well you knew each other before getting married/moving in with each other
• Your previous marriages
• Whether you have children together
• Whether your spouse/partner in Denmark previously sponsored someone for family reunification, and then divorced the individual shortly after he/she was granted a permanent residence permit
   

You and your spouse/partner normally need to be at least 24 in order for you to qualify for family reunification. This is known as the 24-year requirement.

You may submit your application for family reunification when the younger spouse/partner is 23 years and 6 months.

Exceptions from the requirement

The Immigration Service can suspend the 24-year requirement in special situations, such as if you, the applicant’s spouse/partner in Denmark:

• still risk persecution in your home country
• are raising minor children who have an attachment of their own to Denmark, or if you have contact with minor children from a previous relationship. Read more about minor children
• are seriously ill or have a serious disability. Read more about serious illness/disability
• work in a field that is included on the Positive Lists. Read more about the Positive Lists
• work for the Danish state and hold a position of special importance for Denmark’s security or foreign policy. For more information, see the Ministry of Integration’s memorandum of 26 May 2003 (in Danish only)
   

In order to qualify for a residence permit, you and your spouse/partner normally need to fulfil an integration requirement. You and your spouse/partner will collectively need to meet 4 out of a total of 6 integration-related conditions. 3 of the conditions apply to you, the applicant, and 3 apply to your spouse/partner in Denmark. One of the conditions that apply to your spouse/partner must always be met. There is no requirement as to which 3 of the remaining 5 conditions you need to satisfy.

Read more about the individual conditions in the ‘Requirements the applicant needs to meet’ and the ‘Requirements the spouse/partner in Denmark needs to meet’ sections below.

Exemptions from the integration requirement

You may be exempt from meeting the immigration requirement under certain circumstances, such as if your spouse/partner in Denmark:

• still risks persecution in his/her home country 
• is raising minor children who have an attachment of their own to Denmark, or if he/she has contact with minor children from a previous relationship. Read more about minor children
• is seriously ill or has a serious disability. Read more about serious illness/disability

You, the applicant will normally need to have visited Denmark at least once. There is no minimum requirement for the length of your visit, but you need to have been in Denmark legally (meaning that you entered from another EU country, you held a residence permit, you held a visa or were covered by a visa-waiver programme).

You do not meet this requirement if you e.g. entered Denmark as an asylum seeker.

Exemptions from the visitation requirement

You may be exempt from meeting the visitation requirement under certain circumstances, such as if your spouse/partner in Denmark:

• still risk persecution in your home country
• is raising minor children who have an attachment of their own to Denmark, or if he/she has contact with minor children from a previous relationship. Read more about minor children
• is seriously ill or has a serious disability. Read more about serious illness/disability

Normally, you and your spouse/partner in Denmark collectively need to meet 4 out of a total of 6 integration-related conditions. 3 of the conditions apply to you, the applicant, and 3 apply to your spouse/partner in Denmark. If, for example, your spouse/partner meets all 3 of the conditions that apply to him/her, then you would only need to meet 1 of those that apply to you. If, on the other hand, your spouse only meets 1 condition, you would need to meet all 3 that apply to you.

The 3 conditions you can meet in order to fulfil the integration requirement are explained below.

You need to have passed Prøve i Dansk1 or an English language test at the B1 level

You meet one of the conditions of the integration requirement if you have passed Prøve i Dansk 1 or another Danish language test of an equal or higher level. Alternately, you can satisfy the condition by passing an English language test at the B1 level or another English test that are equivalent to or at a higher level

Prøve i Dansk 1 is the test administered at the end of Danskuddannelse 1, a Danish course for adult aliens in Denmark. See which tests can replace Prøve i Dansk 1

In order to satisfy the English language condition, you, the applicant, need to document that you have passed an English test, administered by a recognised language-training organisation, at the B1 level. See which tests can be approved as documentation of English language skills at the B1 level

You need to have worked full-time for at least 3 of the past 5 years

You meet one of the conditions of the integration requirement if you have worked for at least 3 of the last 5 years prior to applying for a residence permit.

In order to meet this condition, you need either to have held a regular, full-time position, or been self-employed. Employment in Denmark (if you have previously held a work and residence permit) and work abroad both count towards this condition.

Regular work should be understood to mean either that your position is covered by a collective bargaining agreement or that your pay and working conditions are normal for the position. If your employer received a public subsidy to cover a portion of your wages, the position does not qualify as regular work. Internships or other positions that are a part of an educational programme do not qualify as regular work.

Full-time work should be understood to mean an average work week of at least 30 hours.

Periods of self-employment can be counted towards this condition if the activity was your primary occupation, and your intention was to use it as a means to support yourself financially. The amount of time you spent working for yourself each week needs to have been comparable to 30 hours of regular employment.

You also satisfy this condition if you have reached the pensionable age in your home country, since retirement can be considered as a period of employment if it was preceded by a period of full-time employment.

You need to have completed at least 1 year of education

You satisfy one of the conditions of the integration requirement if you have completed at least 1 year of education.

In order to satisfy this condition, your educational programme needs to have been offered by an accredited organisation. Completing an accredited educational programme means, for example, that you are considered certified in your field, and that the quality of your programme is regulated by the laws of your home country.

Comparable programmes in Denmark are defined as vocational (erhvervsuddannelse) or post-secondary education programmes. Vocational programmes in Denmark, including a vocational baccalaureate programme (erhvervsfaglig studentereksamen i forbindelse med erhvervsuddannelse), are offered by technical schools, social and health schools, business colleges and agricultural schools, as well as other types of private and public educational institutions, such as AMU schools, the military and private-sector businesses.

If you completed an educational programme but did not pass the final exam, it cannot be counted towards this condition.

You do not need have completed your programme if it lasts longer than 1 year, but you need to have completed the first year. For example, you would meet this condition if you completed the first year of a 3 year programme. If you completed the first year of a multi-year programme but were not required to do an examination, you will need to provide a statement from your school verifying this.

Educational programmes that are the equivalent of Danish upper-secondary education (gymnasiale uddannelser) cannot be counted towards this condition. Danish upper-secondary programmes include, STX (upper-secondary school exam), HHX (higher commercial exam), HTX (higher technical exam) and HF (the higher preparatory exam).

Exemptions from the integration requirement

You may be exempt from meeting the immigration requirement under certain circumstances, such as if your spouse/partner in Denmark:

• still risk persecution in your home country
• is raising minor children who have an attachment of their own to Denmark, or if he/she has contact with minor children from a previous relationship. Read more about minor children
• is seriously ill or has a serious disability. Read more about serious illness/disability

You, the spouse/partner of the applicant, need to live in Denmark and have an independent, reasonably sized residence at your disposal. This is known as the housing requirement.

An independent residence is a residence that has an entrance of its own and appears as one unit. An independent residence does not need to have a kitchen or bathroom of its own.

You have a residence at your disposal if you own, rent or sublet the place where you live. Owning property collectively as an andelshaver or anpartshaver also satisfies this requirement.

Your residence needs to be reasonably sized. This means that by the time your spouse/partner is approved for family reunification, your residence needs to meet one of the following requirements:

• The number of people living in the residence may not be more than double the number of rooms, or
• There must be at least 20 sq. metres of living space for each person living there

Read more about the housing requirement

Exceptions from the requirement

The Immigration Service can suspend the housing requirement in special situations, such as if you:

• still risk persecution in your home country
• are raising minor children who have an attachment of their own to Denmark, or if you have contact with minor children from a previous relationship. Read more about minor children
• are seriously ill or have a serious disability. Read more about serious illness/disability

You, the applicant’s spouse/partner, will normally be required to reside in an area that is not mentioned in the current regulation about housing requirement list. See the current version of the housing requirement list (in Danish only)

A more detailed overview of the addresses that are part of the housing requirement list has been made. However the addresses can be changed due
to roads getting new names etc. The overview is therefor only intended as a guide. In case of changes it is the housing requirement list that is in force. See
the detailed overview of addresses that are part of the housing requirement list (in Danish only)

The areas of residence included in the housing requirements list for family reunification with a spouse correspond to the areas included in the list of vulnerable areas of residence, which is issued by the Minister for Social Affairs and Housing and which is published on the website of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Housing and Senior Citizens every year on 1 December.

Areas of residence are placed on the list when they meet certain criteria regarding the levels of employment, crime, education and income there.

Your residence must not be placed in an area mentioned on the housing requirement list at the time your spouse/partner submits his/her application for family reunification. If the area where your residence is located is later included on the housing requirement list, you will still meet this requirement.

If, after your spouse/partner submits his/her application, you move to an area that is mentioned on the housing requirement list, your residence will no longer meet this requirement.

Exemptions

Under certain circumstances, you may be exempt from the conditions on where your residence may be located, such as if you:

• still risk persecution in your home country 
• are raising minor children who have an attachment of their own to Denmark, or if you have contact with minor children from a previous relationship. Read more about minor children
• are seriously ill or have a serious disability. Read more about serious illness/disability

Normally, you, the applicant’s spouse/partner in Denmark, need to be able to support yourself. This requirement means that if you have received certain forms of social benefits at any time in the past three years, your spouse/partner can’t be approved for family reunification. The forms of social benefits that will prevent your spouse/partner from being approved for family reunification are those made under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act (lov om aktiv socialpolitik) or the Integration Act (integrationsloven).

Read more about social benefits and the self-support requirement

Even short periods on social benefits such as cash benefits (kontanthjælp) in the past three years can be enough to prevent you from meeting the self-support requirement.

For more information, see the Ministry of Integration’s guidelines (in Danish only)

Exceptions from the requirement

The Immigration Service can suspend the self-support requirement in special situations, such as if you:

• still risk persecution in your home country
• are raising minor children who have an attachment of their own to Denmark, or if you have contact with minor children from a previous relationship. Read more about minor children
• are seriously ill or have a serious disability. Read more about serious illness/disability
• received social benefits in connection with maternity leave and at the end of your maternity leave started (or will start) working again. This exception is made because Denmark has agreed to abide by rules that protect women’s rights.
   

Normally, you, the spouse/partner of the applicant, will need to have DKK 57,000 (2024 level) set aside.

This financial guarantee will be used to repay the municipality if the applicant receives social benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act (lov om aktiv socialpolitik) or the Integration Act (integrationsloven).

The money can be available as a demand guarantee (anfordringsgaranti) or placed in an escrow account (deponeringskonto). Read more about the financial guarantee

The amount of money you need to have available can be reduced if your spouse/partner passes the tests in Danish. In special situations, the guarantee can be released entirely. Read more about reducing and releasing the financial guarantee

Exceptions from the requirement

The Immigration Service can suspend the financial guarantee requirement in special situations, such as if you:

• still risk persecution in your home country
• are raising minor children who have an attachment of their own to Denmark, or if you have contact with minor children from a previous relationship. Read more about minor children
• are seriously ill or have a serious disability. Read more about serious illness/disability

You, the spouse/partner of the applicant, may not have been found guilty by a Danish court of assault or domestic violence involving a former spouse/partner within the past 10 years.

This requirement applies to convictions that resulted in jail or prison sentences you were required to serve. It also applies to convictions that resulted in suspended sentences, and to other forms of conviction that required (or could have required) you to be confined in some other way.

The crimes this requirement applies to include:

• Rape (Section 216 of the Danish Criminal Code)
• Manslaughter (Section 237 of the Danish Criminal Code)
• Assault causing bodily harm and grievous bodily harm (Sections 244-246 of the Danish Criminal Code)
• Criminal coercion, including the use of coercion in connection with a forced marriage (Section 260 of the Danish Criminal Code)
• Forced confinement (Section 261 of the Danish Criminal Code)
• Human trafficking (Menneskehandel – Section 262 a of the Danish Criminal Code)

Exceptions from the requirement

The Immigration Service can suspend this requirement in special situations, such as if you:

• were suffering from a psychiatric illness when the crime was committed. You may no longer be affected by the illness
• committed the crime in connection with drug or alcohol abuse. You may no longer be a substance abuser
• have been married for a long time, and you have lived together with your spouse for an extended period, and there is no doubt that you wish to resume living together.

Normally, you, the spouse/partner of an applicant, and the applicant collectively need to meet 4 out of a total of 6 integration-related conditions. 3 of the conditions apply to you, and 3 apply to the applicant.

If, for example, the applicant meets all 3 of the conditions that apply to him/her, then you only need to meet 1 of those that apply to you. If, on the other hand, the applicant only meets 1 condition, you need to meet all 3 that apply to you.

It is a mandatory condition as part of the integration requirement, that you need to have:

• passed Prøve i Dansk 3 or another Danish test at the same or higher level, or
• been in employment for 5 years with significant communication in Danish.

Prøve i Dansk 3 or another Danish test

You need to have passed Prøve i Dansk 3 or another Danish test at the same or higher level. Other tests that meet this condition include:

• studieprøven, with a score of 6 or higher (on the 13-point scale) or 02 (on the seven-point scale) in each of the skills
• an elementary school (folkeskolen) leaving exam (ninth or tenth year), with an average score of 6 or higher (on the 13-point scale) or 02 (on the seven-point scale) in Danish-language subjects (excluding effort)
• STX (almen studentereksamen/upper-secondary school exam), HHX (merkantil studentereksamen/higher commercial exam) or HTX (teknisk studentereksamen/higher technical exam)
• HF (the higher preparatory exam)
• EUX (erhvervsfaglig studentereksamen i forbindelse med erhvervsuddannelse/vocational baccalaureate administered at the completion of vocational training)

If you have not passed Prøve i Dansk 3 or another Danish test at the same or higher level, or if you have passed such an exam but for example have lost your diploma from elementary school and you can not obtain it again, then you can take Prøve i Dansk 3 twice a year. Read more about where and when you can register for the test at the website Dansk og Prøver (in Danish only)

See the complete list of exams that that can replace Prøve i Dansk 3

Employment for 5 years with significant communication in Danish

You can also meet the requirement if you have held a regular, full-time position, or been self-employed for at least 5 years in Denmark, which has significantly involved communication in Danish.

By ‘significantly involved in communication in Danish’ we mean that you on a daily basis and as a significant part of a work day has had frequent written or oral contact in Danish with Danish speaking persons. The communication can have been with colleagues, citizens, customers, patients or other persons.

Regular work should be understood to mean either that your position is covered by a collective-bargaining agreement or that your pay and working conditions are normal for the position. If your employer received a public subsidy to cover a portion of your wages, the position does not qualify as regular work. Internships or other positions that are a part of an educational programme do not qualify as regular work.

Full-time work should be understood to mean an average work week of at least 30 hours.

Periods of self-employment can be counted towards this condition if the activity was your primary occupation, and your intention was to use it as a means to support yourself financially. The amount of time you spent working for yourself each week needs to have been comparable to 30 hours of regular employment.

The 5 years of employment do not need to be consecutive or fall within a specific time frame.

Exemptions from the integration requirement

You may be exempt from meeting the immigration requirement under certain circumstances, such as if you are:

• still risk persecution in your home country 
• raising minor children who have an attachment of their own to Denmark, or if you have contact with minor children from a previous relationship. Read more about minor children
• seriously ill or have a serious disability. Read more about serious illness/disability

Normally, you, the spouse/partner of an applicant, and the applicant collectively need to meet 4 out of a total of 6 integration-related conditions. 3 of the conditions apply to you, and 3 apply to the applicant.

If, for example, the applicant meets all 3 of the conditions that apply to him/her, then you only need to meet 1 of those that apply to you. If, on the other hand, the applicant only meets 1 condition, you need to meet all 3 that apply to you.

You meet one of the conditions of the integration requirement if you have worked in Denmark for at least 5 years. The 5 years of employment do not need to be consecutive or fall within a specific time frame. You need to either have held a regular, full-time position, or been self-employed for at least 5 years.

Regular work should be understood to mean either that your position is covered by a collective-bargaining agreement or that your pay and working conditions are normal for the position. If your employer received a public subsidy to cover a portion of your wages, the position does not qualify as regular work. Internships or other positions that are a part of an educational programme do not qualify as regular work.

Full-time work should be understood to mean an average work week of at least 30 hours.

Periods of self-employment can be counted towards this condition if the activity was your primary occupation, and your intention was to use it as a means to support yourself financially. The amount of time you spent working for yourself each week needs to have been comparable to 30 hours of regular employment.

Exemptions from the integration requirement

You may be exempt from meeting the immigration requirement under certain circumstances, such as if you are:

• still risk persecution in your home country 
• raising minor children who have an attachment of their own to Denmark, or if you have contact with minor children from a previous relationship. Read more about minor children
• seriously ill or have a serious disability. Read more about serious illness/disability

When you submit your application for family reunification as the spouse/partner of a refugee living in Denmark, the Immigration Service will look at whether he/she still faces persecution in his/her home country.

We will also look at whether you come from different countries, and, if you do, whether you could live together in your country or another country.

If your spouse/partner still risks persecution in his/her home country, and you can’t live together in your country or another country, the Immigration Service will suspend some of the normal requirements for family reunification.

Under each requirement, you can read more about when the Immigration Service can suspend requirements if your spouse/partner still faces persecution in his/her home country.

If your application for family reunification is approved, you will be granted a temporary residence permit, typically valid for two years. If you still meet the requirements for residency, your residence permit can be extended. Read more about extending residence permits