Accompanying family member in the Faroe Islands

You want to apply for a residence permit as an accompanying family member to a person who has been granted a residence permit in the Faroe Islands.

Normal processing time
3 months

Due to the ongoing labour dispute on the Faroe Islands, the current processing time might be up to
5 months

Processing fee
No fee

As of September 1, 2024, the Faroese authorities have taken over the responsibility of processing applications for residence and work permits in the Faroe Islands from SIRI and the Danish Immigration Service. In the future, you will have to apply for a residence and work permit via Útlendingastovan's website.

If you have submitted an application to SIRI before September 1, 2024, for a residence permit in the Faroe Islands, SIRI will process your case. If you have any questions about your pending case or additional information, new documents or comments, please contact SIRI.

What do you want to print?

Accompanying family member in the Faroe Islands

If you are the spouse, cohabiting partner, or child under the age of 18 of a person who has been granted a residence and work permit in the Faroe Islands, you can apply for residence permit as an accompanying family member.

As cohabiting partners, it is usually a condition that you have been living together approximately 1½-2 years before you submit your application. It is also a condition that the cohabitation can be documented. This could be in the form of a lease contracts where you are both listed as tenants, letters from authorities received at the same address, statements from landlords, employers or the National Registry etc. 

The Faroe Islands and Denmark are two distinct travel areas. This means that a residence permit in Denmark does not give you the right to stay in the Faroe Islands.  Likewise, a residence permit in the Faroe Islands does not allow you to stay in Denmark.

What do you want to print?

Requirements for your support

If you submit an application for a residence permit in the Faroe Islands, and if you submit your application as an accompanying family member to a person who has a residence and work permit in the Faroe Islands, you must show documentation that proves that this person is able to support you. However, this rule does not apply if the person has residence under the Sports Agreement.

The person who you will be traveling to the Faroe Islands with, will be referred to as ‘the sponsor’, in the following text.

The sponsor must document that he/she has:

  • 35,079.62 kr. in gross income each month, if you are a spouse or a cohabiting partner.
  • 40,382.85 kr. in gross income each month, if you are a spouse or a cohabiting partner and if you have a child under the age of 18 that is also traveling with you to the Faroe Islands, as an accompanying family member. 1,323.83 kr. is added for each additional child, for a maximum of 4 children.
  • 28,510.29 kr. In gross income each month, if you are a child under the age of 18. 3,379.17 kr. is added for each additional child, for a maximum of 4 children.

The fixed amount applies for all of 2024. The amounts are partially regulated by the development of wages in Føroya Arbeiðarafelago’s (the labour union of the Faroe Islands’) collective agreement for unskilled workers, and partially by the government’s regulation procentage anually, on 1 January, which is fixed according to Løgtingslóg um javningarprosent til almannaveitingar (the Lagting law on the regulation rate for social benefits).

You must submit the sponsor’s current employment contract in the Faroe Islands.

If the sponsor is already working in the Faroe Islands, you must also submit the sponsor’s paychecks for the last three months.

If you have submitted your first application for a residence permit as an accompanying family member to a sponsor in the Faroe Islands after 2 September 2023, you are subject to the condition of documenting that your sponsor is able to support you.

If you have submitted your first application for a residence permit as an accompanying family member to a sponsor in the Faroe Islands before 2 September 2023, you are not subject to the condition of documenting that your sponsor is able to support you.

What do you want to print?

What are my rights if I am granted a permit?

What are you allowed to do with a permit as an accompanying family member in the Faroe Islands? – and what are you not allowed to do?

As a holder of a permit as an accompanying family member, you are allowed to work during your stay in the Faroe Islands.

A residence permit allows you to stay on the Faroe Islands for the period of time your permit is valid. 

You must not give up your address in the Faroe Islands or stay abroad for a longer period of time. A violation will result in the lapse of your permit. This means that you will lose your right to stay on the Faroe Islands.

If you have been staying on the Faroe Islands legally for less than 2 years, you are allowed to stay outside of the Faroe Islands for 6 successive months. 

If you have been staying on the Faroe Islands legally for more than 2 years and you hold a residence permit that can be made permanent, or if you already hold a permanent residence permit, you are allowed to stay outside of the Faroe Islands for up to 12 months.

If you need to stay abroad for an extended period of time, e.g. if you are stationed abroad for a period of time by your employer, you can apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing.

Stays in Denmark or Greenland are considered as time abroad.

You must be able to support yourself and your family during your stay. You are not allowed to receive public benefits.

If you or your family members receive such benefits during your stay, your permit can be revoked – and you will lose the right to stay in the Faroe Islands. 

If you have been granted a permit as an accompanying family member and you have been living in the Faroe Islands for less than two years, you are allowed to leave the Faroe Island for up to 6 months.

If you have been living in the Faroe Island for over two years and have a permit which can be made permanent, you may reside outside the Faroe Island for up to 12 months.

If you reside outside the Faroe Islands for longer than you are allowed, your permit will automatically lapse.

Read more about lapse of permit and your options for seeking dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing

Stays abroad due to military service or service in lieu of military service are not included. Stays in Denmark or Greenland are considered as stays abroad. 

 

No Datasource Found

What do you want to print?

How long can I stay on the Faroe Islands?

You will normally be granted a permit valid for the same period as the family member who is in the Faroe Islands on the basis of work (the sponsor). However, the period cannot exceed 1 year. If the sponsor’s employment is extended and you wish to continue to stay in the Faroe Islands, you can apply for an extension of your residence permit. Your permit can be extended with a maximum of 1 year at a time.

It is very important that you apply for extension before your permit expires.

If you apply for an extension in time, you are allowed to stay in the Faroe Islands even though your permit expires.

If you are an accompanying child, and you are granted your initial residence permit before you turn 18, you are able to extend your permit even though you turn 18 in the meantime. However, you must still be living together with the sponsor.

A residence permit can only be valid until 3 months before the expiry date of your passport.

If your passport has a shorter validity than the otherwise possible period of stay, your residence permit will be shortened. This means that the validity of your residence permit will be shorter than it could be. When you have renewed your passport, you can apply for an extension of your residence permit – however, this can only be done 3 months before your permit expires at the earliest.

Read more about the passport requirements.  

What do you want to print?

What more do I need to know before I apply?

An application for a residence permit as an accompanying family member on the Faroe Islands must generally be submitted to a Danish diplomatic mission or an application center receiving applications on behalf of the Danish diplomatic mission. In some countries, you can submit your application at a Norwegian diplomatic mission.

See the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ list of diplomatic missions or application centres where you can hand in your application

It is important that you document your relation to the sponsor by providing a marriage certificate or documentation of cohabitation - or your birth certificate if you are an accompanying child.

You can find the relevant application form, FO2, on the “How to apply” tab to the right. 

SIRI will contact you or your sponsor if we need further information to process your case.

To apply for a residence and work permit in the Faroe Islands, follow the guide under the tap "How to apply" at the top of this page. If you are an accompanying child under the age of 18, your family member with a residence permit in the Faroe Island must also contribute information to the application. 

Your application will be sent for further assessment to the Government of the Faroe Islands after which it will be processed by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

What do you want to print?

As of September 1, 2024, the Faroese authorities have taken over the responsibility of processing applications for residence and work permits in the Faroe Islands from SIRI and the Danish Immigration Service. In the future, you will have to apply for a residence and work permit via Útlendingastovan's website.

If you have submitted an application to SIRI before September 1, 2024, for a residence permit in the Faroe Islands, SIRI will process your case. If you have any questions about your pending case or additional information, new documents or comments, please contact SIRI.

What do you want to print?

Responsible agency

Contact SIRI
Send link

Last updated 01-09-2024 - Published by: SIRI