Religious worker on the Faroe Islands

Who can have their residence permit extended?

When you work as a religious worker, missionary, nun or monk on the Faroe Islands, you can normally get a residence permit for 1 year with the possibility of extension for 1 year at a time for a total of no more than 3 years.

If you are a religious worker etc. with marriage license, you do however have the option of having the residence permit extended without an upper time limit.

If you get marriage license after 3 years of residence permit without marriage license, you must apply for a residence permit as a religious worker etc. on a new basis. This means that your application will be processed according to the rules that apply to applicants applying for a residence permit for the first time.

In addition, your residence permit can only be extended up to 3 months before your passport expires.

What are the requirements?

You must continue to fulfill the requirements for your residence permit.

In order to have your residence permit extended, the basis for your current permit must still be present. This means that the requirements that had to be met when you got your first residence permit must still be met when you apply for an extension.

You can see what requirements were set for your residence permit in the letter that the Danish Immigration Service sent you when you received your residence permit.

Who can have their residence permit extended?

You can have your residence permit extended on the Faroe Islands as an accompanying family member if you are:

• spouse,
• cohabiting partner, or
• child

of a foreign national who resides on the Faroe Islands as a religious worker etc.

What are the requirements?

Your residence permit can be extended if the religious worker you came to The Faroe Islands to live with also has his/her residence permit extended.

In order to be granted an extension, you still need to live on the Faroe Islands with your family member.

If you are the child of a religious worker, and your residence permit expires when you turn 18 years old, your residence permit can be extended past your 18th birthday if you still live at home.

In addition, your residence permit can only be extended up to 3 months before your passport expires.

It is very important to submit your application for an extension before your current residence permit expires. You may not submit your application more than three months before your residence permit is due to expire.

If you submit your application in time, you may remain on the Faroe Islands legally while your application is being processed.

If you do not apply in time

If you do not submit your application in time, you should expect the application to be rejected on the grounds that you would be in Denmark illegally. The application will be rejected regardless of how briefly you are in Denmark illegally.

If your application is rejected because you missed the deadline, you will need to leave Denmark and apply for a new residence permit in your home country. Your application will be considered a new application for a residence permit, and will be processed based on the current rules for first-time applicants. These rules may not be the same as the ones you had to meet when you were granted your residence permit.

If you stay illegally on the Faroe Islands, you also risk being punished for illegal stay and being deported with a ban on entering The Faroe Islands for 1 year.

In very special cases, the application can be allowed to be submitted, even if it is submitted too late. This means that you have a legal residence while we process your application for extension. However you can risk being punished for illegal residence in the period from your residence permit expired and until you submitted your application for extension.

Please note that the Faroese authorities (Útlendingastovan) have taken over the processing of extension cases in the Faroe Islands for applications submitted from 1 September 2024. If you wish to submit an application for the extension of a residence permit in the Faroe Islands, you must therefore go to Útlendingastovan's website. Read more about how to submit an application for the extension of your residence permit in the Faroe Islands 

On this page you can read about the conditions for applications submitted before 1 September 2024.