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BREXIT

Brexit: Danish minister urges Denmark-based Brits to apply for new residency status

Denmark’s immigration authorities have so far received around 12,000 of an expected 19,000 applications for post-Brexit residency status from UK nationals who live in the country.

Denmark's immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye described Denmark-based Britons as 'people we want to stay' as he urged them to apply for post-Brexit status.
Denmark's immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye described Denmark-based Britons as 'people we want to stay' as he urged them to apply for post-Brexit status. Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix

According to data from the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI), around 12,000 applications have been submitted to the agency for post-Brexit residency status. Of these, 9,000 have been processed.

SIRI expects to receive a total of 19,000 applications by the end of 2021, according to data released in a statement on Wednesday by the Ministry of Immigration and Integration.

The 7,000 outstanding applications appears to fit with the schedule laid out for application across the year by Danish authorities.

In its information letter sent in December last year, Siri asked British residents born before 1946 to submit their applications during January, those born 1946-1951 during February,  1952-1958 during March, 1959-1964 during April, 1965-1969 during May, 1970-1972 during June, 1973-1975 during July, 1976-1979 during August, 1980-1984 during September, 1985-1989 during October, and 1990 during November

Some British residents have reported successfully applying out of their designated window, however, describing the dates as “suggestions”.

British nationals who moved to Denmark under EU free movement rules before December 31st 2020 must submit an application for new residence status and a new residence document under the terms of the withdrawal agreement in 2021.

The deadline for submitting applications for a new residency document according to the Brexit withdrawal agreement is December 31st this year.

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Around 75 percent of all applications are for permanent residency status, according to SIRI.

That means the majority of people applying for post-Brexit status have likely lived in Denmark for an extended period, since permanent residency is usually granted after five years of temporary residency under EU free movement rules.

Over 98 percent of applications processed so far have been approved.

According to SIRI, the average processing times for the applications is 57 days. The agency expects waiting times to increase as the deadline approaches, it said.

SIRI is scheduled to send reminder notices to British nationals who have yet to apply for residency documentation under the withdrawal agreement.

“Brexit has been going on for a long time by now,” immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye said in the statement.

“It’s crucial that the several thousand Brits who live in Denmark get their papers in order by the end of the year, when the application deadline is reached,” Tesfaye said.

“These are people who we are very happy to have here and who we want to stay. That’s why we’re making a big plea to the Brits who have not yet secured their residency permits: remember to apply under the new rules so you can continue your lives in Denmark,” the minister said.

READ ALSO: Updated: How are post-Brexit residency applications going in Denmark?

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BREXIT

Denmark and UK agree deal on voting rights for British nationals

The United Kingdom and Denmark have signed a treaty that will allow all British and Danish citizens to stand and vote in local elections in each other’s countries.

Denmark and UK agree deal on voting rights for British nationals

The agreement will mean that all UK nationals who live in Denmark will be able to vote for candidates in Denmark’s local elections and run for office themselves.

Previously Denmark had imposed a four-year minimum residence requirement for UK nationals to be able to stand and to vote in municipal and regional elections. And those British citizens who registered as resident in Denmark before “Brexit Day” (January 31st, 2020) had also been able to vote in Danish local elections – unlike in most EU countries where Brexit immediately deprived all British residents of the right to vote in local elections.

This new agreement will remove the four-year-minimum and allow all British residents in Denmark to vote.

According to Statistics Denmark figures, this means some 5,388 British citizens who moved to Denmark in the last four years (up to the third quarter of 2023) will benefit from the new treaty.

READ ALSO: How many foreigners can vote in Denmark’s local elections?

It will also apply in reverse, protecting the rights of Danes in the UK to vote and participate in British local council elections.

Britain’s break-away from the EU left both groups without voting rights in their country of residence, whereas prior to Brexit all registered residents had the right to vote as well as to stand as candidates in local elections.

Britons resident in Denmark could also take part in Denmark’s EU elections, but this also lapsed when the UK left the EU.

The deal is a reciprocal agreement which will be treated as an international treaty that has to be ratified by the British parliament. In Denmark’s parliamentary system, this is done by executive order.

The treaty was signed on Thursday at the British Ambassador’s Residence in Copenhagen by the UK’s Ambassador to Denmark, Emma Hopkins and Nikolaj Stenfalk of the Danish Ministry of the Interior and Health.

In a joint statement, Hopkins and Denmark’s ambassador to the UK, René Dinesen, said the agreement will “enhance and protect the rights to participate in local democracy of approximately 50,000 citizens who reside in each other’s countries.”

“As an important outcome of the UK-Denmark Joint Statement signed by our Foreign Ministers last year, this treaty demonstrates the close ties between our countries and underlines our shared commitment to democracy,” they added.

In a statement posted by the Danish foreign ministry on social media X, Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the deal securing Danes’ voting rights in the UK “pleases me on behalf of ourselves and democracy”.

Denmark is the fifth country to sign a voting rights treaty with the UK, following treaties signed with Spain, Portugal, Poland and Luxembourg.

Citizens of EU member states resident in the UK currently still have the right to vote in UK local elections, but this will change after May this year, when EU citizens who moved to the UK after January 1st 2021 will no longer be able to vote in the elections — apart from the five countries (now including Denmark) with which the UK has bilateral treaties.

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