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IMMIGRATION

New Danish government could relax family reunification rules

Denmark’s incoming government could break with years of strict immigration laws by easing family reunification rules.

Published: 14 December 2022 17:29 CET
New Danish government could relax family reunification rules
Denmark's strict family reunification rules could be eased by the new government. Photo: Photo by Tanaphong Toochinda on Unsplash

According to the platform for the new government, which was presented on Wednesday, family reunification rules could be eased.

Rules for family reunification have often been criticised by Denmark’s national media, with a long series of individual cases reported, highlighting the harsh impact of the rules on the lives of individual couples.

Ostensibly intended to restrict immigration from Middle Eastern countries, the rules also frequently impact the ability of non-EU nationals from other parts of the world, and even Danes themselves, to establish a family life in Denmark.

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Specifically, the new government wants to change language criteria applied in family reunification cases.

It also wants to halve the so-called “bank guarantee” (bankgaranti), a requirement which demands couples deposit a large sum of money with municipalities while the foreign partner is granted residence under family reunification rules.

It is currently unclear how an adjustment of the language rules will take form, with discussions only having a general nature so far.

The Social Democrats, Liberals and Moderates on Wednesday presented their joint platform for going into coalition government together after weeks of talks.

The current family reunification rules have been in place since 2018, when they were passed by the centre-right government led by Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who is now set to return to government as the leader of the Moderate party.

READ ALSO: What are the new family reunification rules for parents of Danish children?

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IMMIGRATION

Denmark to pay out withheld millions to integration projects

The government is to pay out millions of kroner in state support to integration projects and organisations after earlier withholding funding.

Published: 19 April 2024 16:49 CEST
Denmark to pay out withheld millions to integration projects

The money, which was placed on hold at the beginning of this year, will now be released and planned funding cuts of 27 million kroner will meanwhile be scrapped, immigration minister Kaare Dybvad Bek told newswire Ritzau on Friday.

Bek said organisations which are expecting the funding would be contacted.

“These are important efforts which span organisations from people who work against negative social control to crisis services to classic organisations like the Red Cross,” Bek said.

The grants were placed on hold because of an agreement to increase prison capacity in 2021. That agreement made for savings of 27 million kroner on integration, which were to be spent on the prison service.

The planned cuts meant that money for integration projects was withheld but an agreement has since been reached to cancel the cuts and release the money to the project for which it was originally intended, Bek confirmed.

A total of some 64 million kroner for 21 projects within 19 different organisations had been frozen according to an earlier report by newspaper Politiken.

Bek said that the plan had never been to cut as much as 64 million kroner from integration spending but that the entire amount had now been released.

Politiken has previously reported that the withheld funds have already had consequences in terms of job losses at at least one organisation.

“I will not hide the fact that I would have liked this to have been settled earlier. We’ll have to learn from that,” Bek said.

“The most important thing is that a decision has been made that gives these organisations their money for 2024 and they can continue their work,” he added.

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