The Danish government will tighten the law on refugees visiting their countries of origin and will abolish the “ten-year” rule.”

Refugees who have been granted asylum in Denmark can now, after 10 years of residence in Denmark, go on holiday to their country of origin where they enjoy protection. The minister wants to tighten this rule.

When a refugee has been in Denmark for 10 years, current immigration law allows them to take a holiday in their home country. Immigration and Integration Minister Kær Dybvad Beik wants to change this rule. The change would mean that in the future, a refugee could risk losing their residence permit for a holiday trip to their home country – even after 10 years of living in Denmark.

If the immigration authorities discover that a refugee was on holiday in their home country, the matter will initially be referred back to the Danish Immigration Service to assess whether there are grounds for revoking their asylum status. Participation will only occur if it is deemed to be in accordance with Denmark's international obligations.

If a refugee obtains a residence permit on another basis, for example, a work permit, the person concerned will be able to return to the country of origin from which the person fled, without this having any effect on the residence permit.

Minister for Foreigners and Integration, Kar Dipvad Bec, says:

“I don’t think a refugee who has been granted asylum in Denmark should be able to return to his home country on vacation. Not even after 10 years.”.

It cannot be appropriate for you to live in Denmark with access to the entire welfare society with an asylum residence permit, because you are being persecuted in your country, but at the same time spend your summer vacation traveling to your home country and taking a break.

I'll be honest and say that we're not making this change to the law because we've seen many examples where refugees have gone on holiday to their home countries. We don't have that. We're making the change for reasons of principle. For me, the ten-year rule makes no sense, and therefore we want to change the law.“.

The legislative amendment has just been submitted for consultation and is expected to be put to a vote in the Danish parliament in October.

The bill itself is also expected to contain a number of other measures. Among other things, the bill clarifies the information obligation for foreigners, requiring them to provide information related to their case during extensions. Upon notification, they will be obligated to participate in in-person meetings and make their passports or other travel identification available to the immigration authorities handling their case. The bill will also expand the Danish Immigration Service and the Refugee Council's access to information from other residence permit cases while processing a particular case. With this bill, the government will also clarify the residency requirement in the special law for people displaced from Ukraine.

facts

Between 1 January 2019 and 25 June 2023, the Danish Immigration Service made a decision regarding the withdrawal or refusal to extend 10 residence permits issued on the basis of asylum, as a result of holiday trips to the country of origin/previous residence in accordance with Article 19, Subsection 3 of the Aliens Act.

It should be noted that, starting from 2019, it will only be possible to calculate the number of decisions relating to withdrawal or refusal to extend residence permits issued on the basis of asylum due to a holiday trip to the home country.

There may also be cases where the agency has assumed that a foreigner holding a residence permit issued on the basis of asylum in Denmark has traveled to his home country, but the residence permit was withdrawn or its extension refused for other reasons (for example, fraud).

The 2019 statement through 2022 is final with subsequent manual corrections, whereas the 2023 statement is provisional and based on registrations in the immigration authorities’ electronic case processing system for each of June 25, 2023.

In general, it is noted that statistical information is subject to uncertainty, as the electronic case management system is organized as a diary and case management system and not as an actual statistical system.