Denmark: Delays and suspensions of residency, family reunification, and asylum applications to prioritize Ukrainians

According to informed sources, on April 8 the Ministry of Integration sent a briefing letter to the Danish Parliament's Immigration Committee informing them that special Ukrainian law cases would be given priority over all other cases; however, the considerations for priority were not explained in more detail.

“The assessment of the immigration authorities is that there are overwhelming considerations that drive the prioritization of handling private law cases. Therefore, it is necessary to downgrade the classification and, in some cases, completely suspend some other immigration cases for a period of time to ensure the necessary resources are available to handle private law cases.”.

Allocating additional resources
The Danish Immigration Service has allocated significant resources to process the numerous applications under the special law. Staff were primarily transferred from other Danish Immigration Service offices, but were also drawn from other regions by the state administration. Two-thirds of the agency's staff are already being used for Ukrainian cases. This has resulted in longer waiting times for other cases, such as family reunification, asylum, extensions, and permanent residency. The classification process (in terms of priority) is currently being downgraded and is on hold until the summer.

Despite the historically low number of asylum seekers in recent years, current waiting periods are already long. This is the average processing time for applications:
Family reunification: 7 months
Extension: 2 – 6 months
New residence permit: 3 months
Passport/Foreign Passport: 3 months.
Permanent residency: 10 months
Nationality: 15 months
Humanitarian residence permit: 6 months (sometimes up to 2 years)

dire consequences
According to observers, these waiting times are crucial for foreigners in Denmark. For example, you cannot travel abroad while waiting for an extension of your residency permit, residence card, or passport. This could mean that an entire family might have to cancel their summer vacation, or that a high school student could miss a class trip with their classmates.

In cases of family reunification, long waiting periods often result in family members remaining separated for several years in practice. Many refugees have been separated for 4-5 years, and there may also be young refugee children who are still living in unsafe areas.
 
As for applying for permanent residency, you must meet the criteria at the time the decision is made. So, if, for example, you apply in January while you are employed and the case is then postponed until November, you may have been fired from your job and therefore no longer meet the criteria. This means you have to start over, and you also have to pay the fees again at 4800/6700 depending on the residency status.

The waiting period for appeals at the Migration Appeals Board is already two years, a situation the Ombudsman has criticized since October 2020, and it is likely to increase further. Some of those rejected under the special law are expected to apply for asylum – and more than 2,000 Ukrainians have already done so. This will also affect the long-term waiting time at the Refugee Board. 

It should be noted that the authorities imposed a heavy burden on the administration, as all asylum-based residence permits were reduced in 2015 from five years to only one or two years, and all extensions were also reduced from five years to two years. The same applies to family reunification; this means that you must... 
Two years to check whether all the asylum needs of the refugees still exist, perhaps by conducting a new personal interview to determine whether the person has traveled to their home country, for example, in addition to applications for renewal of residence cards, passports/foreign passports and the residence permit itself. Previously, refugees would automatically obtain permanent residence after 7 years, and this happens today in most European countries after 5 years.

The refugee reception organization is demanding more staff, arguing that it is unclear why Ukrainian cases are being prioritized over those of all other refugees and foreigners. Indeed, Ukrainians in Denmark enjoy a far better situation than other refugees in many respects. The minister's latest announcement is that Ukrainians will be allowed to work even before receiving their residency permits.