In English
The Ministry of Immigration, Integration and Housing provides translations into English of some of its guidance on nationality. Guidance concerning the following topic is presently available:
• Multiple nationality
On 18 December 2014 the Danish Parliament passed a bill amending the Nationality Act to allow for full access to multiple nationalities. The act amending the Nationality Act (hereafter the Act on Multiple Nationalities) can be found at the following link (in Danish): https://www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=167199.
On 1 September 2015 the act came in to force.
The law means that Danish nationals who wish to acquire a foreign nationality may do so without losing their Danish citizenship. In this regard they do not need to take any action in relation to the Danish authorities. Access to multiple nationalities is, however, not decided by Danish law alone. For a person to acquire multiple nationality this must be allowed in the nationality laws of each of the states in which the person wishes to hold nationality.
Danish citizens who acquire foreign nationality
A Danish citizen who before 1 September 2015 acquired foreign nationality upon application or consent will, in accordance with the former rules, have lost his/her Danish nationality.
In accordance with § 3 in the Act on Multiple Nationalities, former Danish citizens, who have lost their Danish nationality by acquiring a foreign nationality can reacquire their Danish nationality by making a declaration to The State Administration (Statsforvaltningen), provided they fulfil certain requirements. The declaration must be made from 1 September 2015 up to and including 31 August 2020.
It is a requirement for reacquisition of Danish nationality, that the individual has not been sentenced to imprisonment in the period between loosing and reacquiring Danish nationality.
It is further a requirement for former Danish citizens born in a foreign country that the requirements in Section 8 of the Danish Nationality Act are met. Section 8 provides that Danish nationality is lost on attaining the age of 22 by a Danish citizen born abroad, who has never lived in Denmark nor been staying in Denmark under circumstances indicating some association with Denmark.
Foreign citizens applying for Danish nationality
The time of entry into force of the new rules also imply that foreign citizens, who are included in a bill on naturalisation, no longer will be met with a requirement to obtain renunciation of their previous nationality.
In accordance with § 4 in the Act on Multiple Nationalities, foreign citizens, who have been included with a condition of obtaining renunciation in an Act on naturalisation passed in December 2012 or later, can acquire Danish nationality without obtaining renunciation of their previous nationality by making a declaration to The State Administration (Statsforvaltningen). The declaration must be made from 1 September 2015 up to and including 31 August 2017.
Children of a person making a declaration will not acquire Danish nationality with their parent, even though the children initially were included in the parent’s application for Danish nationality by naturalisation.
Possible change to § 4 in the Act on Multiple Nationalities – Danish nationality to children of a person making a declaration
On 14 October 2015 the Ministry of Immigration, Integration and Housing sent a draft bill into public hearing with a final deadline for submissions set to 27 October 2015.
The bill implies a change to § 4 in the Act on Multiple Nationalities allowing children to persons making a declaration to acquire Danish nationality with their parent, provided they fulfil certain requirements.
The draft bill, the letter of the hearing and a list of hearing parties can be found on the public hearing portal, Høringsportalen, in Danish.
The bill is expected to be proposed in Parliament in November 2015.
Declaration and application
A declaration must be made to The State Administration. Forms for declarations to The State Administration are available on The State Administrations website. A fee of DKK 1,100 must be paid when filing a declaration to The State Administration (Statsforvaltningen).
Applications for naturalisation may be made on the forms already available on the Ministry of Immigration, Integration and Housing.
Concrete questions regarding declarations
For concrete questions about declarations, The State Administration can be contacted on telephone no. +45 72 56 70 00.