Easier pathway for young people to get citizenship

Suggested law change comes as part of overall easing of immigration laws

Young people born and raised in Denmark who do not have Danish citizenship will face fewer requirements for obtaining it under the terms of a new rule change put forward by the government last month.

The new rules would mean that teenage applicants for citizenship would only need to have a clean record and have completed primary school.

Currently, they must meet the same requirements as all other applicants for citizenship, including passing language and citizenship tests, before having their citizenship voted on by parliament in the annual citizenship bill.

Under the new system, only a written application would be required.

Rolling back immigration rules
Karina Lorentzen (SF), the chair of parliament’s judicial committee, told Berlingske newspaper the change was intended to make non-citizen children who were born here “feel just as Danish as every other child in Denmark”.

The change comes after an agreement earlier this year between the government and Enhedslisten to relax many of the immigration rules passed by the previous government with the votes of the anti-immigration Dansk Folkeparti.

The final bill is expected to be presented to parliament in January.

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