Government wants to make it harder for kids with foreign parents to become a citizen

Another shortcut on the chopping block

Although the government has already reached a consensus on tightening the requirements for foreigners who would become Danish nationals, it has revealed it intends to tighten the screws even more during the upcoming parliamentary session.

The government wants to toughen up a law that makes it possible for young people who are born and raised in Denmark to obtain citizenship without meeting the language requirements and passing the general knowledge test.

In the law in question, which was introduced by the Helle Thorning-Schmidt government in the summer of 2014, the children of foreign parents were given a shortcut to Danish citizenship if they had lived in Denmark for 12 years, had completed primary school and had not committed serious crimes.

READ MORE: It’s official: government unveils tougher citizenship requirements

Calls for compromise
Conservatives support the government’s attempt to stop what they call “automatic” citizenship.

Members of Thorning-Schmidt’s party Socialdemokraterne are hoping for a compromise.

“Basically we do not support a complete repeal,”  Socialdemokraterne’s citizenship spokesperson Astrid Krag told Jyllands-Posten. “We believe that there may be an opportunity to create other solutions.”




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