Application deadline for reacquiring a forfeited Danish citizenship extended for 5 years
Prior to 2015, the Danish government did not permit dual citizenship. Danes who became citizens of other countries automatically forfeited their Danish citizenship.
Danes Worldwide played a major role in making dual citizenship possible. When such regulations were instituted, the government set a period of 5 years during which Danes who had lost their citizenshp could apply to reacquire it.
That period expired on 31 August 2020, much to the chagrin of Danes Worldwide and many of our members. It is our opinion that Danes who forfeited the Danish citizenship should have the opportunity to reacquire it at any time.
During the last few years, Danes Worldwide brought to the attention of relevant politicians that quite a few now-former Danish citizens either did not know that they had forfeited the Danish citizenship or did not know of the deadline for applying to reacquire it.
We are very pleased to announce that on 3 June 2021, a new 5-year application period was put in place. This new period for applying to reacquire one’s Danish citizenship runs 1 July 2021 to 1 July 2026.
In December 2020, Danes Worldwide provided formal input to the legislative hearing on the matter: horingssvar-til-uim-sagsnr.-2020-8935-generhvervelse.pdf (danes.dk) (in Danish).
Danes Worldwide Secretary General Anne Marie Dalgaard comments: ”We are extremely pleased that our work yielded results in that the politicians became aware of the needs of expat Danes. It is a positive development that our fellow Danes living abroad may finally call themselves Danish citizens again. We had hoped that there would be no new deadline, but overall we are happy with the outcome.”
The text of the legislation and the amendment in Section 2 may be seen at https://www.ft.dk/ripdf/samling/20201/lovforslag/l228/20201_l228_som_vedtaget.pdf (in Danish).