A new analysis from the Danish Knowledge Center on Integration shows that the number of foreigners being granted Danish citizenship is now at its lowest point of the last 40 years, counting 1 781 persons in 2019, in spite of the fact that a growing proportion of the population in Denmark has a foreign background (14%).

By January 2020 there were 193 000 descendants (defined as people who are born in Denmark to non-Danish parents) living in Denmark. Only 65% of these have acquired Danish citizenship. In addition to this there is a large group of people who were not born in the country but arrived as children, and consider themselves Danish. They are included in the category of foreigners living in Denmark, where the percentage of people with a Danish passport is only 24%.

The Danish Institute for Human Rights recently launched a report with focus on access to citizenship for children and young people who are born and/or raised in Denmark, finding that current Danish rules are not in line with international law.

On average it takes 19 years for a person to acquire Danish citizenship. There are a number of requirements involved which are especially hard for refugees to meet, due to trauma or a low education level in comparison with foreigners who arrived via family reunification with a Danish citizen or in order to work.

In short, the criteria a person must meet to be citizenship are:(

• A minimum of nine years of legal stay, with only short stays abroad;
• a declaration of loyalty to Denmark;
• a permanent residence permit (which itself holds many similar criteria);
• no felony convictions;
• no debt to the state;
• no receiving of social benefits within the last two years maximum, including four months out of the last 5 years(;
• passing of the Danish 3( language exam;
• passing of the citizenship test, which consists of 40 questions about Danish history, culture and society.

For its new analysis, the Danish Knowledge Centre on Integration has produced charts to illustrate the development of granting citizenship to foreigners since 1979, the earliest year to which statistical data has been recorded. There was a rise in numbers around 2016, which can be explained by two things: double citizenship was allowed after 2015, and for a short time it was possible for children to be granted citizenship if they had lived in Denmark for ten years.

The authors of the analysis also provide links to other research and studies, all of which conclude that citizenship is a positive factor in a person's integration process, both because of its economic, political and social effects, and in that no positive effects have been shown to come from make citizenship so difficult to secure.

Danish policy thus seems counterproductive for integration, and also raises the issue of democratic representation – not only for Denmark, but also for the European Union. 76% of the 814 000 foreigners currently living in Denmark are unable to vote. The Danish government and MPs are currently discussing how to further limit access to Danish citizenship.

Find out more here.