NextSpring

Naturalisation Is an Act of Parliament, and the Conditions Are in a Political Agreement Rather Than in the Statute

The Danish Nationality Act says one thing about naturalisation and then stops: nationality may be acquired by naturalisation under the Constitution. It sets no residence period, no language level and no income test, because none of those is law in the ordinary sense. Each naturalisation is a line in a bill passed by the Folketing, and what the immigration minister will put in such a bill is governed by an agreement between political parties - the agreement of 20 April 2021 between the Social Democrats, Venstre, the Conservative People's Party and Liberal Alliance - published as a circular to the authorities with the agreement itself printed as an annex. That circular is where the nine years of continuous residence, the two years of permanent residence, the self-support condition, the three-and-a-half years of employment, the Danish language exam and the 2021 citizenship test actually live.

Verified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-10

At a glance

What the Nationality Act says about naturalisation
One sentence, pointing at the Constitution

Section 6(1): Indfødsret kan erhverves ved naturalisation i henhold til grundloven. No condition appears anywhere in the Act.

Who grants it
The Folketing, by Act

Section 6(1) of the Nationality Act, and the circular, which speaks throughout of being written into a bill on the conferral of nationality.

Where the conditions are
A circular carrying a party agreement of 20 April 2021

Paragraph 1 of the naturalisation circular, which says the agreement adjusts the general guidelines for the minister's preparation of such bills and is printed as its annex.

Continuous residence
9 years

Section 7(1) of the naturalisation circular.

Continuous residence for refugees and stateless people
8 years

Section 7(2) of the naturalisation circular.

Continuous residence for Nordic nationals
2 years

Section 7(3) of the naturalisation circular.

Continuous residence for the spouse of a Danish national
6 years after three years of marriage, 7 after two, 8 after one

Section 8(1) of the naturalisation circular, which also requires the spouse to have been Danish for at least three years.

Continuous residence after a substantial Danish education
5 years

Section 11 of the naturalisation circular, where the education was of a Danish character and lasted at least three years unless completed by examination.

Permanent residence first
2 years of it

Section 5(1) of the naturalisation circular, measured to the end of the month the bill is expected to pass.

Employment
3 years and 6 months of full-time work within the last 4 years

Section 23 A(1) of the naturalisation circular, with attachment to the labour market also required when the bill is tabled.

Language
Prøve i Dansk 3

Section 24(1) of the naturalisation circular. Section 24(2) lets applicants with a long clean self-support record do it at Prøve i Dansk 2 instead.

Knowledge test
Indfødsretsprøven af 2021

Section 24(3) of the naturalisation circular. Section 7 of the Nationality Act is the power to establish the test at all.

Application fee
4,000 kroner

Section 12(1) of the Nationality Act, which also sets 1,200 kroner for a certificate of nationality and 1,100 kroner for a declaration. The fee is not refunded if the application fails.

Nordic route by declaration instead of naturalisation
7 years of residence, if you did not acquire your Nordic nationality by naturalisation

Sections 3(1) and 3(2) of the Nationality Act, which also require you to be 18 and to have had no custodial sentence in that time.

Requirements

  • Nine years of continuous residence in Denmark, or less on one of the named shorter paths
  • Permanent residence held for two years at the end of the month the bill is expected to pass
  • Self-support: no assistance under the Active Social Policy Act or the Integration Act in the last two years
  • Three and a half years of full-time work or self-employment within the last four, and attachment to the labour market when the bill is tabled
  • A pass in Prøve i Dansk 3, and in the Indfødsretsprøven af 2021
  • To be written into a bill on the conferral of nationality and for the Folketing to pass it

In detail

Why there is no decision to appeal

In every other country in this corpus naturalisation is an administrative decision: an authority applies a statutory test and either grants or refuses, and a refusal can be challenged. In Denmark the Nationality Act confers no power on anyone to naturalise. Section 6(1) points at the Constitution, under which nationality is conferred by Act of Parliament, so what an applicant seeks is to be written into a bill. The conditions for being written in are the minister's guidelines, and the guidelines are the political agreement of 20 April 2021 as published in the circular.

The circular is a reading of an agreement, and it has moved since

The circular of 17 June 2021 records an agreement of 20 April 2021, a further understanding of 11 June 2021 on the employment condition and its commencement, and a clarification of 26 April 2021 on which criminal measures exclude an applicant. Retsinformation's own record for the circular names a later circular of 11 April 2022 amending it, on the reacquisition of nationality after it has been withdrawn. That amending circular was not read, so the text quoted here is the 2021 circular as issued.

Country-level policy

Six Months Out of the Country Ends Your Permit, and Every Amount in the Act Is a Snapshot

Two things run underneath the Danish residence rules and neither sits in the record of any one route. A residence permit lapses when you give up your home in Denmark and, separately, when you have been outside the country for more than six consecutive months - twelve if the permit allows permanent residence and you have lawfully lived here more than two years, or if you hold permanent residence. That is a continuous-absence rule and not a presence quota: two absences of five months each break neither limb. And almost every amount printed in the Aliens Act is adjusted once a year. The salary thresholds move with the rate-adjustment percentage plus an adjustment percentage tracking wage growth and are rounded to the nearest thousand; the family-reunification security is set at 2024 levels and adjusted every 1 January; the permanent-residence income alternative is set at 2016 levels; the fees are adjusted and rounded to the nearest five kroner. The figure a reader takes from the consolidated text is the figure as it stood when the text was consolidated.

Exceptions by origin

Two Years Instead of Nine on the Parliamentary Route, and a Declaration Route That Skips Parliament Altogether

A Swedish citizen reaches Danish nationality on terms nobody else has. The naturalisation guidelines cut the continuous residence requirement from nine years to two for citizens of the Nordic countries. Separately, and outside naturalisation entirely, section 3 of the Nationality Act lets a citizen of Finland, Iceland, Norway or Sweden acquire Danish nationality by a written declaration to the ministry - no bill, no vote, no language exam and no citizenship test - provided the Nordic nationality was not itself acquired by naturalisation, the applicant is 18, has lived in the realm for the last seven years and has had no custodial sentence in that time. The fee for a declaration is lower than the fee for a naturalisation application.

  • For the declaration route: Swedish citizenship not acquired by naturalisation, age 18, seven years of residence in the realm and no custodial sentence in that time
  • For the parliamentary route: two years of continuous residence instead of nine, and the other conditions in the guidelines
Verified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-10

What the law says

Text layer - verbatim verifiedIndfødsretsloven, lovbekendtgørelse nr. 1656 af 23. december 2022 · § 6, stk. 1 · consolidated to 2022-12-23
«Indfødsret kan erhverves ved naturalisation i henhold til grundloven.»

Known to be out of date. Lov nr. 487 af 13. maj 2023 amended the Nationality Act after this consolidation and was not read.

The whole of Danish statutory naturalisation law.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedIndfødsretsloven, lovbekendtgørelse nr. 1656 af 23. december 2022 · § 3, stk. 1 · consolidated to 2022-12-23
«Den, der er statsborger i Finland, Island, Norge eller Sverige og opfylder betingelserne i stk. 2, erhverver dansk indfødsret ved over for Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet, Rigsombudsmanden på Færøerne eller Rigsombuds-manden i Grønland at afgive skriftlig erklæring herom.»

Known to be out of date. Lov nr. 487 af 13. maj 2023 amended the Nationality Act after this consolidation and was not read.

The Nordic declaration route, which is not naturalisation and is decided administratively.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedIndfødsretsloven, lovbekendtgørelse nr. 1656 af 23. december 2022 · § 3, stk. 2, nr. 3 · consolidated to 2022-12-23
«har haft bopæl her i riget i de sidste 7 år og»

Known to be out of date. Lov nr. 487 af 13. maj 2023 amended the Nationality Act after this consolidation and was not read.

The residence period on that route.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedIndfødsretsloven, lovbekendtgørelse nr. 1656 af 23. december 2022 · § 7 · consolidated to 2022-12-23
«Udlændinge- og integrationsministeren kan fastsætte regler om etablering og afholdelse af en indfødsretsprøve, herunder regler om udpegning af prøveafholdere, om betingelser for deltagelse i prøven, om opkrævning af gebyr for deltagelse i prøven, om prøvens gennemførelse, om tilsyn og om klageadgang m.v.»

Known to be out of date. Lov nr. 487 af 13. maj 2023 amended the Nationality Act after this consolidation and was not read.

The citizenship test exists because the Act lets the minister create one, not because the Act describes it.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedIndfødsretsloven, lovbekendtgørelse nr. 1656 af 23. december 2022 · § 12, stk. 1 · consolidated to 2022-12-23
«Ved indgivelse af ansøgning om dansk indfødsret ved naturalisation for ansøgere, der er fyldt 18 år, betales et gebyr på 4.000 kr., og ved indgivelse af ansøgning om bevis for eller bevarelse af dansk indfødsret betales et gebyr på 1.200 kr. Ved afgivelse af erklæring om dansk indfødsret betales et gebyr på 1.100 kr.»

Known to be out of date. Lov nr. 487 af 13. maj 2023 amended the Nationality Act after this consolidation and was not read.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCirkulæreskrivelse nr. 9461 af 17. juni 2021 om naturalisation · Pkt. 1
«Den 20. april 2021 indgik regeringspartiet Socialdemokratiet samt Venstre, Det Konservative Folkeparti og Liberal Alliance en aftale om indfødsret. Med aftalen justeres de generelle retningslinjer for udlændinge- og integrationsministerens udarbejdelse af lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse (naturalisation). Aftalen er optrykt som bilag til denne cirkulæreskrivelse.»

The agreement, the parties to it, and the fact that it is annexed to the circular.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCirkulæreskrivelse nr. 9461 af 17. juni 2021 om naturalisation · § 7, stk. 1
«Det er en betingelse for optagelse på et lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse, at ansøgeren har haft 9 års uafbrudt ophold her i landet.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCirkulæreskrivelse nr. 9461 af 17. juni 2021 om naturalisation · § 7, stk. 2
«Personer, der er anerkendt som flygtninge, personer, der må sidestilles hermed, og statsløse personer kan optages på et lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse efter 8 års uafbrudt ophold her i landet.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCirkulæreskrivelse nr. 9461 af 17. juni 2021 om naturalisation · § 7, stk. 3
«Statsborgere fra de nordiske lande kan optages på et lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse efter 2 års uafbrudt ophold her i landet.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCirkulæreskrivelse nr. 9461 af 17. juni 2021 om naturalisation · § 8, stk. 1
«En person, der lever i ægteskab med en dansk statsborger, kan optages på et lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse efter 6 års uafbrudt ophold her i landet, når ægteskabet har bestået, og ægtefællen har været dansk i mindst 3 år. Ved 2 års ægteskab kræves 7 års ophold her i landet, og ved 1 års ægteskab kræves 8 års ophold.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCirkulæreskrivelse nr. 9461 af 17. juni 2021 om naturalisation · § 11
«Ansøgere, der har fået en væsentlig del af deres almindelige eller faglige uddannelse i Danmark, kan optages på et lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse efter 5 års uafbrudt ophold her i landet.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCirkulæreskrivelse nr. 9461 af 17. juni 2021 om naturalisation · § 5, stk. 1
«Det er en betingelse for optagelse på et lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse, at ansøgeren har haft tidsubegrænset opholdstilladelse her i landet i 2 år ved udgangen af den måned, hvor det pågældende lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse forventes vedtaget, jf. dog stk. 2.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCirkulæreskrivelse nr. 9461 af 17. juni 2021 om naturalisation · § 23, stk. 1
«Det er en betingelse for optagelse på et lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse, at ansøgeren er selvforsørgende. Det indebærer, at ansøgeren ikke må have modtaget hjælp efter lov om aktiv socialpolitik eller integrationsloven inden for de seneste 2 år forud for fremsættelse af et lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCirkulæreskrivelse nr. 9461 af 17. juni 2021 om naturalisation · § 23 A, stk. 1
«Det er en betingelse for optagelse på et lovforslag om indfødsretsmeddelelse, at ansøgeren skal have været i ordinær fuldtidsbeskæftigelse eller udøvet selvstændig erhvervsvirksomhed i mindst 3 år og 6 måneder inden for de sidste 4 år forud for fremsættelse af et lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCirkulæreskrivelse nr. 9461 af 17. juni 2021 om naturalisation · § 24, stk. 1
«Det er en betingelse for optagelse på et lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse, at ansøgeren dokumenterer danskkundskaber ved bevis for at have bestået danskuddannelsernes Prøve i Dansk 3 eller en af de i bilag 3.a angivne prøver, jf. dog stk. 2.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCirkulæreskrivelse nr. 9461 af 17. juni 2021 om naturalisation · § 24, stk. 3
«Det er herudover en betingelse for optagelse på et lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse, at ansøgeren dokumenterer kendskab til danske samfundsforhold, dansk kultur og historie ved bevis for at have bestået Indfødsretsprøven af 2021, jf. dog § 33, stk. 7, og bilag 4.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

Practical notes

The Constitution itself was not read. Retsinformation holds a record for Danmarks Riges Grundlov but serves no machine-readable text for it: the XML representation is metadata only and the PDF representation answers 404. The chain from section 6(1) to the constitutional provision is therefore stated as the Nationality Act states it, and not quoted from the Constitution.

The good-character rules, the debt rules and the annexes listing equivalent language examinations were not quoted. Only the conditions named above were read out of the circular.

A bill on the conferral of nationality is passed twice a year in practice. No such bill was read and nothing here rests on one.

Sources2 · all accessed 2026-10-10
  • consolidates
    Indfødsretsloven, lovbekendtgørelse nr. 1656 af 23. december 2022

    Retsinformation, Civilstyrelsen · consolidated to 2022-12-23

    About this source

    The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

    Standing: Maintains the text in force

    Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

    We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source

  • consolidates
    Cirkulæreskrivelse nr. 9461 af 17. juni 2021 om naturalisation

    Retsinformation, Civilstyrelsen

    About this source

    The Danish state's common legal information system, run by Civilstyrelsen under the Ministry of Justice. It serves every Act, consolidated Act, ministerial regulation, circular and guidance document at a stable ELI address of the form https://www.retsinformation.dk/{pubMedia}/{year}/{number}, where pubMedia is lta for Lovtidende A, retsinfo for documents published on the service itself and mt for Ministerialtidende. Each document is offered in three representations off that address: the bare address, which is a JavaScript shell; /pdf, which is the publisher's own typeset PDF with a real text layer; and /dan/xml, which is the LexDania source. A consolidated Act prints on its first page the consolidation it supersedes, every amending Act folded into it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph list of the amendments it does NOT incorporate because the minister has not yet set their commencement date. The XML carries a metadata block with the accession number, the signature date, a Status field reading Valid or Historic, and a Change block naming each amending instrument.

    Standing: Maintains the text in force

    Cannot be cited for: The address itself serves a 4.8 KB React shell and no text; a reading taken from it is page furniture, not the law. The XML representation of older documents can be metadata only: Danmarks Riges Grundlov, the Constitution that Danish naturalisation rests on, has a record with a title and a status and no text at all, and its /pdf address answers 404. The free-text parameter of the public search API is ignored, so the service can be filtered by document type and ministry but not searched by word from outside the browser. A document marked Historic may still be operative: the 2014 regulation listing the countries whose driving licences exchange without a test is marked Historic because the 2016 regulation repealed it, and the 2016 regulation's own transitional provision keeps its list in force. The StartDate and EndDate fields in the XML are record-keeping dates and are not the validity period of the instrument - they must not be read as a commencement or a repeal. The service publishes what has been enacted and nothing about how an agency applies it: the Positive List, the unemployment level that opens one of the salary routes, the driving-licence exchange list and the annually adjusted amounts are all published elsewhere by the administering body.

    We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source