Unaccompanied children
When children under the age of 18 come to Denmark and seek asylum without their parents or other adults, they are termed 'unaccompanied minor asylum seekers’.
All children can apply for asylum in Denmark. As a general rule, unaccompanied children must meet the same conditions as other asylum seekers in order to have their application processed and to be granted asylum.
However, children are considered a particularly vulnerable group, and special guidelines have been devised for processing their cases. As such, asylum applications from children will be processed as quickly as possible, and child applicants will be housed in special accommodation centres with specially trained personnel.
Maturity of the child
Unaccompanied children will only be put through the normal asylum case process if they are mature enough to do so. If the Immigration Service assesses that a child is not mature enough, the child can be granted a residence permit without his/her asylum application being processed.
The child's situation in the country of origin
If a child's application is processed and refused, the child may be granted asylum anyway. This may be the case if, for example, the child would have great difficulty managing in his/her country of origin due to the lack of an adequate support network in the form of family, other adults, public assistance, etc. Information on the child's health and need for particular care or support will also be taken into consideration. Finally, the general situation in the child's country of origin, such as conditions of war, will be taken into account.
The child will be represented
Every unaccompanied child will be appointed a personal representative to serve his/her interests. Among other things, the representative will offer support to the child during the processing of the case, e.g., by accompanying the child during the asylum interview. The representative will also support the child on a more personal level. The Immigration Service will ask the Danish Red Cross to recommend a representative to the Regional State aAministration (Statsforvaltningen), which will appoint the representative. The representative will not be affiliated with immigration authorities, and can, e.g., be a relative or other private individual.
The child will be granted an attorney
If a child's asylum case is processed according to the manifestly unfounded procedure, the Immigration Service will appoint an attorney to represent the child.
Search for the child's parents
Following the child's arrival to Denmark, the Immigration Service can launch a search of the child's parents. The search may be carried out in cooperation with the Danish Red Cross, or a similar organisation appointed by the Minister for Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs.
Residence permit
If an unaccompanied child is granted asylum, the permit is initially limited to a period of 7 years. If an unaccompanied child is granted any other type of residence permit, the permit is initially limited to a period of 2 years. When the residence permit expires, the child can apply for an extension. In order to be granted such an extension, the child must continue to meet the conditions for residence in Denmark.
Appeal
A refusal of an application for a residence permit following the Aliens Act Section 9, 3 can be appealed to the Ministry for Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs. If the appeal is submitted less than seven days after the Immigration Service’s announcement of the refusal, the child may stay in Denmark during the appeal process. However, if the appeal is submitted after this point, the child will normally have to leave Denmark during the processing of the case.