Apply for visa under EU regulations

As a general rule, EU law cannot be applied when the EU citizen resides in the member state of which he or she is a national.

If you are a family member of a Danish citizen and you wish to return to Denmark after residing in another EU country, you may be entitled to have your visa application processed under the EU regulations.

For your visa application to be processed under the EU regulations in cases where your family member is a Danish citizen, the following conditions must be met:

• Your Danish family member must have exercised his or her right to free movement and established a genuine and actual residence (i.e. lived) in another EU country outside Denmark.
• You must have resided in that other EU country and lived together as a family with your Danish family member.
• There must be a temporal connection between your Danish family member’s residence (i.e. exercise of his/her right to free movement) in the other EU country and your submission of the visa application.
• You must both intend to return to Denmark in order to take up residence.

As a general rule, the EU regulations cannot be applied if your family member is a Danish citizen who has resided continuously in Denmark.

As a family member of an EU citizen, you have the right to have a visa application for Denmark processed under the EU regulations if you accompany or join the EU citizen while he or she is exercising the right of free movement in Denmark.

Examples of situations where an EU citizen is exercising the right of free movement:

Example 1: French citizens residing in Cyprus travel to Italy – Directive 2004/38/EC applies.

Example 2: Czech citizens residing in the Czech Republic travel (or intend to travel) to Sweden – Directive 2004/38/EC applies.

Example 3: Hungarian citizens residing in Bolivia travel to Poland – Directive 2004/38/EC applies.

Example 4: Polish citizens residing in Bolivia travel to Poland – Directive 2004/38/EC does not apply.

Example 5: Latvian citizens residing in Greece return to Latvia (i.e. to reside in the Union citizen’s home country) – Directive 2004/38/EC applies by analogy.

You can read more in Section III of the Visa Code Handbook I (Visa Handbook I).

Which family members are covered?

If you belong to one of the following categories of family members of an EU citizen who is exercising or has exercised the right of free movement in Denmark, you are normally entitled to have your visa application processed under the EU regulations:

• Spouse
• Cohabiting partner aged 18 or over
• Direct descendants under the age of 21 (i.e. children, grandchildren, etc.) of the EU citizen/the Danish citizen or of the spouse/cohabiting partner
• Direct descendants over the age of 21 (i.e. children, grandchildren, etc.) of the EU citizen/the Danish citizen or of the spouse/cohabiting partner who are dependent on the EU citizen/the Danish citizen or on the spouse/cohabiting partner
• Relatives in the ascending line (i.e. parents, grandparents, etc.) of the EU citizen/the Danish citizen or of the spouse/cohabiting partner who are dependent on the EU citizen/the Danish citizen or on the spouse/cohabiting partner
• Other family members (i.e. siblings, cousins, etc.) if, in the country from which they arrive, they are dependent on the EU citizen/the Danish citizen or are members of his or her household
• Other family members (i.e. parents. grandparents etc.) if serious health issues make it absolutely imperative that the EU citizen/the Danish citizen personally takes care of them

Your visa application and documentation

Your visa application will be processed by the diplomatic mission (embassy or consulate general) without any processing fee and under a faster procedure which may only in exceptional cases take longer than 15 days.

A visa will normally be issued. unless the applicant is deemed to be a threat to public order. security or health.

Documentation

There is no requirement for documentation of travel health insurance in connection with submitting a visa application under EU regulations. just as the applicant is not required to have documentation that he or she has the necessary funds for the stay in Denmark.

However, you must provide documentation of the following:

• The EU citizen has exercised or plans to exercise the right of free movement in connection with entry and residence in Denmark.
• You are covered by one of the categories of family members listed above.

Thus, the requirements for obtaining a visa under the EU regulations are not the same as those that apply to other visa applications. Further information can be obtained from the diplomatic mission where the visa application is submitted.

If you request to have your visa application processed under the EU regulations, the visa authorities will assess whether you are covered. If you are covered, your visa application will be processed under the EU regulations.

If the Danish diplomatic mission assesses that you are not covered by the EU regulations, or if the Danish diplomatic mission is uncertain whether you are covered, the visa application will be forwarded to the Danish Immigration Service, which will process the visa application.

If the Danish Immigration Service assesses that you are not covered by the EU regulations, your visa application will be refused on the grounds that it has not been documented that you fall within the scope of the EU regulations.

You may submit a new visa application following the ordinary visa application procedures and apply under the general visa rules.

The fact that a family member of an EU citizen is granted a visa under the EU regulations does not imply that the applicant meets the conditions for family reunification under EU regulations. Final decisions about whether applicants meet the specific requirements for family reunification under EU regulations will be based on the independent evaluations of the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).