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Britons told to leave Denmark over late residence applications could get reprieve

A large number of British nationals who face having to leave Denmark after missing a deadline to renew residence permits after Brexit could have their cases reassessed.

Published: 10 February 2023 19:22 CET
Britons told to leave Denmark over late residence applications could get reprieve
Danish immigration minister Kaare Dybvad Bek - here pictured when the coalition government was announced - has said help is on the way to British residents of Denmark who missed a post-Brexit deadline to renew their residence permits. Photo: Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix

Over 350 UK nationals resident in Denmark did not meet a December 31st 2021 deadline to submit applications to renew their residency permits under Denmark’s application of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

This resulted in many not having their residence permits renewed, but they may now be allowed to remain in the country after the immigration ministry said it wanted to help them.

Minister for Immigration and Integration Kaare Dybvad Bek confirmed in a written comment to newspaper Politiken that the affected British citizens in Denmark would be given assistance with the aim of enabling them to stay in the country.

“It has always been the government’s intention to make it easy and smooth for British citizens to stay in Denmark after Brexit. That’s why we must give a helping hand to those who did not apply in time,” Bek told the newspaper.

“I look forward to us hopefully soon being able to present a solution,” the minister said. 

The affected British nationals faced having to leave Denmark after the authority that processes the applications, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI), began rejecting applications that were submitted late without what it deemed to be “reasonable” cause for a late submission.

The issue was complicated because SIRI did not send information letters about the application deadline directly to people who moved to Denmark from the UK after January 31st, 2020.

That meant many people – potentially in the thousands – were not directly notified that they needed to submit an application to update their residence status before December 31st, 2021. SIRI has previously stated it viewed “the circumstance that an applicant has not received an orientation letter is not, by our assessment, enough reason in itself for him or her not to comply with the application deadline”.

SIRI did send letters to over 19,000 British nationals in Denmark, but only to earlier movers — not those who registered after moving to the country between February and December 2020. Some 17,811 applications were received by SIRI before the deadline. 

According to figures provided by SIRI to The Local in January, 352 late applications have so far been received by the agency. Of these, 50 were rejected while 179 were pending. Some 113 had been approved despite late submission and 10 lapsed without an outcome. The figures cover late submissions from persons who both did and did not receive the information letters.

The Local has previously reported on individual Britons who faced having to leave homes, jobs and loved ones in Denmark over the issue.

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Because of ongoing work at government level to find a resolution for the affected Britons, SIRI is no longer asking British nationals who submitted late applications to leave Denmark.

In a statement on its website, the agency wrote that “The Ministry of Immigration and Integration has stated that it seeks to find a solution for UK citizens and their family members who have not submitted an application for new residence documents under the Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom before the deadline expired on 31 December 2021.”

“Following this statement… SIRI has decided that for the time being, SIRI will not reject pending applications with no reasonable reasons for not having met the deadline. Instead, these cases will be put on hold,” it said.

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BREXIT

What Labour’s UK election win could mean for Brits in Europe

The UK's new Prime Minister Keir Starmer has swept into Downing Street in a landslide victory. But how will a Labour government affect Brits in Europe? And what, if anything, will the former 'Remainer' do about Brexit?

Published: 5 July 2024 15:31 CEST
Updated: 8 July 2024 13:40 CEST
What Labour's UK election win could mean for Brits in Europe

The Labour party won a landslide victory in the UK general election on Thursday, bringing an end to 14 years of Conservative party rule.

Labour majority

The new Labour government enters office at a time of high political and economic uncertainty, stagnant growth, public services pushed to breaking point, and Britain’s international reputation tarnished after the Conservative government staggered from calamity to calamity in recent years.

Leading up to the election, the question was not if Labour would win but when, and how big the majority will be. In the end Labour won one of the biggest landslides in British political history, taking 412 seats. 

What the new Labour government does (or more likely, doesn’t) do with its massive majority could have big implications on life for approximately 1.3 million UK nationals living throughout the EU.

Writing exclusively for The Local after his party’s election win, the UK’s new Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Britain would reset its ties with the EU.

“As the new British Foreign Secretary, with our Prime Minister Keir Starmer, this government will reset relations with Europe as a reliable partner, a dependable ally and a good neighbour.”

Lammy added: “We must do more to champion the ties between our people and our culture. Holidays, family ties, school and student exchanges, the arts, and sport (I was of course cheering on England in the Euros…). Thanks to this, our citizens benefit from the rich diversity of our continent.

“If we are to fulfil our ambitions for a reset, we must also improve Britain’s relationship with the European Union… I look forward to seeing Britain reconnect with our European neighbours in the years ahead.”

For many Brits in Europe (as well as those in the UK), the elephant in the room is, of course, Brexit.

Starmer and Labour’s Brexit policy

But what, if anything, does a Labour government actually mean for Brexit and Brits in Europe?

For many, Starmer first came to national prominence in his role as shadow Brexit secretary under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. He was then an ardent Remainer, and largely responsible for Labour’s eventual position on a second referendum, demanding that the British people deserve a “confirmatory vote” on Europe.

How things have changed. In the build-up to the election Starmer categorically ruled out the idea of rejoining the single market and the customs union, let alone a second referendum on rejoining the EU. He has, however, stated that he will take steps to ease trade barriers and sign a bolstered security agreement with Brussels.

Asked recently by the British press if he could envision Britain re-entering the EU in his lifetime, Starmer was unequivocal. “No. I don’t think that that is going to happen,” he said. “I’ve been really clear about not rejoining the EU, the single market or the customs union – or a return to freedom of movement.”

These comments sparked a certain amount of anger and disappointment among many Brits in Europe. Although they were made before the actual election with Starmer still in campaign mode.

In essence, despite his Remain-backing past, Starmer’s position seems to be that Labour can improve the Brexit deal signed by the Johnson government in January 2020, rather than tear it up or try and force the UK back into the EU on new terms.

For those hoping to rejoin the EU one day, this will be disappointing. Brexit became something of an internal psychodrama for the Conservative party, yet Starmer’s Labour appear to have accepted it as the political framework and don’t dare reopen the debate.

So for the hundreds of thousands of UK nationals living in Europe there will be no return of their freedom of movement and EU citizenship anytime soon.

So will Labour change anything for Brits in Europe?

Labour has been tight-lipped on what its Brexit policy will actually mean in practical terms, but of the few concrete proposals it has outlined so far there are plans to revamp a veterinary deal on animal products to ease on paperwork and border checks, as well as making it easier for qualifications to be recognised abroad.

Labour has also promised to enshrine rights to consular assistance for UK citizens abroad in cases of human rights violations, and to make reciprocal arrangements for touring artists and musicians moving between the UK and EU.

In terms of broad strokes commitments, however, it’s hardly ambitious.

Some economic experts have suggested that rejoining the single market or customs union would significantly boost the British economy, so some hold out hope that the political and economic reality may force the new Labour government to reconsider its position on Europe somewhere down the line.

What about the roll out of the the EU’s new EES border system?

Britons travelling to Europe will face likely travel disruption when the EU finally rolls out its new biometric border checks known as Entry/Exit System or just EES.

There had been much talk of the UK government trying to get the rollout delayed in a bid to avoid or at least postpone the likely chaos. Could Keir Starmer’s government put pressure on the EU to delay EES?

Well the main point to note is that it’s up to the EU when it rolls out EES, not the UK government. It is due to be launched in October or November although an exact date has not been announced. However if there is any delay it will likely be because of concerns on the EU side rather than because of pressure from the UK.

READ ALSO: When will Europe’s new EES passport system be launched?

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