Citizenship - status 2018

In this report, we present an overview of human rights law and recent developments concerning citizenship. We then examine eight topics in more detail, and present recommendations for improvements to the protection of human rights in Denmark:

• Establishment of a commission on citizenship
• Protection against statelessness at birth
• Access to Danish citizenship for descendants of immigrants
• Citizenship for refugees and stateless persons
• Exemption from citizenship requirements
• Loss of citizenship
• Quasi-loss of citizenship
• Recovery of citizenship

The key recommendations of the report

The Danish Institute for Human Rights recommends that the Danish Government:

• set up an expert commission tasked with preparing a citizenship law reform.
• take steps to amend the Danish Nationality Act so that children born in Denmark are automatically granted Danish citizenship at birth provided that they are not granted – or are able to obtain via registration or declaration – citizenship of another country.
• until a legislative amendment can be implemented, provide individual guidance such that, when a stateless child is born in Denmark, the parents are informed about the child’s right to citizenship and how the parents can apply for this, and such that a stateless child born in Denmark receives corresponding information when he/she turns 18.
• facilitate the acquisition of Danish citizenship for persons who are born in Denmark and reside here lawfully and habitually, and for persons who are lawfully an habitually resident here for a period of time before the age of 18.

The report is only available in Danish but contains a summary in English on page 7.