Nordic citizens and Danish citizenship

Subject to certain conditions, citizens of Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden (Nordic citizens) can acquire Danish citizenship by submitting a declaration to the Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration, the High Commissioner of the Faroe Islands, or the High Commissioner of Greenland. 

Nordic citizens, who are at least 18 years old, can acquire Danish citizenship under certain conditions.

If you are a Nordic citizen, who did not become a Nordic citizen by naturalisation and you meet certain conditions, you can acquire Danish citizenship by submitting a declaration.

You can acquire Danish citizenship by submitting a declaration if you are a citizen of

• Finland
• Iceland
• Norway 
• Sweden
• and you became such a citizen through other means than naturalisation. 

You must also:

• be at least 18 years old
• have resided in Denmark for the past 7 years
• have not been the subject of a sentence involving deprivation of liberty or measures which can be deemed equivalent to deprivation of liberty during this period.

You have acquired citizenship through other means than naturalisation, if you acquired your citizenship through a parent at the time of birth, through your parents’ subsequent marriage or through adoption.

When determining the period of residence, emphasis will in the first instance be placed on the information given in the CPR register. However, the actual date of entry into Denmark will be used as a basis. Ordinary vacations, etc. will not prevent you from acquiring Danish citizenship by submitting a declaration.

• Form for declaration concerning Danish citizenship for Nordic citizens over 18 years (PDF – in Danish)

Submitting a declaration concerning Danish citizenship costs DKK 1,100 (2024).

The fee must be paid to the Ministry of Immigration and Integration when you submit the declaration form via the following account:

Registration number 0216

Account number 40692331004.

The following information must be used when paying via a foreign bank:

BIC/SWIFT: DABADKKKIBAN:

DK60 0216 4069 2310 04

When making the payment:

1. add ‘ERK’ followed by the applicant’s CPR number or name
2. the payer's full name
3. the payer's country of residence
4. the payer's date of birth
5. the payer’s place of birth
6. the payer’s citizenship
7. the purpose of the transfer. 

The fee is also payable if you submit your declaration to the High Commissioner of Greenland or the High Commissioner of the Faroe Islands.

The fee will not be refunded if the declaration is rejected.

If you are a Swedish citizen, who are at least 18 years old, you must attach the following documents:

• Your population registration certificate (personbevis), stating your name, birth details (including place of birth), citizenship, and your parents’ names
• Both your parents’ population registration certificates (personbevis), stating names, birth details (including place of birth) citizenship, all previous and current marriages, and their parents’ names.
• Your parents’ death certificates, if they are deceased
• Your parents’ marriage and divorce certificates, if they subsequently got a divorce
• Documentation of your parents’ Swedish citizenship, if they acquired the citizenship by naturalisation (by application)
• Documentation of any change of name
• Documentation of any adoption and of the adoption’s validity under Danish law
• Copy of all pages of your passport – excluding blank pages (passports are not considered to be equivalent to population registration certificates)
• Documentation of payment of the fee of DKK 1,100 (2024)

If case you want the declaration to cover your children, you must also attach the following documents. 

• Your minor children’s population registration certificates, stating name, birth details (including place of birth), citizenship, and the names of the child’s parents
• Your marriage certificate and divorce certificate, if you are divorced
• Documentation of custody of your minor children

Please note all documents must be stamped and signed by the issuing authority.

All physical and scanned signatures and stamps are acceptable, as long as the signature are written by hand.

If you are a Finnish or Icelandic citizen, who are at least 18 years old, you must attach the following documents:

• Your citizenship certificate (passports are not considered to be equivalent to citizenship certificates)
• Your birth certificate, stating your name and birth details (including your place of birth), citizenship and both your parents’ name
• Both your parents’ birth certificates, stating names, birth details (including place of birth), citizenship, all previous and current marriages and their parents’ names
• Your parents’ death certificates, if they are deceased
• Your parents’ marriage and divorce certificates, if they are divorced
• Documentation of your parents’ Finnish or Icelandic citizenship, if they acquired the citizenship by naturalisation (by application)
• Documentation of any change of name
• Documentation of any adoption and of the adoption’s validity under Danish law
• Copy of all pages of your passport (excluding blank pages)
• Documentation of payment of the fee of DKK 1,100 (2024). 

If case you want the declaration to cover your children, you must also attach the following documents:  

• Your minor children’s birth certificate, stating the name of the child’s parents. 
• Your marriage certificate and divorce certificate, if you are divorced.
• Documentation of custody of your minor children.

Please note all documents must be stamped and signed by the issuing authority. All physical and scanned signatures and stamps are acceptable, as long as the signatures are written by hand.

Please also note that all Finnish and Icelandic documents must be translated into either Danish, Swedish or English.

If you are a Norwegian citizen, who are at least 18 years old, you must attach the following documents:

• Information from the National Population Register in Norway (Folkeregisteret) concerning your citizenship (if your citizenship is not registered in the National Population Register in Norway, the other requested information from the National Population Register in Norway must be submitted). A passport alone is not sufficient
• Your birth certificate, stating your name, birth details (including your place of birth), citizenship, and your parents’ name
• Both of your parents’ birth certificates or extracts from the National Population Register in Norway, stating names, birth details (including place of birth), citizenship, all previous and current marriages and your parent’s names
• Your parents’ death certificates, if they are deceased
• Your parents’ marriage or divorce certificates, if they are divorced
• Documentation of your parents’ Norwegian citizenship, if they acquired the citizenship by naturalisation (by application)
• Documentation of any change of name
• Documentation of any adoption and of the adoption’s validity under Danish law
• Copy of all pages of your passport (excluding blank pages)
• Documentation of payment of the fee of DKK 1,100 (2024)

In case you want the declaration to cover your children, you must also attach the following documents.   

• Your minor children’s birth certificate, stating the name of the child’s parents
• Your marriage certificate and divorce certificate, if you are divorced
• Documentation of custody of your minor children

Please note all documents must be stamped and signed by the issuing authority. All physical and scanned signatures and stamps are acceptable, as long as the signatures are written by hand.

Please also note that all Finnish and Icelandic documents must be translated into either Danish, Swedish or English.

A child must fulfil certain conditions in order to acquire Danish citizenship with a parent.

Children are under normal circumstances included in a parent’s declaration.

If you acquire Danish citizenship by submitting a declaration, in most cases, your children will acquire Danish citizenship as well, provided:

• You have sole or joint custody
• The other parent consent
• The child is unmarried
• The child is under 18 years of age.

Please note, if a child is adopted, it is a further condition that the adoption is valid under Danish law. Documentation of the validity of the adoption under Danish law must attached to the declaration.

Please also note, that you can state in your declaration, that you do not want your children to be included in your declaration. Thus, your children will not acquire Danish citizenship.

Please also note that you must document your relationship to the children. This may require you to undergo a DNA test or to submit original apostille-endorsed or legalised birth certificates.

If you do not fulfil the conditions for acquiring Danish citizenship by submitting a declaration, you can apply for Danish citizenship by naturalisation instead.

Nordic citizens must normally fulfil the general conditions for acquiring Danish citizenship by naturalisation. However, special rules apply to Nordic citizens concerning the requirement for permanent residence permit, the residence requirement. Furthermore, applicants, who speaks Norwegian or Swedish, fulfill the language proficiency requirement, if they passed the final examinations of an elementary school in Norway or Sweden. 

• Guidance on how to apply for Danish citizenship
  

• Circular letter on naturalisation (in Danish)
• The Nationality Act (in Danish)