Denmark has paused citizenship decisions for 2,055 people who had already met every requirement, including 130 who were born and raised in the country.
In January 2026, the 2,055 applicants were placed on a naturalization bill in Folketinget, the final step before Danish citizenship is granted. DR reports that they still do not know whether they must reapply or how long they must wait.
The broadcaster obtained the breakdown of the group through a freedom of information request. Citizenship decisions are on hold while an expert group examines how applicants can be screened for antidemocratic attitudes.
Who the 2,055 applicants are
According to the figures DR obtained, 1,012 of the applicants came from countries in Europe. A further 696 came from predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Many had lived in Denmark for a long time before reaching the bill. One in four had been in the country for at least 20 years, and 130 were born and raised in Denmark.
One of them is Josephine Senyondwa, 22, who was born at Glostrup Hospital and grew up in Hillerød. She is studying to become a food engineer and her parent is from Uganda. As she told DR, she accepts that opponents of democracy should not become citizens, but considers it unfair if new criteria are applied to people whose applications were already approved.
Senyondwa also notes that despite being born and raised in Denmark, she could not vote in the Folketing election in the spring of 2026. Another applicant, Saeid Ashian, moved from Iran more than ten years ago and works at Saxo Bank, while his wife works at Lundbeck. Per DR, he applied more than three years ago, reached the January bill, and says the family now does not know whether they will be able to stay.
Why the applications stalled
The naturalization bill reached its first reading in Folketinget but lapsed when an election was called, as reported by DR in September 2026. The same reporting stated that the expert group’s work was expected to continue until around New Year, with negotiations on a new citizenship agreement to follow.
The 2,055 are part of a far larger backlog. In late September 2026, DR reported that more than 19,000 applicants were waiting for the citizenship system to move again. An Epinion poll for DR found that three out of four Danes think foreigners should hold democratic values to receive Danish citizenship.
A separate DR report focused on the legal and human rights implications for stateless children born in Denmark, including 72 children who had met the requirements for citizenship. In its coverage on October 3, DR noted that experts criticize the pause, saying Denmark risks breaching conventions when citizenship is suspended for a long period. The situation follows the freeze on the 2,055 cases that began earlier in 2026.
What the citizenship pause means for foreign residents
In Denmark, citizenship is not granted by an agency but by an act of parliament. Applicants who satisfy the requirements on residence, language, the citizenship test, self-support and criminal record are added to a naturalization bill, which Folketinget votes on roughly twice a year. Rules on residence and permits are handled separately under immigration law, and a paused citizenship case does not by itself change an existing residence permit.
What is not yet known is how the planned screening for antidemocratic views will be designed, and whether it will apply to applicants who were already approved under the previous criteria. DR’s reporting states only that the expert group’s work was expected to run until around New Year, before political negotiations begin. Until a new agreement exists, the 2,055 applicants have no date for a decision, and neither does the wider group of more than 19,000 waiting applicants.
