EU residence as a family member of an EU citizen
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | EU-ophold som familiemedlem til en EU-borger as of 2026-08-22[2] Heading of the Danish-language edition of this route's own page on nyidanmark.dk, transcribed as published. The Aliens Act enumerates the grounds by section number and gives the permits no names of their own, so the authority's published Danish heading is the local name. |
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| Official name (English) | EU residence as a family member of an EU citizen as of 2026-07-23[2] |
| Legal basis | Udlaendingeloven (Aliens Act), LBK nr 1183 of 25 September 2025, section 6 read with section 2(4); implemented by EU-opholdsbekendtgoerelsen, BEK nr 318 of 27 March 2019, section 25 as of 2026-08-22[1][2][3] This is a derived free-movement right rather than an Aliens Act permit. Section 6 provides that a registration certificate or residence card is issued on application to foreign nationals covered by the EU rules, and section 2(4) empowers the minister to make the implementing order. The order is the EU Residence Order, BEK nr 318 of 27 March 2019, whose section 25 requires a third-country family member with a right of temporary residence to apply for a residence card within three months of entry where the stay is expected to exceed three months; the card is called “Opholdskort for familiemedlem til en unionsborger” and is issued for five years, or for the duration of the principal's intended stay. Danish text: “§ 6. Efter ansøgning udstedes der registreringsbevis eller opholdskort til udlændinge, der er omfattet af EU-reglerne, jf. § 2, stk. 4 og 5.”, “Stk. 4. Udlændinge- og integrationsministeren fastsætter nærmere bestemmelser til gennemførelse af Den Europæiske Unions regler om visumfritagelse og om ophævelse af indrejse- og opholdsbegrænsninger i forbindelse med arbejdskraftens frie bevægelighed, etablering og udveksling af tjenesteydelser m.v. Udlændinge- og integrationsministeren fastsætter nærmere bestemmelser om registreringsbeviser og opholdskort efter § 6.” and, from the order, “§ 25. Familiemedlemmer, der er tredjelandsstatsborgere og har ret til tidsbegrænset ophold efter denne bekendtgørelse, skal ansøge om opholdskort senest 3 måneder efter indrejsen, hvis opholdet forventes at vare mere end 3 måneder. … Opholdskortet efter 1. pkt. benævnes »Opholdskort for familiemedlem til en unionsborger« og udstedes for 5 år fra udstedelsestidspunktet eller for varigheden af hovedpersonens påtænkte ophold …” |
| Instrument type | residence card as of 2026-07-23[2] Not a residence permit. SIRI issues an EU residence document, and a third-country family member additionally receives a residence card. 'residence_card' is the closest value; the underlying point is that the document records a right that already exists rather than granting one. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | Not applicable[2] The right lasts as long as its conditions are met. An EU-citizen holder's residence document carries no expiry date at all; a third-country holder's residence card does carry one. |
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| Renewable | Not established from a qualifying source[2] Not framed as renewal: the right subsists while the conditions hold. |
| Work rights | full as of 2026-07-23[2] An EU-citizen family member may work on arrival with no permit. A third-country family member has the same rights to reside and work as the EU citizen, and may reside while the application is processed – but SIRI states expressly that whether they may WORK during processing depends on whether the conditions are in fact met, that working is at the applicant's own risk, and that criminal liability for illegal work can follow if it turns out they were not. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Yes as of 2026-07-23[2] The only route in this record whose own page states the permanent-residence consequence: the right to permanent residence arises after at least five years of actual and real residence in Denmark under EU regulations. |
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| Years to permanent residence on this route | 5 as of 2026-07-23[2] Five years under EU rules, against the general Danish eight-year rule for national permits. |
Requirements
| Who can sponsor | specific permits, permanent resident as of 2026-07-23[2] The sponsor must be residing in Denmark under EU regulations as a worker, a student, a self-employed person, a person with sufficient funds or a posted service provider, or hold permanent residence under EU regulations. SIRI states one exclusion explicitly: the sponsor's own grounds may not themselves be as a family member of an EU citizen. Neither vocabulary value fits well – the sponsor is not a Danish permit holder at all – and the entry records the two closest. A family member of a DANISH citizen is a different route, covered by special rules where that citizen has resided in another EU country, and outside EU regulations altogether where they have not. |
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| Eligible relations | spouse, unmarried partner, minor child, adult dependent child, parent as of 2026-07-23[2] The spouse, cohabiting partner or a child UNDER 21 of either the sponsor or the sponsor's spouse or partner – note 21, not 18, which is the widest child definition in this record. Cohabiting partners need as a rule 18 to 24 months of prior cohabitation, and SIRI states it must as a rule be gapless: a break resets the clock to the resumption. Other family members, expressly including children over 21 and parents, can obtain a document in certain circumstances on conditions the page does not enumerate, with the documentation checklist asking for evidence of financial support, a shared address and health-related matters. Child custody is lighter here than on the SIRI national routes: the applicant's consent suffices and the other parent, who will not be residing in Denmark, need not consent. |
| Sponsor income requirement | Not applicable[2] No figure. The sponsor must normally be able to support themselves and their family, and receipt of Active Social Policy Act benefits can terminate the right of residence for either party – with an important qualification SIRI states in terms: where the sponsor is a worker under EU law, or has retained worker status despite no longer working, receiving those benefits will normally not in itself terminate the right of residence for the sponsor or the family member. |
| Sponsor accommodation requirement | No as of 2026-07-23[2] None stated. |
| Pre-entry language test | No as of 2026-07-23[2] None. No language, integration, age, guarantee or housing condition applies – the whole apparatus of the national spousal route is absent, which is the practical point of the route. |
Process
| Where to apply from | in-country only as of 2026-07-23[2] Form OD1B online, then in person at a SIRI branch within 30 days or the application is treated as withdrawn and the case closed. SIRI can often issue the document immediately on the applicant appearing. |
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| Observed processing time | 3 to 4 months as of 2026-07-23[2] |
| Fees |
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Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-07-23[2] No six-month absence rule and no lapse rule is stated – the Danish national lapse regime does not appear on this page. What is stated instead is a substantive residence test on the sponsor: the sponsor must have actual and real residence in Denmark, and SIRI says in terms that registering at a Danish address or owning or renting a home here is not enough. The right terminates on divorce, on the sponsor's departure, or where the sponsor ceases to meet their own conditions. |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | No as of 2026-07-23[2] SIRI states the rule against onward derivation: where the holder's own grounds are as a family member, their family cannot get EU residence based on their relationship with them. The exception is once the original family member has acquired permanent EU residence, at which point they can themselves sponsor. |
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| Eligible relations | Not established from a qualifying source as of 2026-07-23[2] None, while the holder's own status is derived. |
Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
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Verification
| Sources cited | 3 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 3 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2026-07-23 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-22 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-22 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Bekendtgoerelse om ophold i Danmark for udlaendinge, der er omfattet af Den Europaeiske Unions regler (EU-opholdsbekendtgoerelsen), BEK nr 318 af 27/03/2019
Udlaendinge- og Integrationsministeriet / Retsinformation · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2019-03-27 · Accessed 2026-08-22 - [2] EU residence as a family member of an EU citizen
Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-07-23 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [3] Bekendtgoerelse af udlaendingeloven (Aliens Act, consolidated), LBK nr 1183 af 25/09/2025
Udlaendinge- og Integrationsministeriet / Retsinformation · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2025-09-25 · Accessed 2026-08-22