Your family member has resided in Denmark for at least 5 years

You can apply for equal status with Danish citizens if your family member, who is a citizen of an EU/EEA country, who according to EU law has the right of permanent residence and has resided in Denmark for a period of at least 5 continuous years. You can apply for equal status according to this rule regardless of your own citizenship.

If you wish to apply for equal status with Danish citizens according to this rule, you must be either:

  1. married to an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen who has resided continuously in Denmark for at least 5 years.
  2. The child of an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen who has resided continuously in Denmark for at least 5 years.
    If you are 21 years of age or older when you apply for equal status and SU, it is also a requirement that you are financially supported by your parent because you have an actual and genuine need for such support, even though you are no longer considered a child due to your age.
  3. The parent of an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen who has resided continuously in Denmark for at least 5 years.
    It is also a requirement that you are financially supported by your child because you have an actual and genuine need for such support.

If your family member has resided outside Denmark for a continuous period of 2 years, you can only obtain entitlement for SU when your family member has subsequently resided in Denmark again for a continuous period of at least 5 years.

Definitions

If you are the child of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen who has had continuous residence in Denmark for at least five years, and you are 21 years old or older at the time of applying for equal status and SU, you must be able to document that, for special reasons, you have a genuine and effective need of being supported by your parent. It is not sufficient that your parent merely undertakes supporting you. The same conditions apply if your child supports you. 

You must attach documentation for this along with the application for equal status for foreign citizens when you apply for SU according to this rule. The documentation must both show that your parent or child is supporting you and that you have a genuine and effective need for being supported by them. 

By the wording “child of”, we mean a direct descendant. The rule therefore applies to both children and grandchildren of an EU/EEA national who has had continuous residence in Denmark for at least 5 years, or of the EU/EEA national’s spouse, regardless of the spouse’s nationality.

By the wording “parent of”, we mean a relative in the ascending line. The rule therefore applies to both parents and grandparents of an EU/EEA national who has had continuous residence in Denmark for at least 5 years, or to the EU/EEA national’s spouse, regardless of the spouse’s nationality.

How we assess your case

When assessing whether your family member has had continuous residence in Denmark for at least 5 years, we use, among other things, the information about your family member registered in the national register (folkeregistret).

If you wish us to assess your case based on information other than what is registered in the national register, we may in some cases accept other documentation in our individual assessment of your case.

If you believe that the information in the national register is incomplete or incorrect, your family member must contact the national register in the municipality where he/she lives.

Exceptions

In assessing whether your family member has had 5 years of continuous residence in Denmark, we disregard shorter stays outside of Denmark that do not exceed a total of 6 months a year.
We also disregard one longer stay outside Denmark if it was due to:

  • your family member having completed compulsory military service, or
  • your family member having spent up to 12 consecutive months outside of Denmark for weighty reasons (for example pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, studies or vocational education, or posting abroad).

If your family member has stayed outside Denmark for a longer period due to one of these exceptions, you must submit documentation when applying for equal status with Danish citizens.

Your family member is a Danish citizen

If your family member is a Danish citizen in Denmark, you must be aware of the fact that your family member must have exercised his/her right to free movement across national borders, before you can be granted equal status with Danish citizens and receive SU.

You must document that your family member has exercised his/her right to free movement across national borders according to EU law and that he/she has had a genuine and effective residence in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland. You must attach the documentation together with the application for equal status for foreign citizens applying for equal status with Danish citizens. You can access the application for equal status by clicking on the receipt page you get when you have applied for SU in minSU.

The documentation can consist of:

  • Proof of addresses abroad, including transcript from the national register that the applicant's residence has been registered in the country in question
  • Conveyances for property, tenancy agreements or receipts for payment of rent
  • Documentation showing that your family member moved from his/her former residence, including proof that he/she has terminated his/her tenancy agreement, sold his/her property or sublet his/her home for a certain period
  • Enrolment of children at school, kindergarten, etc.
  • Proof of a national health insurance number or a special health insurance

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list and that we always will make a concrete assessment of your case, when we assess your submitted documentation.

Your family member can, in general, fulfil the condition of having established “a genuine and effective residence” by for instance having resided for a long period in a rented flat (with an open-ended tenancy agreement) or in a dwelling, which he/she has bought in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland. The condition is, however, not fulfilled if your family member merely has stayed for a short period in a rented flat or at a c/o-address with relatives or acquaintances.

You have previously received a rejection under the rule of five years of continuous residence

Your case may be reopened if, during the period from February 2023 to January 2026, you received a rejection of your application for equal status with Danish citizens according to the rule of being a family member of an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen and having 5 years of continuous residence in Denmark.

We have become aware that our previous interpretation of this rule is not in accordance with EU law, as we placed emphasis on the applicant’s residence in Denmark rather than that of the family member.

You may therefore have your case reopened if your EU/EEA family member had 5 years of continuous residence in Denmark at the time of application – even if you had not lived in Denmark for 5 years.

If you wish to have your case reopened, you must contact the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science via Digital Post on borger.dk and label your inquiry “Reopening of case regarding 5 years of continuous residence in Denmark.”

Worth knowing

The condition that you may be granted equal status with Danish citizens if you are a family member of an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen who has had continuous residence in Denmark for at least 5 years is based on the EU Residence Directive (2004/38/EC).