Denmark
New rules for family reunification of spouses come into effect
On 1 July 2024, new rules for family reunification of spouses came into effect. The rules also apply to certain applications submitted before the rules came into effect.
Among other changes, there is now a requirement that the spouse in Denmark needs to have passed Prøve i Dansk 3 or another Danish language test at the same or higher level, in order for the couple collectively to meet the integration requirement. This requirement can now also be met by the spouse in Denmark by documenting having been in ordinary full-time employment for five years, which has significantly involved communication in Danish.
By ‘significantly involved in communication in Danish’ we mean that spouse in Denmark on a daily basis and as a significant part of a work day has had frequent written or oral contact in Danish with Danish speaking persons. The communication can have been with colleagues, citizens, customers, patients or other persons.
In addition, the financial guarantee requirement, which must be met in some cases in order to qualify for family reunification of spouses, has been reduced from approx. DKK 114,000 to DKK 57,000.
When the proposal was presented to the Danish Parliament on 11 April 2024, the Immigration Service gave the spouse in Denmark in relevant cases the opportunity to indicate whether the couple wanted the further processing of the case to await the expected entry into force of the new rules. The processing of these cases will now be finished.
Applicants, whose application for family reunification of spouses has been refused before the proposal was presented on 11 April 2024, because they did not meet the current financial guarantee requirement or the current language requirement, now have the opportunity to submit a new application for family reunification of spouses.
The bill also includes a change in the rules regarding permanent residence and the transferred permanent residence permit requirements in cases regarding family reunification of spouses.
Change in foreign students’ right to work part-time
On 1 July 2024, the Executive Order on the issue of residence and work permits for students was amended and new rules regarding foreign students’ right to work part-time came into effect.
Among other things, this change means that all students who will be granted, or who already have been granted, a part-time work permit, now have the right to work 90 hours per month and work full-time in June, July and August, starting from July 1 2024.
New rules under the Authorisation Scheme – right to work
On 1 July 2024, the Danish Aliens Act was amended, to allow foreign nationals with a residence permit under the Authorisation Scheme to work without requiring a work permit requirement.
Those who have been trained as a medical doctor, dentist or nurse in a country outside the EU/EEA, can apply for a residence permit in Denmark which allow them to learn Danish and pass the professional tests which are necessary in order to obtain a Danish authorisation.
All foreign nationals who are granted a residence permit under the Authorisation Scheme or who already have a valid residence permit under the Authorisation Scheme can now start work without applying for a separate work permit.
At the same time, several other changes came into effect, including a new authorisation scheme for specifically requested healthcare professionals. It is also possible to extend the authorisation permit in certain cases if the applicant is in the process of or has been offered a job for adaption and training purposes.
Updated Positive Lists
The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) has updated the Positive Lists for people with a higher education and for skilled work. The new lists are applicable from 1 July 2024.
The Positive Lists are lists of professions experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals in Denmark. Those offered a job included in the Positive List can apply for a residence and work permit in Denmark based on the scheme.
The new Positive List for People with a Higher Education includes 141 job titles, while the Positive List for Skilled Work includes 61.
It is also possible to apply for a residence and work permit as a social and healthcare worker under the Positive List for Skilled Work.
Finland
Stricter requirements for acquiring Finnish citizenship
Effective 1 October 2024, the period of residence required for Finnish citizenship will be extended from the current five years to eight years. In addition, only time lived in Finland under a residence permit will be taken into account when calculating the period of residence.
Government proposals for tightening the requirements related to integration and livelihood and introducing a citizenship test will be submitted to Parliament in autumn 2024 and spring 2025, respectively.
In future, the extension of the required period of residence will also concern beneficiaries of international protection. In other words, once the amendment is in force, it will no longer be possible to derogate from the requirement on grounds of international protection. However, citizenship applications made by beneficiaries of international protection will be considered urgently, with the decision on granting citizenship made no later than one year after the applicant submitted their application.
Under this amendment, the residence requirement for children aged 15 or over, spouses of Finnish citizens, stateless persons and applicants meeting the language proficiency requirement will be extended to five years from the current four. The two-year residence requirement for Nordic citizens and spouses of persons working at Finnish missions abroad will remain unchanged.
Moreover, any stays in Finland without a residence permit will no longer be taken into account, in full or in part, under any circumstances when determining the period of residence. Similarly, the applicant’s age, state of health or other comparable reason will no longer be grounds for approving a period of residence without a residence permit.
Only periods of residence with a residence permit will be taken into account when determining an applicant’s period of residence. This means that the time taken to process an asylum application will no longer count towards the period of residence. For beneficiaries of international protection in Finland, the approved period of residence will begin when they are issued a residence permit.
The reform will also shorten the periods of absence that can be included in the continuous period of residence. During the entire continuous period of residence, the applicant may stay abroad for one year in total, and no more than three months of this period may take place during the year preceding naturalisation. The goal is to ensure that applicants receiving Finnish citizenship are actually living in Finland.
In 2023, altogether 11,594 people were granted citizenship based on an application. The extension of the residence requirement for citizenship will potentially apply to about 10,000 people each year.
Legislative amendments preventing evasion of entry rules
Effective 1 September 2024, new legislative amendments will prevent the evasion of provisions on entry more effectively than before.
The existing provision, which is subject to interpretation, will be replaced by new, more specific regulation. The Aliens Act will specify each situation in which a residence permit must be refused, including provision of false information, irregular stay, working illegally in Finland and marriage of convenience.
The amendments are intended to stop the practice of switching from an asylum procedure to a work-related immigration procedure in order to apply for a residence permit. Applicants for international protection or persons whose application has been rejected can no longer obtain a residence permit on the basis of employment, self-employment or studies.
This will prevent cases where an applicant applies for asylum with the sole aim of finding employment or studying in Finland.
With the amendment, applicants for a residence permit must verify their identity with a national travel document, with certain exceptions.
Biometric data may, in future, be added to alerts on return and on refusal of entry and stay stored in the Schengen Information System. This will improve the ability of the authorities to verify the identity of the person subject to the alert or to identify the person.
Alerts help the authorities ensure that the obligation to return has been complied with, support the enforcement of return decisions and prevent persons from returning to the Schengen area if they are subject to an entry ban.
Luxembourg
Changes to EU Blue Card rules
Luxembourg has recently adopted legislative changes concerning the status of highly qualified workers from third countries.
The new law aims to make the EU Blue Card more attractive to foreign talent by simplifying the application process, thereby meeting the needs of the labour market in the face of skills shortages.
Some of the key changes include:
- the minimum duration of eligible employment contracts has been reduced from one year to six months;
- the required salary threshold has been adjusted to correspond to the average gross annual salary in Luxembourg, which is currently EUR 58,968;
- free access to the job market after 12 months instead of two years as was the case previously;
- introduction of short-term and long-term mobility in other Member States.
Netherlands
New rules for EU Blue Card imminent
On 20 October 2021, a revised guideline was adopted for the EU Blue Card. Part of the rules from the revised directive have been applied since 18 November 2023. The Dutch immigration authorities (IND) have confirmed that the remaining revisions will be converted into national regulations “soon”. They will then be included in the Aliens Decree and the Aliens Act Implementation Guidelines. The exact date on which this will happen is not yet known.
The following changes will apply:
- The salary criterion been reduced to EUR 5331 gross per month. This makes the EU Blue Card more in line with the highly skilled migrant scheme.
- From now on a lower salary criterion of EUR 4265 gross per month applies to recent graduates. Recently graduated means: having obtained a higher education diploma no more than three years before the application.
- Higher professional qualifications are required for the EU Blue Card. It is now also possible to demonstrate higher professional skills with relevant work experience. Previously, the applicant could only demonstrate higher professional qualifications with a certificate of higher education.
- If the EU Blue Card holder has an EU Blue Card in the Netherlands for more than two years, it can be withdrawn after six months of unemployment. Previously this was after three months of unemployment.
- The validity of the EU Blue Card has been extended to a maximum of five years. The maximum used to be four years.
- There are a number of new grounds for withdrawal or refusal:
- The EU Blue Card can be withdrawn or refused if the employer’s legal obligations in the field of social security, tax or employment rights and requirements do not comply. It is now also considered whether the employer adheres to, for example, the WAV, Waadi or WML (Dutch laws).
- The EU Blue Card can be withdrawn or not extended if the (recognized) sponsor has not reported a change of employer.
- The EU Blue Card application can be rejected if the company is or will be dissolved due to bankruptcy, or if the company is not economically active.
- The EU Blue Card application can be rejected if the employer has mainly established the company to make access to the Netherlands possible.
