I'll tell you what's silly. The confusingness (no, that's not a word... but it should be) that is immigration law.
It all varies widely from country to country, and certainly here in the US they make it insanely difficult. Indeed, my fiance's visa application to come to the US for work is a stack of paper about 2 inches thick.
What's amazing to me, though, is how much the immigration experience seems to vary from person to person in Denmark, even if they seem to be in similar situations. And because of that, it's difficult to really know what to expect.
From the length of time it will take to get legal residency, to whether or not I can go to school right away or will have to wait, it all seems to differ so widely.
And the wildest thing that I heard today is that it may actually be harder for a Dane to bring his wife and family to Denmark than it will be for my fiance, an EU citizen but non-Dane to bring me there.
Plus, there's the fact that a new government has recently been elected there, so many of the immigration laws are expected to change. The good news is, it's a left-leaning government so the rules will likely slacken a bit.
Either way, I think I need to resign myself to being royally confused for a while.
It's true.
ReplyDeleteIt's harder for a Dane to take his wife / her husband to Denmark than other citizens.
First, as a spouse you have to get enough points (certain points if you're over 24 years old, if you're graduated for top 20 university in the world, if you have had work experience) --> all this for family reunification (spouse, I tell you). Not only that you have to pass the so-called immigration test (luckily all the citizens from the "white" countries (apart from Japan) can walk free from this language test (be aware that this test must be taken before you get family reunification visa to Denmark)
Then the Dane must secure 100,000 kr guarantee that can't be pulled out until the spouse get a permanent residency, get apartment of certain size and so on.
After all the hoops, it's still very difficult to get permanent residency again, because one needs to earn 100 points to do so (15 earned from 1 year voluntary work, another 40 from working for the last 2.5 years and the last 40 from passing highest level of Danish language test)
You see, if you are unemployed in Denmark, then you will NEVER ever get a permanent residency, that's if you're married to a Dane.
Not only that, they've changed the immigration rules twice a year for the last 10 years to make it more difficult for us to come, even as spouses of Danes.
I'm married to a Dane, have a job, paid shitload in tax, speak Danish, Norwegian and Swedish fluently and can't get permanent residency (due to the 1 year voluntary work thingie) and almost got kicked out of Denmark because I spent working in a project in Norway for a year.
So you understand now why the bitterness?
So if you think US immigration rules are bad, read this
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12366676
How much do you think the rules are likely to change with the new government? I've heard the rumors that dual citizenship will finally be possible, and that things will likely loosen up, but not much detail beyond that.
ReplyDeleteWell yes, so far nothing specific has come out of the surface yet. They say that the new rules would be much "softer" but we don't dare to celebrate it yet. 10 years of suffering under the old government taught us that :S
ReplyDelete