I have just arrived / I am asylum seeker in phase 1 or 2

You must go to Center Sandholm (Sandholmgårdsvej 40, 3460 Birkerød) where the registration takes place. You can take a train from Copenhagen to Allerød station and a bus to Sandholm from there. It's a good idea to arrive on a weekday during office hours, even though it is always open.

In Sandholm, the authorities will ask for your ID and personal information (name, date of birth, nationality), they will take a photo and they will take your fingerprints. They may keep your mobile phone for around one week and look through it, so you may want to delete files and copy numbers first.

You will get a white ID card with your information on it (asylum card). Danish Red Cross will find you a place to sleep and offer you food and clothes. You might be moved to another asylum camp shortly after. The asylum camps are open, but you must live in the camp as a rule.

After a few days you will be asked to fill out the asylum form in your own language – you don't have to, but we recommend that you do it. Make a time line of your life to support your memory, and write about your problems in as much detail as possible. But only write what you are sure about, don't guess about dates for example – if you're not sure, write "approximately" or "I think".

After the form filling you will get a date for the first interview with Immigration Service.

You can find more information and advice about the asylum process in our leaflet (10 languages).

Newcomers:

• Draw a time line for your life before form filling/interview. Place all important events on it, make notes of details (names, places, dates).

• Fill out the asylum form in detail, give all relevant information from the beginning, don’t change your story. Write in English or French if you are fluent in one of these languages (translation is more safe).

• Forget advice/warnings from agents or friends! Your best chance is to tell the truth and trust the authorities. Your information will be kept confidential.

• The police may keep your mobile phone one week after arrival and go through it, so you may want to delete private things first and copy important numbers on paper.

Interview, Immigration Service:

• Make a sound recording from your full interview on your smart phone – and tell the interviewer that you do it. Afterwards, you will be able to prove misunderstandings if they occur.

• Don't be scared of the interviewer, relax and be yourself. Trust her and the interpreter with your information, they will keep it confidential.

• Ask for another interpreter if he/she is not perfect in your language. If not granted, make sure they note that you are not satisfied. A new interview will normally be scheduled a few weeks later.

• Ask for an English or French interpreter if you speak it fluently (interpreters are better, and the interviewer may speak it too).

• Check for interpretation errors/misunderstandings before you sign (try with alternative words).

• Ask for a female/male interwiever in advance (just after arrival) if it is relevant for your case.

• Mention the asylum motive for your children if they have one.

• Answer questions precisely. If you want to add things, do it afterwards.

• Sign the voluntary return contract – you can always change your mind later.

Health problems:
Inform about these from the start and get treatment.

Refugee Appeals Board:
Choose your own lawyer and trust him/her (ask Refugees Welcome for recommendations).

In general:
Be active all the time, take part in everything you can, make Danish friends.

More information:

More details on the asylum procedure can be found in our report "Well-founded Fear – credibility and risk assessment in Danish asylum cases". It can be downloaded for free in English, Danish and Arabic. 

Only if you are in personal, concrete danger in your home country. It can be in the form of persecution because of your religion, ethnicity, political opinions or sexual orientation – sometimes because of your gender. You can also get asylum if you are at risk of death penalty or torture. In a few countries, the general risk due to war is so high that it's possible to get asylum without a personal risk. It is not possible to obtain asylum on the grounds of poverty or poor social conditions.

The personal asylum motive depends on whether the authorities believe what you are saying during interviews. Therefore it is important to be honest, trust the authorities with all your information and tell everything in detail. And collect as much evidence as you can to support your story. Read more advice in our leaflet for asylum seekers.

More details on the asylum procedure and how decisions are made can be found in our report "Well-founded Fear – credibility and risk assessment in Danish asylum cases". It can be downloaded for free in English, Danish and Arabic. 

It varies a lot from year to year, as it depends on the number of new asylum seekers and how complicated the cases are.

The average waiting time for asylum is usually 6 months. But if you get rejected, there will be another 8-12 months waiting time for the Refugee Appeals Board. Many people will wait for more than a year before they get the final decision.

Make sure you stay as active as possible during the waiting time. The passive and stressful waiting time affects most people mentally.

What can you do during the waiting time?
• Try to learn Danish. Free online course here: Dansk her og nu

• Make friends – most Danes are friendly and helpful if you contact them

• Offer your help in the camp, and get out of the camp as often as you can

• Keep in shape physically

• Get a used bicycle and learn to ride it – easy and cheap transportation and good exercise!

• Get in contact with voluntary organisations, there might also be a local group of Venligboerne close by (find it here)

• Watch Danish TV, go to the local library (they are free to use)

• If you count on getting asylum and want your family to come, prepare the application for family reunification so it will be ready (see our guide). The waiting time for that is long too, and you can save time this way.

In most cases, no. Immigration Service decides where you must live. But if you have family members or a girlfriend/boyfriend living in Denmark, you can ask to stay in a camp close to them.

If you get harassed by certain other people in your camp, you can also ask the staff to be moved. There is a special place reserved for LGBT persons, for instance.

If you have a serious conflict with your own family (father or husband, most often) you can also ask the staff to be moved – this can be done secretly, so they don't know where you are moved to.

After 6 months you can apply to move out of the camp and live with a family member or a friend (link to form). Or you can apply to have a job contract approved and pay for your own place outside (see next Q&A). The criteria are not easy to meet, however.

Yes, but only after 6 months. You need to get a contract approved by Immigration Service, and both you and the employer needs to meet a number of harsh criteria. Read more about them here. If the job is approved, you have to pay for your accommodation – in the camp or outside. For these reasons, not many asylum seekers actually succeed in supporting themselves before they get an answer.

You will also have to sign a contract with Immigration Service to return voluntarily to your home country if you get a negative answer. But this is not legally binding, and you can always change your mind later.

As long as you do not have a final rejection on your asylum case, you can also apply to work under the Pay Limit Scheme (jobs with a contract for high salary) or the Positive Lists (special skilled jobs that Denmark is in need of). Read more on the links. You can still keep the asylum case active.

Normally, no. Only if you have a passport and a valid visa. But you can ask for dispensation if you have been in Denmark for more than 3 years and had a relationship to the person for more than 18 months – or if you are expecting a child together. In that case, ask the marriage office in the kommune where the person with residence permit is living. If they refuse, you must contact Ankestyrelsen and ask permission. Read more in this note from Danish Refugee Council (in Danish).

But getting married will not give you a permit to stay – that's only the first step. Read more under "I want my family to come here"

Normally it means that Denmark will ask the other country to take over your case (a Dublin transfer). This means that you will be sent out of Denmark/transferred to the country in which you have your first fingerprints. But there are exceptions: you will not be sent back to Greece or Hungary. And if you have a spouse or a child in Denmark, who applied before you, or already has a residence permit, you should be allowed to keep your case in Denmark.

If you are an unaccompanied minor you will not be moved to another country against your own wishes. If you have health problems or can otherwise be considered a vulnerable person, there are some countries that Denmark will not send you to.

If Immigration Service decides to send you to another country, you can get help from Danish Refugee Council to make a complaint about the Dublin decision (within 7 days after the decision, so hurry!): phone weekdays 9-15: 3373 5000, e-mail: advice@drc.dk, visit: Wednesdays 10-13, Borgergade 10, Kbh. K.

If you have been outside the system more than 18 months after the final Dublin decision in the Refugee Appeals Board, the fingerprints will normally be canceled and Denmark will open your case.

As an asylum seeker, you only have access to necessary, acute and pain-relieving treatment (children have full rights to health treatment). In acute situations, you must call an ambulance on 112 or call the emergency phone lines like everybody else (different numbers in each region). But for other problems, you must contact the nurse in your camp.

During the asylum process, you will be asked if you have health problems – don't hide anything because you think it will be negative in your case. Tell the truth, and ask for treatment if you need it. If you have very serious problems, there might be an option for a humanitarian residence permit (see next question).

You will only have a chance if you have very serious health problems or diseases, and only if you have no access to the neccessary treatment in your home country. The disease and treatment must be documented by a doctor. Very few people get this permit every year, and it is very temporary. The application is handled by the Ministry of Integration. Contact us, if you have a serious health problem and consider applying for this kind of permit.