Marriage Immigration - Paper Marriages in Denmark

A spouse, registered partner or cohabit partner will not be granted a marriage immigration visa on the grounds of family reunification or immigration through marriage if there are indications that the marriage or partnership was set up with the major purpose of obtaining a marriage immigration visa or residence permit of Denmark.

The Immigration Service makes a careful assessment of all the related information in a case with the aim of determine whether a marriage or partnership can be categorized as forced or pro forma. Among the information considered for marriage immigration visa is:
•Whether the parties have ever lived jointly at a shared address.
•Whether the parties can converse in the similar language.
•Whether there is large age dissimilarity among the parties.
•How well the parties knew each other previous to marrying.
•Earlier marriages (if relevant).
•If the parties have children together.

The Immigration Service takes earlier marital history into consideration when decision in the case. For instance, it would be considered relevant if the spouse/partner living in Denmark was formerly married to a foreign national, and if this marriage ended shortly after the foreign national was granted a Marriage Immigration Visa or permanent residence permit.

Marriage Immigration - Forced marriages

Denmark is very much concerned about marriage immigration visa because a lot of cases in marriage immigration may be forced. A forced marriage is defined as a wedding happened in opposition to the wishes of one or both of the spouses.

How does the Immigration Service decide whether a marriage is forced?
When evaluating whether a marriage may have been forced, the Immigration Service evaluates all information obtainable to marriage immigration visa.

If the spouses are close relatives for instance, cousins, the Immigration Service will usually suppose that they did not marry of their own liberated will. Therefore, such applications will frequently be rejected.

If there are earlier examples of spouse reunification in the spouses’ closest families, this is a situation which may point out that the marriage is forced.

In addition, the Immigration Service will pay exacting attention to the following situations of marriage immigration visa:

•Conditions surrounding the wedding, and the spouses' individual contact and relationship before the marriage.
•The age of the partners
•The length of the marriage
•The spouses' contact and relationship with their future families-in-law previous to the marriage
•The spouses' individual situations, together with financial situation and professional and educational backgrounds
•Information about any contact that may have been completed by either spouse to a crisis or counseling centre.

Also taken into concern will be whether the spouses' families have been vigorously involved in arranging the wedding. However, it should be emphasized that a marriage will not automatically be characterized as 'forced' simply because it occurs with the co-operation of the two particular families.

The Danish authorities, together with Danish diplomatic missions abroad, where an application for marriage immigration is generally submitted, and the Immigration Service in Denmark, are instructed to pay particular attention to conditions of marriage immigration visa which may indicate that a marriage has been forced.

In case, when receiving the application, the diplomatic mission becomes doubtful that a marriage may have been forced, the applicant will be interviewed concerning the circumstances of the marriage and why he want to get marriage immigration visa.

When the request is forwarded to the Immigration Service, it will ask the partner in Denmark to answer in writing a series of questions concerning the circumstances surrounding the marriage. Upon receiving the answers, the Immigration Service may call the spouse to an interview.

The final decision will be made by the Immigration Service on the basis of all obtainable information in the case.