<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Danish TV program "Good Morning Denmark" (Go' Morgen Danmark), the issue of waiting lists at the Danish Immigration Service (Udl\u00e6ndingestyrelsen) has resurfaced. The program hosted activist Michala Clante Bendixen, along with Dana Alshihaby and researcher Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, to discuss the difficulties refugees and their families face in obtaining residence permits and passports. Bendixen described the waiting periods as "cyclical" and seemingly endless. In a post following her appearance on the program, Bendixen confirmed that the organization Refugees Welcome had collected approximately 300 stories from people experiencing this problem earlier that week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Waiting turns into an endless cycle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mikala Klante Bendiksen said the issue addressed by the program was not simply a normal delay in completing a transaction, but rather what she described as a "circular waiting" for obtaining a residence card or foreign passport, where a delay in one stage can disrupt other stages related to documents, residence, and travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bendiksen explained that Refugees Welcome received about 300 stories from people and families about these experiences, and the organization published examples of those stories along with a graph that, as she described it, illustrates how long and complicated the waiting periods are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The activist links the problem to the temporary residency policy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n During the discussion, Bendiksen linked these problems to what she described as the Danish policy of granting some refugees "short and temporary" residence permits, arguing that the resulting instability leads to repeated procedures and waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said the consequences extend beyond feelings of insecurity, directly impacting people's lives. Some may lose their jobs, be unable to pursue their chosen field of study, or find it difficult to maintain contact with family members living outside Denmark. She also mentioned cases where children and their parents are unable to travel together on holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The psychological effects are no less important<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bendiksen also pointed to the psychological effects of this situation, talking about the anxiety, uncertainty and feelings of inferiority that people may experience during long periods of waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In doing so, the activist attempted to shift the discussion from a simple question about the number of weeks of waiting to a broader question about what happens when government documents and procedures become a factor affecting work, education, family life, and travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The appointment crisis doesn't just mean waiting for a decision to be issued.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Official information shows that there is an important difference between the "processing time of a residence permit application" and the "waiting for an appointment with the Citizens Service" of the Immigration Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The person may be waiting for their application to be processed, and at another stage they may be required to appear in person to register biometric data, such as fingerprints and a photograph, a step that is linked to the issuance of a residence card in many cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Immigration Service confirms that applicants who are in Denmark and submitting their applications to it need to register their biometric data at one of the department's Borgerservice branches, and that they must book an appointment before coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The department acknowledges that there is a longer-than-usual waiting time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The immigration department itself acknowledges that there is high pressure on the citizen service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The department says in its latest published information that people may face \u00ablonger than usual waiting times\u00bb for the earliest available appointment, and among the affected services is the registration of biometric data for residence permits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The department also confirms that it sets new appointments daily during working days in the electronic booking system, and asks people to follow the system continuously and book an appointment as soon as it becomes available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Herein lies one of the key points of the current controversy: the department says that new appointments are being offered daily, while those affected say that finding an actual appointment now requires frequent monitoring of the booking system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is not possible to contact them to schedule an appointment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Immigration Department explains that the online booking system is the approved way to get an appointment at the Borgerservice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A person cannot book an appointment by phone, contact form, or email, nor can they enter the citizen service without a prior appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, a person who cannot find a vacant appointment cannot simply contact an employee and ask to be listed in the nearest available slot, but must return to the electronic system and search for an appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The department started offering appointments daily due to the high demand.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Immigration Department announced on June 29, 2026, that there was significant pressure on the citizen service, and that this had led to longer than usual waiting times for appointments, including biometric data registration appointments for residence permits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The department said at the time that it had started posting new appointments every day in the electronic booking system in order to make it easier to find an appointment, and called on applicants to follow the system continuously and book an appointment as soon as it became available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The department also confirmed that reservations can be made up to three weeks in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biometric deadline has been extended to six weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to pressure and lack of resources, the Immigration Department has taken an additional measure regarding the deadline granted for registering biometric data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The department has extended the deadline for biometric registration for the new residence permit and passport to six weeks, after the deadline was shorter, explaining that the reason is the decrease in the resources available to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, this exception does not apply in the same way to people who have applied for residency under the law for people who have fled Ukraine and their family members, as their deadline remains four weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The department requests cancellation of unused appointments.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Udl\u00e6ndingestyrelsen also asks people who have booked an appointment and then no longer need it to cancel it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The aim is to return the appointment to the booking system so that someone else can take advantage of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This point is important in understanding how vacant appointments appear, because the system does not only depend on the addition of new appointments by the department, but also on boxes appearing as a result of cancelling previously booked appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reviewers confirmed that new vacancies appeared suddenly after the case reached the media.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The immigration department has not yet announced a secret method or specific time for obtaining an appointment. The department states that new appointments are posted daily on the online booking system, and additional appointments may appear when people cancel their previous ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But after the issue was covered by the media, Mikala Klante Bendiksen said that people who had been unable to find appointments for months began reporting that slots were now available in the system. There is no official information confirming that this was due to software intervention or that a specific date was set for the slots to open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, the current practical procedure is to frequently check the booking system, try out available appointments at different branches, and book an appointment as soon as one becomes available. If a person no longer needs an appointment they have booked, they should cancel it so that someone else can use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem goes beyond biometrics.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The immigration department's page explains that the Borgerservice does not only deal with biometrics, but also offers a range of services that require personal attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These services include registering biometric data for a residence permit, obtaining a new passport, a permit to return to Denmark, visa extension, receiving certain travel documents, registering data for certain people coming from Ukraine, in addition to registration in the European Entry and Exit System (EES).<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, a person cannot book an appointment through this service to receive personal advice on the rules of residence; the Immigration Department requests that anyone needing guidance on the rules contact them instead of booking an appointment for this purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Five cities offer the service<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Immigration Service provides the Borgerservice in five locations in Denmark, and applicants can choose their preferred branch when appointments are available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The service includes centers in N\u00e6stved, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg, and Bornholm. The department explains that the Bornholm branch operates once a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A person cannot enter any of these centers without a prior reservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three weeks is the official target for the appointment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Immigration Department data reveals another important point in the debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The department's published standard states that the maximum target wait time for an in-person appointment at Burgerservice is three weeks on business days, and that the department aims to achieve this standard in at least 90% reviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means that the wait, which the department currently describes as "longer than usual," comes within the context of a clear official standard that assumes the earliest available appointment should not exceed three weeks in the targeted case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the department\u2019s current page confirms that there are longer than usual waiting times due to the pressure, which has prompted it to offer new appointments daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The wait doesn't end at the arrival time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Immigration Department data indicates that there are also different processing times for the same documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, the maximum processing time for a Danish passport application for foreigners (fremmedpas or konventionspas) is five months, plus approximately three weeks for production and delivery. For an extension of this type of passport, the maximum processing time is ten months, plus approximately 14 days for delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for applications to replace a residence card or issue a residence card for children, the maximum expected processing time is three months, according to figures published by the Immigration Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These figures do not mean that everyone has to wait this long, but rather represent the maximum expected timeframes published by the department for specific types of applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why does the activist describe the situation as "circular"?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Bendixen, the problem is that a person may find themselves waiting for a document or a decision, and then need another document or a new appointment in order to be able to complete a subsequent step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She argues that the short-term temporary residency model leads to a repetition of these processes rather than providing a stable situation for people who live, work and study in Denmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She says that Refugees Welcome does not talk about theoretical cases, but rather collected about 300 stories from people who shared their experiences with the organization, and she believes that these stories illustrate the impact of waiting periods on daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Work, education, and family pay the price<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bendixen says some people lose their jobs because of their documentation status, while others are unable to pursue the education they chose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She also spoke about people who cannot keep in touch with family members who are outside Denmark, and about children and parents who cannot travel together on holidays because of problems related to documents and residency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She adds that these practical effects come alongside anxiety, uncertainty, and feelings of inferiority, which are psychological effects that the activist says those affected talk about constantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what do the official figures say?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Conversely, the available official information does not provide evidence that all types of residency cases suffer the same length of delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The immigration department sets a different processing time for each type of application, and also distinguishes between application processing and personal service, biometric registration and document issuance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This distinction is necessary when assessing the crisis, because the phrase \u00abwaiting for the immigration department\u00bb can refer to entirely different stages of the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The current crisis is also linked to resources.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most explicit official statements came in the Immigration Department\u2019s announcement in June, when it said that the extension of the biometric registration deadline to six weeks was due to a \u00ablack of resources\u00bb within the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the department says that the heavy workload at Burgerservice has led to long waiting times for appointments, and that it is trying to alleviate the problem by offering new appointments daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, a clear gap emerges between the administrative apparatus's ability to receive visitors and the size of the demand for its services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What can the applicant do now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to current official instructions, a person who needs an appointment should use the electronic booking system, monitor it continuously, and book the appointment as soon as a suitable time becomes available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A person cannot call the immigration department to get an appointment at the Borgerservice, nor can they request an appointment via email or the contact form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a person has booked an appointment and then no longer needs it, they must cancel it so that it becomes available to someone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who need an appointment to register for biometrics should pay attention to the deadline specified for their case, which has become six weeks in general cases, while it remains four weeks in cases related to the law concerning people fleeing Ukraine and their family members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The full picture reveals a broader administrative problem.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The case ultimately reveals two overlapping problems: the first concerns the ability to obtain an appointment with the Borgerservice, and the second concerns the time it takes for certain residency procedures and the issuance of the documents themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The immigration department says it has already taken steps to ease the pressure on appointments, including offering new appointments daily and extending the deadline for biometric registration in some cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Mikala Klante Bendiksen believes the problem is deeper than simply providing more slots in the booking system, and considers that what Refugees Welcome has collected from about 300 experiences reflects broad effects of repeated waiting on work, education, family life, travel and psychological stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the department is essentially telling applicants to "monitor the system and book as soon as an appointment appears," those affected say that turning getting an appointment into a process that requires constant follow-up reveals, in itself, the extent of the pressure on the system.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u0648\u0641\u0642\u0627\u064b \u0644\u0628\u0631\u0646\u0627\u0645\u062c “\u0635\u0628\u0627\u062d \u0627\u0644\u062e\u064a\u0631 \u062f\u0646\u0645\u0627\u0631\u0643” Go\u2019 Morgen Danmark \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0642\u0646\u0627\u0629 TV 2 \u0641\u0642\u062f \u0639\u0627\u062f \u0645\u0644\u0641 \u0627\u0644\u0627\u0646\u062a\u0638\u0627\u0631 \u0644\u062f\u0649 \u062f\u0627\u0626\u0631\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0647\u062c\u0631\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u062f\u0646\u0645\u0627\u0631\u0643\u064a\u0629 Udl\u00e6ndingestyrelsen \u0625\u0644\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0648\u0627\u062c\u0647\u0629\u060c \u0628\u0639\u062f\u0645\u0627 \u0627\u0633\u062a\u0636\u0627\u0641 \u0627\u0644\u0628\u0631\u0646\u0627\u0645\u062c \u0627\u0644\u0646\u0627\u0634\u0637\u0629 \u0645\u064a\u0643\u0627\u0644\u0627 \u0643\u0644\u0627\u0646\u062a\u0647 \u0628\u0646\u062f\u064a\u0643\u0633\u0646 Michala Clante Bendixen\u060c \u0625\u0644\u0649 \u062c\u0627\u0646\u0628 \u062f\u0627\u0646\u0627 \u0627\u0644\u0634\u0647\u0627\u0628\u064a Dana Alshihaby \u0648\u0627\u0644\u0628\u0627\u062d\u062b \u062a\u0648\u0645\u0627\u0633 \u063a\u0627\u0645\u0644\u062a\u0648\u0641-\u0647\u0627\u0646\u0633\u0646 Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen\u060c \u0644\u0644\u062d\u062f\u064a\u062b \u0639\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0635\u0639\u0648\u0628\u0627\u062a \u0627\u0644\u062a\u064a \u064a\u0648\u0627\u062c\u0647\u0647\u0627 \u0644\u0627\u062c\u0626\u0648\u0646 \u0648\u0639\u0627\u0626\u0644\u0627\u062a\u0647\u0645 \u0641\u064a \u0627\u0644\u062d\u0635\u0648\u0644 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0628\u0637\u0627\u0642\u0627\u062a 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