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Denmark tightens restrictions on citizenship

Xinhua, October 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Danish government on Monday unveiled tougher rules that will make obtaining Danish citizenship more difficult.

Denmark's ruling Liberal Party has agreed with the Danish People's Party, the Conservative People's Party, the Liberal Alliance and the Social Democratic Party to up the requirements for Danish citizenship applicants, according to Danish Minister for Integration Inger Stoejberg.

"Danish citizenship is something special, and therefore it is reasonable that we now raise the bar for entry," Stoejberg said in a statement.

Apart from having to pass a more advanced level of Danish language test, foreigners seeking Danish citizenship will have to prove that they have financially supported themselves for 4.5 out of the last five years, instead of the current 2.5 years.

While the previous citizenship test only required 73 percent accuracy, applicants will need to correctly answer 80 percent of the questions in the newly introduced test.

In addition, the time frame of criminal record which results in a three to 20-year quarantine from obtaining citizenship has been increased by 50 percent under the new rules. Endit