Danish parliament passes new rules on family reunification

The Danish parliament on Friday passed a bill which requires immigration authorities to evaluate the ability to integrate of all children above the age of six who have a parent in their home country.

The new measure is a result of the ruling by the EU Court of Justice in April saying that Danish immigration law illegally limits the rights of Turkish workers to bring their families to Denmark.

The ruling was on a 2006 case where a young Turkish man who was 13 at the time was denied family reunification on the grounds that he had no opportunity to be properly integrated, and the EU Court ruled that the young man's rejection was a violation of the Ankara Agreement.

Previously, children were not evaluated on their ability to integration if an application for family reunification was filed within two years after the parent had been granted residency in Denmark.

The EU Court, however, said that every individual family reunification case should include a concrete evaluation of the child's ability to integrate.

"The ruling showed a legal loophole. We get it closed now, and we take this opportunity to implement a further tightening," said Danish Integration Minister Inger Stoejberg. Enditem