Heiraten in Dänemark und das Coronavirus / Covid-19
As sweeping new Covid-19 measures and lockdowns start to become the reality once again for many countries in Europe and beyond, Coronavirus sees that we find ourselves heading into a winter like we’ve never seen before in our lifetimes.
The world feels suddenly unfamiliar and the natural human need for contact is being strongly advised against in an effort to fight the virus whose name everybody seems to know.
And yet in the midst of all this craziness here at Getting Married in Denmark the most wonderful thing is happening… We are finding couples are fighting even harder to make sure that love does not falter and their need to be together is stronger than ever.
Scores of couples are writing to us every day asking if it’s still possible to come to Denmark to get married. Covid has separated people for long periods of time and they’ve had enough. They want to be together and it’s beautiful.
So we wanted to put together an article for all those couples who are looking to get married in Denmark, to answer all the questions we are getting asked a lot at the moment, specifically to explain what measures the Danish authorities have put into place to keep its citizens and residents safe and most importantly to detail information about whether marriage is currently a possibility during the second wave of this pandemic.
FAQs on Covid-19 Safety Measures in Denmark
Sadly not, marriage is classed as tourism and so therefore not ‘worthy’.
You can see the list of what the government considers ‘worthy’ here.
While we would absolutely love to be able to put a specific time frame on this, we can’t.
The Danish border police make their decisions on restrictions based entirely on the number of Covid cases for each country.
If the numbers remain high then a country will remain ‘closed’, only becoming ‘open’ again when the numbers fall to a low enough rate (below 30 per 100,000).
Yes! This is considered a ‘worthy’ purpose and is being dubbed the ‘Sweetheart Visa’.
The Sweetheartmust bring a declaration and if you come from a high-risk country within the EU, the Schengen area or the UK, or from a banned country, also a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 72 hours before entry.
Yes! As long as you both enter Denmark together. In this case, as well, the non-Danish partner will be asked to bring a declaration and a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 72 hours before entry.
At the time of writing, sadly not. The border police are just looking to see that you either legally reside in an ‘open’ country, or that you have a worthy purpose for entry and if so can produce a negative covid test.
At the time of writing this only applies to those travelling from ‘closed’ or ‘high risk’ countries to Denmark with a ‘worthy’ purpose and those from ‘closed’ border regions. If you are travelling from a ‘closed’ country and you do not have a worthy purpose for travelling to Denmark, then you will not be allowed to enter, even if you are able to provide a negative test.
Yes, absolutely, however, police checks are in place and if you are stopped at the border you will be asked for documents that prove you legally reside in an ‘open’ country.
Also, be aware that some town halls have decided to only marry couples who were in Denmark before the travel restrictions were set in place and can prove they entered before the borders were closed, or have entered with a worthy purpose.
How Do The Danish Border Restrictions Work?
We always advise our couples first and foremost to contact the Border Police directly, to discuss your circumstances with them. You can do this by calling them on the following number: +45 7020 6044
The Border Police will be able to give you the best and most current advice for your specific circumstances so you should always call them prior to travelling to Denmark.
However, we thought it would be helpful to delve slightly deeper into the Danish Border Police’s main rules & restrictions for entering Denmark, explaining exactly what they mean and getting to the bottom of the confusion that is surrounding some of the rules.
- If you are a citizen or resident of a country where the number of Covid cases exceeds 30 in every 100,000 then you will not be able to enter Denmark until the case numbers fall below 20.
This is a fairly straight forward rule but how do the Danish Border Police actually implement it?
If upon entry unto Denmark, you are stopped by the border police, they will ask for papers that show you are legally resident in an ‘open’ country. Suitable papers include a recent relevant official
If you are legally residing in a ‘high-risk’ or ‘banned’ country but travelling to Denmark via an ‘open’ country this does not mean you will be allowed to enter.
If you have been a tourist or visitor in an ‘open’ country for any length of time, from a few days to a few months, this does not mean you will be allowed entry into Denmark and you will be required to provide papers that show you legally reside in an ‘open’ country.
- You may enter Denmark, even if you are from a ‘closed’ or ‘high risk’ country if you can show you have a ‘worthy’ purpose for travel. You must in this circumstance present a negative Covid test.
Is getting married consideret a ‘worthy’ purpose? Well, we’re incredibly sorry to say, it is not.
The Danish border police consider things such as job interviews, starting a new job, attending a business meeting, transporting goods in and out of Denmark, being a student, being a primary caregiver for minors, or attending a funeral just some of the ‘worthy’ purposes for entering Denmark.
There and many more reasons and you can see the full list here.
The important point to note here if you fall into any of the above-mentioned categories is that before you are able to enter you MUST be able to provide a negative Covid test. This test should be taken no longer than 72 hours prior to your entry into Denmark. You can read more about the Covid test here.
- BORDER REGIONS. Persons resident in Scania, Halland, Blekinge, Schleswig-Holstein or Norway can enter Denmark regardless of the purpose of their entry if their region meets the criteria for being classified as ‘open’.
HOWEVER, if your border region or province is labelled as ‘closed’ on the map, then you must present a negative Covid test, taken no longer than 72 hours prior to your entry into Denmark.
- If you are a citizen or resident in a country where the cases are below 20 per 100,000, then you will be able to enter Denmark.
If you are travelling to Denmark and you are a citizen or resident of an open country, then you may travel to Denmark regardless of your purpose.
Currently, at the time of writing, no negative Covid test will be required from you. Please remember that proof will be required from you that you do legally reside in an ‘open’ country
Image by Kim Kjærgaard Sørensen Photographer.
So How Do You Proceed From Here?
Deciding how to move forwards from here is of course entirely up to you and your specific circumstances.
If you have time on your side then you can still take our services, we will give you your detailed documents list, and get your application ready. You then have 2 options:
- You hit the pause button. Once things improve, then at this point we process your application with the Agency of Family Law.
- Or we process your application as soon as it’s ready to go regardless of the restrictions in place.
We do highly recommend getting started as soon as possible with getting your documents organised and your application submitted to the AFL. Once the borders do open up, the number of applications being made at the AFL for marriage will increase hugely and wedding dates at the town halls will get booked up very quickly.
Therefore having your application approved already should give you the advantage of being able to get your wedding date booked asap.
Once the AFL approves your application, you have 4 months validity on your ‘Certificate of Marital Status’ to enter Denmark for your wedding and further to this the AFL has said they will reopen cases and issue new Certificates to those affected by travel restrictions.
However, it is worth noting that a lot of the town halls have now closed their doors and will not be reopening for weddings until the travel restrictions change.
At the time of writing, this does not apply to Kopenhagen, where it is still possible to book your wedding date.
Final Notes
Can you get married in Denmark right now? In November 2020, most likely No.. unless, of course, you have a worthy purpose or your partner is a Danish national or resident
BUT this isn’t permanent and you will be able to get married as soon as the borders open up again.
So having your application already approved by the AFL will see that you are one step ahead of those who are just starting the process of preparing their documents ready to be submitted to the AFL.
If you’re unsure about where to go from here if you have any questions at all or would like our free documentation list please do get in touch with us and we would be so happy to help.
