2.1.1. Introduction

This metadata information is provided by Danish authorities to ensure compliance with the requirements of Article 6 of Regulation 862/2007 on Community Statistics on Migration and International Protection.

As required by Article 9 of the Regulation 862/2007, Member States must report to Eurostat on the data sources used, the reasons for the selection of these sources and the effects of the selected data on the quality of the statistics. Member States shall provide it with all the information necessary to evaluate the quality, comparability and completeness of the statistical information.

The reference terms for the assessment of quality compliance are provided by Eurostat in the Residence permit statistics technical guidelines applied for 2017 reference period (See section 3.4 Statistical concepts and definitions from the Residence permits statistics ESMS file).

2.1.2. General description of the statistical domain at national level

National system for compilation of residence permits statistics (level of development, main changes that affected the system in the last years and further development)

All statistics are collected and processed by the Statistical Unit at the Danish Immigration Service. The unit provides statistics on behalf of all migration authorities in Denmark.

There are four separate institutions issuing the residence permits for which data is collected under article 6- the Danish Immigration Service, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration, the State Administration, the Danish Refugee Appeals Board and the Ministry of Immigration and Integration. However, all four institutions use the same electronic case handling system (ECDH).

The processing and compilation of residence permits statistics are solely based on administrative records – from ECDH. As a main rule, the compilation of statistics is based on figures directly retrieved from the ECDH system by using a Business Intelligence (BI) solution– no cell rounding of the data is applied. The data material undergoes validation on a regular basis. Lists with erroneous registrations are produced and sent to the relevant authorities for further action. The data are of general “good” quality and reliable.

2.1.3. European and national legal framework relevant for Residence permits statistics

Include information on Applicable/Not applicable European legal acts at national level

Denmark does not take part in and is not bound by any of the EU directives concerning the resident permits for which data is collected under article 6, cf. Article 1 and 2 of the protocol on the position of Denmark annexed to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community. Accordingly, all tables display data concerning resident permits issued, cf. the Danish Aliens Act only. However, Denmark is bound by directive 862/2007, which regulates statistics concerning migration and international protection, and thus, is obligated to deliver data on the residence permits as described in Article 6.

2.1.4. Institutional infrastructure

List of the institutions involved in managing the registers related to Residence permits statistics and the institutions involved in the compilation of the Residence permits statistics

There are five institutions involved in managing the registers: the Danish Immigration Service, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration, the State Administration, the Danish Refugee Appeals Board and the Ministry of Immigration an Integration. However, it is only the Statistical Unit at the Danish Immigration Service that is involved in the compilation of RESPER statistics.

2.1.5. General procedure for issuing first residence permits at National level

There are five separate institutions issuing the residence permits for which data is collected under article 6- the Danish Immigration Service, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration, the State Administration, the Danish Refugee Appeals Board and the Ministry of Immigration and Integration. The Danish Immigration Service issues residence permits concerning family reunification/formation and international protection, whilst the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration is responsible for permits regarding education, study, remunerated activities and accompanying family members.

The Danish Refugee Appeals Board is responsible for permits regarding positive decisions on appeals relating to international protection, whilist the the Ministry of Immigration and Integration issues residence permits on humanitarian grounds.

Finally, the State Administration is responsible for handeling cases concerning adoption and family reunification where the reference is an EU-citizen(whom has utilized his/her right to free mobility).

As a general rule, an application for a residence permit should be handed in at the Danish/representing state’s diplomatic mission in the country where said person resides legally. In most cases, this implies that the application is filed in said person's home country, but there are also instances where applications concerning e.g. family reunification with a spouse is handed in Denmark, whilst the applicant is visiting legally on for example a Schengen visa. After receiving the application, the diplomatic mission forwards it either to the Danish Immigration Service, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration or the State Administration, which subsequently processes the case.  If the application has been submitted outside of Denmark and it results in a resident permit being granted, the responsible authority will send the decision to the diplomatic mission where the application was loged. The diplomatic mission will then forward it to the applicant’s home address, or request that he/she picks it up in person. If, on the other hand, the application was submitted in Denmark, the responsible authority will send the decision to the applicant address in Denmark or to his/her attorney.

However an application for international protection can only submitted in Denmark.

2.1.6. General procedure for recording change of status or reason to stay of the permit (reason)

If a TCN wishes to change his/her residence status, said person is required to apply for a new residence permit. The process is almost identical to the one that takes place when a first permit is issued- except for the fact that an application regarding a change of status is normally submitted in Denmark. If the applicant is granted a different status, then the new permit will simply overrule the old, which will be annulled. There is nothing specific in the way the new permit is registered, which indicates that there has been a change of status. 

2.1.7. General procedure for recording all valid residence permits at the end of the year

Include information on all permits valid in the end of the year and long term permits

It is not possible for the Danish Immigration Service to deliver data concerning stocks of permits. The reason for this is the fact that the ECDH is an administrative system built up around cases-and not around whether a TCN has a valid stay in Denmark. Thus, it not possible to directly draw information concerning how many valid permits there are at the end of the reference period, because the permits that are registered as valid might subsequently e.g. have been revoked or lapsed. In other words, the Danish authorities do not register non-valid/valid as a specific element from which it is possible to directly extract data.

2.1.8. General procedure for recording residence permits for Highly Skilled Workers and EU Blue Cards

Include information for first permit data collection and EU Blue Cards data collection

EU Blue Cards are not applicable for Denmark. Denmark is not bound by the EU Blue Cards Directive. Highly skilled workers are recorded in the same way as all other first time permits. For more on the specific definition, please see the point concerning highly-skilled workers on 8.1.

2.1.9. General procedure for recording single permits

Not Applicable, since Denmark is not bound by the single permits directive.

2.1.10. Type of residence permits counted for Residence permits statistics (e.g. residence permits, long-term visas, authorisation to stay, work permit, education permit, etc) referring to all applicable tables

With regards to the first time permits mentioned in Article 6, Danish authorities only issue residence-, work- and education permits. In general, all residence permits issued to adult TNC-s allows for them to take up work in Denmark. In some instances a residence permit can be issued for multiple reasons, e.g. work and study, but in those cases only the principal reason is counted for the first permit dataset(RP1-RP4).

2.1.11. Main problems that affect the quality of the data and what tables are concerned including the compliance status with the definitions from Residence permits statistics Technical Guideline

In general, the Danish data is of good quality and there are no major problems attached to the deliveries.

In fact, the only issue with the data collection on article 6 concerns the compilation of data on stocks of permits, which the Danish Immigration Service, due to technical reasons, is not able to deliver at the moment. More specifically it is because ECDH system does not display whether or not a person has a valid stay in Denmark- it only shows the permits, which said person has been granted.

Historically, the Danish Immigration Service used to have difficulties compiling data on the length of validity of resident permits, when the Aliens Regster was the main case handling system (it was completely replaced by the ECDH in 2013). With the introduction of ECDH it became possible to draw the length of validity for each permit from the system. The Danish Immigration Service still has some minor issues with regards to extraction of data on length of validity. However, it is not considered to be a problem, since the proportion for the last few reference years was very small- under 1 %.

All statistics are collected and processed by the Statistical Unit at the Danish Immigration Service. The unit provides statistics on behalf of all migration authorities in Denmark.

There are five separate institutions issuing the residence permits for which data is collected under article 6- the Danish Immigration Service, The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration, the State Administration, the Danish Refugee Appeals Board and the Ministry of Immigration and Integration. However, the five institutions use the same electronic case handling system (ECDH).

The processing and compilation of the residence permits statistics are solely based on administrative records – from ECDH. As a main rule, the compilation of statistics is based on figures directly retrieved from the ECDH system by using a Business Intelligence (BI) solution– no cell rounding of the data is applied. The data material undergoes validation on a regular basis. Lists with erroneous registrations are produced and sent to the relevant authorities for further action. Despite the care which is taken in registering, updating and compiling the statistics, there are some challenging /known issues, such as length of validity, the registration of which in the systems is not compulsory. However, in general the data is of “Good” quality and reliable.

First permits issued for remunerated activities

5.1.1. General aspects

Include information on main users of Residence permits statistics at national level, European and International level.

The statistics collected under the Regulation 862/2007 are widely used in official publications and by a wide range of users at national, European and International level. The Residence permits statistics produced are regularly used by national administrations, academic researchers and civil society groups working on a wide range of topics including the integration of immigrants, the development and monitoring of national asylum and immigration procedures, and the projection of the future population and labour force.

At European level, the main users of Residence permits statistics are Eurostat and DG Migration and Home Affairs. These statistics are used in several publications of the Commission, as well as in the preparation of regular reports, policy proposals and analysis.  The statistics also provide an input to the European Migration Network (EMN) studies and reports that address specific issues of current policy importance.

5.1.2. Residence permits statistics data publication at national level

Include information on residence permits statistics published at national level and differences between the data provided to Eurostat and the data published at national level (first permits, all valid permits at the end of the year, long term permits at the end of the year, single permits, single permits and EU Blue Cards)

At the national level the Danish Immigration Service prepares monthly and yearly overviews on RESPER statics, which are subsequently published by the Ministry of Immigration and Integration. However, the figures do not correspond 100% to the ones published by Eurostat. The primary differences are that the data published at national level concerns all nationalities, all permits regardless of their length of validity and contains minor variations in the definition of the case categories.

N/A

Not applicable.

Provide information if the residence permit can be issued for the principal applicant only and if all the family members are counted for residence permits statistics

All family members are always counted individually- even when a permit is granted to a family as a whole.

List of categories of permits included in the "Other remunerated activities" subcategory

The subcategory "other remunerated activities" includes permits granted to the following categories of TCN-s: Au Pairs, Interns, Trainees, Specialists, persons applicable for a permit, cf. the Association Agreement (a bilateral agreement between Denmark and Turkey. It only applies to Turkish citizens), employees in the agricultural sector, self-employed TCN-s, persons applicable for a permit, cf. the Start Up Denmark Scheme (equivalent to permits granted to entrepreneurs) and TCN-s with special individual qualifications (e.g. sportsmen and artists).

List of categories of permits included in the "Other" subcategory

The subcategory "other" on RP4 includes permits granted to the following categories: rejected asylum seekers whom it is impossible to deport, TCN-s working or studying in the Faroe Islands or Greenland, family members (other than children below 15 and spouses/cohabitants), former Danish citizens, persons with Danish ancestry, members of the Danish minorities outside of the EU(e.g. in Argentina) and persons without any family ties to Denmark, for example children of asylum seekers whom has been removed from their parents by the Danish authorities.

List of categories of permits included in the "Other" subcategory

The Danish Immigration Service only count each first permit once in the tables RP1-RP4. E.g. if a TCN is accompanying a person that has been granted a resident permit in Denmark with the purpose of study, said person is only counted under family reunification on RP1.

The definition of "first permit" is applied as provided by residence permits techincal guidelines / Different definition applied: 

The national definition of first permits in Denmark differs from the one applied in the Article 6 data collection. In the Danish national statistics all residence permits, regardless of the length of validity and of whether the person previously has held a permit within the same category (renewals), are counted as first permits.

On the basis of an analysis of subsequent changes of immigration status, the Danish Immigration Service has produced an estimate of the share of renewals in statistics delivered under RP1-RP4. For more on this please see point the following box under point 8.1: "Counting the renewed residence permit, referring to first permits and change of status or reason to stay tables (RP1-RP5 tables)"

Please list the categories of long-term permits available at national level (under national legal framework).

There is only one type of “national long-term status” in Denmark, which is the permanent residency. Permanent residency can be granted to a TCN, if said person has lived in Denmark for a minimum of 8 years and fulfills a number of basic requirements. If a TNC in addition to the basic requirements also fulfils four supplementary criteria, said person can be granted permanent residency, even though he/she has only resided in Denmark for minimum 4 years. 

Not available

Please indicate if "comparable definition" was applied.

Please provide details on national programmes facilitating the admission of highly-skilled workers counted for the data sent to Eurostat for this category. Include also details on 'Highly skilled workers' category reported in another main table from first permits data collection than the table related to occupation reasons (“family reason”, “education reason” or “other reasons”)

The type of resident permits included in the category ”highly-skilled workers” are granted under the following schemes: "The Pay Limit Scheme" (granted to TCN-s who have been offered jobs with an annual pay above a certain limit), “The Fast-Track Scheme”(under this scheme TCN-s who work for companies that have been certified by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration can be granted a residence permit, ”The Establishment Card Scheme”(under this scheme TCN-s, who complete a Danish Master's or PhD degree, can be granted a residence permit in order to establish themselves in Denmark after graduation), “The Positive List Scheme”(under this scheme TCN-s can be granted residence permits, if said person has an education and is offered a job, which is included on the official list over professions currently experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals), “The Green Card Scheme” (under this scheme TCN-s can be granted resident permits, if they fulfill a number of requirements related to e.g., education, language skills, work experience, etc. This scheme ceased to exist on the 10th of June 2016), “the change of employment, due to a loss of job scheme” (a person whom has held a resident permit under "The Positive List Scheme" or “"The Pay Limit Scheme” can, if said person is fired due to circumstances outside of his/her control, e.g. financial cutbacks, get an additional permit valid for 6 months, in order to have the opportunity to apply for a new job.

       Renewed / change of status

RP1  5%/ 5%

RP2  10%/ 5%

RP3  25%/ 5%

RP4    1%/ 5%

Coverage of specific subcategories relate to the "reason" of issuing the residence permit

see definitions from Eurostat Statistics Explained glosary: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Glossary:Coverage

Coverage of specific subcategories relate to EU Blue Cards data collection

see definitions from Eurostat Statistics Explained glosary: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Glossary:Coverage

Coverage of specific subcategories relate to the "length of validity" of the residence permit

see definitions from Eurostat Statistics Explained glosary: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Glossary:Coverage

8.3.1 Links between the Residence permits statistics and Asylum statistics and details related to the asylum applicant(s) case(s) included in Residence permits statistics in First residence permits

Please cover the differences between the Residence permits statistics and Asylum statistics reported to Eurostat

There are differences between the RESPR and asylum statics reported to Eurostat. The differences lay primarily in the fact that the data reported on table A05 og A06 of the asylum statistics concerns provisional data regarding first instance cases compiled on a quarterly basis, whilst the data on RP4 is final and reported annually.

Furthermore, there is also a variance between the two collections with regards to the data concerning quota refugees.  The quota permits reported under Article 6 on RP4 concerns the number of permits granted to quota refugees during the reference year(regardless of whether or not said persons have arrived in Denmark). Table A16 of Article 4 on the other hand, only concerns quota refugees that have been effectively resettled in Denmark.

8.3.2 Links between the Residence permits statistics and special short-term study on "trafficking in human beings" collected by Eurostat for statistics on crime and criminal justice.

Please cover the differences between the Residence permits statistics and the statistics reported for short-term study on "trafficking in human beings"

Not applicable