Danish nationality law

Danish nationality law is governed by the Constitutional Act and the Consolidated Act of Danish Nationality. Danish nationality can be acquired in one of the following ways:

• Automatically at birth if either parent is a Danish citizen, regardless of birthplace, if the child was born on or after 1 July 2014.
• Automatically if a person is adopted as a child under 12 years of age
• By declaration for natural-born nationals of another Nordic country who have resided in Denmark for at least 7 years
• By naturalisation, via the Folketing passing a law declaring a person to be a Citizen (which is the only legal way to naturalise a foreigner according to Article 44 of the Constitution)

In December 2018, the law on Danish citizenship was changed so that a handshake was mandatory during the ceremony. The regulation was made in an attempt to target members of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir from receiving Danish citizenship, since many of them refuse to shake hands with individuals of the opposite sex.