In May 2026, an Arabic interpreter was found guilty of having taken someone else’s citizenship test for them.
The Odense District Court sentenced the interpreter to three months in prison. However, she is still employed as a public-sector Arabic interpreter.
This was revealed by RADIO IIII on Thursday.
50,000 kroner for a test
Earlier in the year, the court heard that the woman was offered 50,000 Danish kroner to take the test for someone else.
The interpreter took the test after presenting the health insurance card of the woman for whom she was taking the test, as well as a fake driver’s licence.
Another woman, a nurse, had taken the language portion of the test for the same person, as the person for whom the tests were taken was still dependent on an interpreter. This nurse was sentenced to 60 days in prison.
A network
The court also heard that this deal was secured through a network that helps people cheat on Danish language tests and citizenship knowledge tests.
The first person they had spoken to about taking the test, however, had asked for 100,000 kroner to do it.
In June this year, four other people were sentenced after arrests following the same anonymous tip that led to the interpreter’s arrest and sentencing.
General questions about naturalisation
This case has emerged at the same time as Denmark is having a political debate around the naturalisation process.
The process was frozen for many months. However, the government has promised to introduce a bill next year that would see people included on a lapsed bill earlier this year naturalised.
These revelations about a coordinated network from RADIO IIII were taken up on social media by Liberal Alliance leader Alex Vanopslagh, who asked and answered a series of questions on Facebook.
“Has the network helped any of the 2,055 whom the Social Democrats now wish to grant citizenship? We don’t know.
“Has the network previously helped others cheat their way to Danish citizenship? We don’t know.
“How long has the network been operating? We don’t know.”
