Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sørensen are released by Denmark to represent Canada

[Twilight1]

I am so bloody excited for Nationals. I truly wish them the very best!!!

 

[kwanfan1818]

Wow, if he was in the right temporary resident status for the last few years, he should be able to meet the residence requirements in time and might not even need expedited processing.

 

[skategal]

Wow, if he was in the right temporary resident status for the last few years, he should be able to meet the residence requirements in time and might not even need expedited processing.

Yes I was thinking the same.

 

[IloveFS]

I have always liked this ice dance team. Will they be Canada #1 if VM and WP retire?

 

[Twilight1]

I have always liked this ice dance team. Will they be Canada #1 if VM and WP retire?

They will be battling Gillies & Poirier. But selfishly I hope Weaver & Poje stick around for a couple more seasons.

 

[IloveFS]

They will be battling Gillies & Poirier. But selfishly I hope Weaver & Poje stick around for a couple more seasons.

They will be battling Gillies & Poirier. But selfishly I hope Weaver & Poje stick around for a couple more seasons.

I am predicting great things for Lajoie and Lagtha. I just think that they have immense promise......

 

[Dobre]

I have always liked this ice dance team. Will they be Canada #1 if VM and WP retire?

If V&M and W&P retire, Fournier-Beaudry & Sorenson would have a very good shot at 2nd.

 

[Frau Muller]

... She was never going to be able to get Danish citizenship...!

Why is Danish citizenship so difficult to obtain? Protecting their generous welfare benefits?

 

[Vagabond]

Why is Danish citizenship so difficult to obtain? Protecting their generous welfare benefits?

It requires all sorts of difficult stuff like living in the country.

 

[Twilight1]

Denmark's loss is our gain. I hope everything works out for them and they are on the 2022 team for Beijing

 

[Sylvia]

Bumping this thread back up for higher visibility with these posts from other threads (it's a very good article by Alain Bergeron):

Article on Fournier-Beaudry Sorensen. He will have his Canadian citizenship in August 2020.

https://www.journaldequebec.com/2018/11/17/de-copenhague--a-longueuil

English translation http://chocktaw-salchow.tumblr.com/post/180277290748/translation-from-copenhagen-to-longeuil

Nice to see them getting some coverage after the year out of international competition.

 

[barbarafan]

Why is Danish citizenship so difficult to obtain? Protecting their generous welfare benefits?

Maybe they are protecting the quality of people who call themselves Danes. When the Nazis proclaimed that anyone who was Jewish had to wear the "Star of David" the whole country from the top down put one on. With balls like that they can put any restrictions they want. I am in their court.

 

[maatTheViking]

Why is Danish citizenship so difficult to obtain? Protecting their generous welfare benefits?

Because the country is a monoculture, and quite xenophobic. You have to prove you are 'real Danish'.

 

[care bear]

and quite xenophobic. You have to prove you are 'real Danish'.

I would not say so. We spent every summer holiday at Nothern Sea in Denmark in last 20 years. The country is small, there are only 4 Mio Danish people and they have their national pride. They fear of being flooded with the migrants.
Personally, I can understand this strict regulation with naturalisation.

 

[maatTheViking]

@care bear I can tell you, as a Danish person, going back home and reading the news and Danish politics, that there is xenophobia. The fear of being flooded with migrants is right wing propaganda.

Being a tourist is *quite* different. Danes are happy to share, as long as they know you leave.

Spoiler: This is venturing into PI territory

The strict guidelines are partly born of fear. For instance, as a Danish person, if you marry a non-Danish citizen, it is not granted that you even will get a permanent residence permit for that person.

Sometimes Denmark feel small and provincial, in their certainty of the country and their way being the 'best' and fear of outsiders and change.

I could go on, quite a bit, of the strange experience it is to go back 'home' after living in a place that welcomes Jewish grandmothers bringing Purim cookies to the kids pre-school, or the Public School having Diwali coloring pages for the kids - and so on and so forth.

Sorry, I could go on, but I really don't want to.

==

I am very happy Fournier-Beaudry/Sorensen are being welcomed by the Canadian Federation and love Quebec, I bet Nikolaj also feels a bit estranged going back to Denmark at times, like me. I would have loved to see them keep representing Denmark, of course, but it was not to be. I am very happy the Danish Federation is so understanding, and I am sure me, and any other Danish Figure Skating fan, will continue to cheer for them!

 

[Vagabond]

For Heaven's sake, people! Laurence Fournier-Beaudry has never lived in Denmark and has no Danish ancestry. Most countries do not grant citizenship to people who have never lived there!

 

[Erin]

For Heaven's sake, people! Laurence Fournier-Beaudry has never lived in Denmark and has no Danish ancestry. Most countries do not grant citizenship to people who have never lived there!

I haven’t seen anyone suggesting she should have gotten Danish citizenship.

 

[Vagabond]

I haven’t seen anyone suggesting she should have gotten Danish citizenship.

You must use the Ignore function more often than I do.

 

[Erin]

You must use the Ignore function more often than I do.

I actually checked ignored content because I couldn’t understand what you were responding to. I think you are reading things into posts that aren’t there.

 

[MacMadame]

The articles I read led me to conclude that she was told there was no way she was going to get citizenship, no matter what even if they had moved to Denmark to train. Given that she's married to a Danish citizen, I find that odd, myself. In the US, that would have given her automatic permanent residency and put her on the path to citizenship as long as she was willing to live here.

Granted, I may have misunderstood the articles as it wasn't spelled out that clearly.

 

[Sylvia]

Given that she's married to a Danish citizen

They aren't married, I don't think? At least not yet.

They competed at Quebec Sectionals earlier this month and will be at Skate Canada Challenge in Edmonton: https://www.facebook.com/LaurenceNikolaj/

 

[Frau Muller]

Well, they’re a lovely dance team. I wish them well skating for Canada.

 

[maatTheViking]

The articles I read led me to conclude that she was told there was no way she was going to get citizenship, no matter what even if they had moved to Denmark to train. Given that she's married to a Danish citizen, I find that odd, myself. In the US, that would have given her automatic permanent residency and put her on the path to citizenship as long as she was willing to live here.

Granted, I may have misunderstood the articles as it wasn't spelled out that clearly.

To gain residency in Denmark based on marriage, the couple would have 'to have a greater connection to Denmark than another country' - so if you are Danish, and marry a Canadian while living in Canada, your spouse may not get a residence permit based on marriage. She may have been able to gain a visa based on training in Denmark, I am not sure here. I have some friends who have met and and married spouses abroad, and have difficulty to get them to Denmark (the is to curb so-called arranged marriages, which IMO is idiotic to try and legislate around).

When living in Denmark, there is no way around the 7 or 10 years (i forgot) residency requirement. There are no 'exceptional accomplishment' rules in Denmark (see Wilson Kipketer where Denmark - a country who can usually count Olympic Gold medals on one hand - didn't want an OGM in 1996. Eventually he got citizen ship for the 2000 Olympics, he applied in the early 90s).

Even IF they lived and trained in Denmark and were married, they would not be able to make it to 2022. 2026 - maybe, just maybe? And there are no facilities for training on the level of what they have in Quebec, no where near it.

I think Denmark is one of the most difficult countries to become a citizen of, save maybe Japan (Tran ran into similar problems representing Japan, there was no way he would become a citizen).

 

[allezfred]

I think Denmark is one of the most difficult countries to become a citizen of, save maybe Japan (Tran ran into similar problems representing Japan, there was no way he would become a citizen).

I would say Japan is actually easier, particularly with regard to residency requirements and naturalisation if your spouse is Japanese.

 

[Lara]

I was a bit surprised to hear Tim Koleto has obtained residency status in Japan (iirc he will be training in Okayama in order to have a chance at citizenship). That would seem to indicate it’s easier than Denmark.

Best of luck to Laurence and Nikolaj! I found his views on learning French interesting, I’m not in favor of it being mandated for immigrants but it undeniably helps when living here.

 

[RoseRed]

Maybe they are protecting the quality of people who call themselves Danes. When the Nazis proclaimed that anyone who was Jewish had to wear the "Star of David" the whole country from the top down put one on. With balls like that they can put any restrictions they want. I am in their court.

This is not true, by the way. That never happened.

https://en.natmus.dk/museums-and-pa...945/faq/king-christian-and-the-star-of-david/

 

[kwanfan1818]

I have some friends who have met and and married spouses abroad, and have difficulty to get them to Denmark (the is to curb so-called arranged marriages, which IMO is idiotic to try and legislate around).

Is that also true for Icelanders who go to Denmark for university or jobs and marry Danish citizens? Or is there a special relationship between the countries?

 

[maatTheViking]

Is that also true for Icelanders who go to Denmark for university or jobs and marry Danish citizens? Or is there a special relationship between the countries?

I am not sure - but if you get a visa to study or a job and THEN meet a Danish person and marries them you already a resident and it is a lot easier to prove that the couple's 'combined belonging' is greater to Denmark than Iceland.

Of course getting work/study visa is a lot easier for any EU citizen too.

 

[skoppa]

Is that also true for Icelanders who go to Denmark for university or jobs and marry Danish citizens? Or is there a special relationship between the countries?

Way do Icelanders want Danish citizenship? There are rules between Nordic countries that you can live and work with out trouble in other Nordic countries.

 

[Japanfan]

If there is a hungry games in Ice dancing, it is in US. After V/M retirement, Canadian ice dancers are not that well positioned, W/P are shadow of themselves, G/P are good team but not great. Danadians has the potential to be Canada #1, however it is still middle of the pack race. Canada hasn't had the same conveyor-belt of teams coming from juniors as US and Russia, granted Russian teams self-destruct. I think there will be a middle of the pack fight like in Russia, but not the hunger games you are predicting.

Canada seems to have always been lacking in terms of depth. It has produced some outstanding figure skaters/superstars, but never had the same depth of field you see in Russia.