General information about salaried work
Many foreign nationals are free to live and work in Denmark. However, some are required to hold a residence and work permit. The specific requirements in connection with living and working in Denmark depend, first and foremost, on a person’s nationality and qualifications.
If you are a Nordic citizen, you are free to reside, study and work in Denmark. If you are an EU/EEA citizen or Swiss citizen seeking residence in Denmark based on the EU rules on freedom of movement, you may be subject to special regulations. More information about EU/EEA and Nordic citizens.
If you already hold a Danish residence permit based on family reunification or asylum, or hold a residence permit on humanitarian grounds, you do not need a work permit in order to work in Denmark.
It is your own responsibility to obtain a work permit if you are required to. If you work illegally in Denmark, you risk deportation, and you and your employer risk fine or imprisonment.
These rules also apply in the case of voluntary/unpaid work.
Conditions
Normally, professional or labour market considerations must warrant a residence and work permit. When processing your application, the Immigration Service will pay particular attention to the following:
Whether there are available professionals residing in Denmark or the EU/EEA who are qualified to carry out the job in question (applies only to certain types of applications)
Whether the nature of the job in question is specialised enough to warrant a residence and work permit. Normally, you will not be granted a work permit in order to fill ordinary skilled-labour vacancies, such as carpenters or bricklayers, or unskilled positions, such as pizza makers, delivery people, cleaners, etc.
Regardless of the specific circumstances, you must have a written job contract or job offer which specifies salary and employment conditions. Salary and employment conditions must correspond to Danish standards.
In some cases, you must obtain a Danish authorisation or similar. For example, foreign-trained doctors must be authorised by the Danish National Board of Health.
Read more about authorisation for foreign-trained doctors on the website of the National Board of Health.
Read more about access to regulated professions on the website of the Danish Agency for International Education.
In some cases, the Immigration Service will obtain a statement from the relevant branch organisation or a regional labour market council in order to process an application.