Permanent residence after the EU rules

You have stayed in Denmark according to the EU rules for at least 5 consecutive years.

Normal processing time
0-90 days

Processing fee
No fee

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Who can obtain proof of the right to permanent residence in Denmark?

You have the right to permanent residence under EU rules when you have had genuine and effective residence in Denmark for at least five consecutive years and throughout the period have met the conditions for one (or more) types of grounds for residence under EU rules.

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What are the conditions for obtaining permanent residence?

In order to obtain the right to permanent residence under EU rules, you must be aware of the following terms and conditions.

To have established genuine and effective residence implies that you have lived your life and arranged yourself in such a way that shows that you have lived and had a daily life in Denmark.

You must therefore have undertaken a genuine and effective relocation to Denmark. It is not sufficient that you have been registered at a Danish address, or that you are the owner or tenant of a home in Denmark.

During the entirety of the five consecutive years, you must have met the conditions for at least one type of grounds for residence according to the EU rules.

It does not matter whether you met the conditions for the same type of grounds for residence during the entire period. 

As an EU citizen, you may therefore have had several different types of grounds for residence during the five-year period, either consecutively or simultaneously. These may have been independent grounds for residence, as, for example, a worker or student, or derived to you as the family member to another EU citizen.

As a third-country national, your grounds for residence will normally have been as a family member to an EU citizen.

Read more about the various types of grounds for residence.

As mentioned, you must normally have had genuine and effective residence in Denmark for the entire five-year period.

Temporary residence abroad for a total of less than six months per year, however, will not in and of itself prevent you from obtaining permanent residence.

The same applies to time abroad of up to one year’s duration due to extraordinary reasons, or long-term residence abroad due to conscription.

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What rights do a permanent EU residence document give me?

You have the same rights as with a non-permanent EU residence document, with the addition that you no longer need to meet the conditions of your original grounds for residence. 

This means that you do not lose your right to residence if you, for example, no longer work, study, run your own business etc. 

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Can I lose my permanent right to residence?

If you have obtained permanent right to residence, you retain it as long as you have genuine and effective residence in Denmark.

Abroad for fewer than two years

You do not lose your permanent right to residence if you reside outside Denmark for fewer than two years.

Please note that your municipality of residence will ask for confirmation from SIRI of your continued right to residence when, after your return to Denmark, you seek to register your address with the Civil Registration System (CPR). You only need to use the confirmation if you are to establish / have established residence abroad, and your address was therefore removed from the CPR. If you were only abroad for holiday or the like, and your address was not removed from the CPR, you do not need the confirmation.

Abroad for more than two years

If you have obtained permanent right to residence and plan to reside outside Denmark for more than two years and you intend to return to Denmark subsequently, you may in special cases receive dispensation, so that your right to residence does not terminate.

In your application for dispensation, you must document the reason and length of your residence outside Denmark. SIRI can, depending on the circumstances, grant dispensation from termination for up to two years (beyond the two years you have the right to be abroad when you have permanent right to residence).

SIRI will write to you to inform you if it is considering making a decision that could affect your right to residence, for example, if you have been abroad for an extended period. In such instances, you will have the opportunity to provide information or documentation to support extending your residence.

If you no longer meet the requirements for either permanent right to residence or for one of the other types of grounds for residence under EU rules your ties to Denmark will be considered as one of several factors that could influence whether you retain your right to residence. Other factors include how long you have lived in Denmark and your work history here.  

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Can my family qualify for a permanent EU residence document?

Your family does not automatically obtain the right to permanent residence under EU rules because you have obtained the right to permanent residence.

Your family must have had genuine and effective residence in Denmark for five years and during the entire period have met the conditions for grounds for residence under EU rules.

If your family has grounds for residence as a family member to you, and they came to Denmark at the same time as you or earlier, they will normally be able to obtain permanent right to residence at the same time as you, if the family relationship continued during the entire period.

Your family members are not covered by your application for permanent right to residence and must therefore submit their own applications for permanent right to residence (after five years of residence).

Read more about grounds for residence as a family member here.

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What more do I need to know before I apply for proof of the right to permanent residence?

Applications for a residence document under EU rules must be submitted to the Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI). 

The ‘How to Apply’ tab (at right) provides more information about the application process, as well as the application form itself. 

SIRI normally makes its decision based on the information and documents you submit with the application form. In some cases, SIRI will need to contact you to request further information. 

Please note that SIRI will only request information from you. Your employer, for example, will not be contacted to provide information. Likewise, SIRI will not provide information about your application to others than you. If SIRI is contacted – by telephone or in writing – by anyone other than you requesting information about your application, the request will normally be turned down.

You may grant SIRI permission to give information about your application to others than yourself. To grant someone else permission to receive information, you must submit a power of attorney in advance. The power of attorney needs to indicate by name the individuals authorised to receive information about your application.

If you state in your application that you are being represented by a solicitor, you do not need to submit a power of attorney. Solicitors, due to their profession, are automatically granted power of attorney. If you are being represented by a solicitor, SIRI will send all correspondence about your application to your solicitor.

You are an EU citizen

You can submit an application for proof of the right to permanent residence starting one month before you have been in Denmark for five consecutive years. Since it is not mandatory to apply for proof of the right to permanent residence there is no limit on how long you have to submit an application. If you meet the conditions for permanent residence, you, in principle, have this right, regardless of whether you apply for proof of it or not.

If you do not meet the conditions for permanent residence, you must continue to meet the grounds for another type of residence under EU rules, regardless of whether you have been in Denmark for five years or more, and regardless of whether you apply for proof of permanent residence.

You are a citizen of a third country 
You can submit your application for proof of permanent residence no sooner than one month before you have been in Denmark for five consecutive years.

However, you must always submit the application before your residence card expires.

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In this tab, you can read about the application process. You must submit your application to the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

You can submit you application for permanent residence under EU regulations in two different ways:

  1. You can submit your application digitally without appearing in person by sending your application via SIRI's contact form, or
  2. You can submit your application in person at one of SIRI’s branch offices in Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus, Aalborg or Aabenraa.

Read more on both options below.

Before reading this tab about submitting an application for permanent EU residence, we recommend that you read about the conditions for permanent residence etc. in the ‘Need to know’ tab at left.

It is a good idea to gather the necessary documents before you start to complete the application form.

You can use the checklist below.

If you submit your application via SIRI's contact form, please remember to attach the following:

If you submit your application to SIRI in person, must bring the following to your appointment with SIRI:

As documentation that you have met the conditions as a worker you can submit the following:

As documentation that you have met the conditions as a student you can submit the following:

As documentation that you have met the conditions as a self-supporting person (sufficient means), you can submit the following:

As documentation that you have met the conditions as a family member you can submit the following:

If you have had other grounds for residence than those mentioned above, you must submit documentation for them.

If your grounds for residence changed during your period of residence in Denmark, you are asked to submit documentation for all of your grounds for residence.

Expect to use

30 minutes

to complete the application

1 person

You complete the application form yourself

In this step you have access to the relevant application form OD1.

The application form contains instructions for how to complete it and what kind of documents you must submit along with the form.

The application form must be printed and completed. You can then chose between two different ways to submit the application.

  1. Send the application form digitally to SIRI via the contact form along with the relevant documentation, or
  2. Submit the application form in person in one of our citizen centres along with the relevant documentation. You must book an appointment first.

Read more about submitting the application in the next step

Download the printable form OD1 (Pdf format)

Download the printable form OD1 (Word format)

If you are not a citizen of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland you must also submit an application (a so-called personal data card) for a residence card along with the OD1 application form.

Download the personal data card (application for a residence card) (Pdf format)

You can read more about how we process your personal data here.

You can chose to submit your application digitally via SIRI's contact form or to submit in person at SIRI’s branch offices in Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus, Aalborg and Aabenraa.

You can find our contact form here

Find information on the addresses and opening hours of SIRIs branch offices here

Remember to book an appointment at SIRI

Before you submit your application at SIRI, you must book an appointment

You can see the normal case processing time to the right of this tab. When we have made a decision in your case, you will receive an answer.

SIRI will contact you, if we need further information to process your case. In some instances SIRI will ask you to appear in person for an ID check in one of our branch offices.

In some cases, we will need to obtain further information, e.g. from other public authorities, including SKAT and the police and relevant authorities abroad.

You have the right to stay and work in Denmark while you wait for an answer.

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Last updated 17-08-2020 - Published by: SIRI