Extension of work permit
The company wants to extent the foreign employee’s rights to work at the company.
If your company wants to extend the residence and work permit of a foreign national and the permit has been granted on the basis of a specific employment at the company, then before the expiry date you have to apply for an extension using the application form AR3 or AR7. You can read more about that here.
A foreign national who, in addition to a residence and work permit at a specific company, has been granted 6 months additional residency for jobseeking, cannot work during the jobseeking period, unless he or she has applied for an extension of the residence and work permit before it expires.
If application for extension has been submitted in due time, then the foreign national can continue working after the expiration date of the previous permits – also if the new application has not yet been processed and concluded.
If one of your foreign employees does not have a work permit localized at your company but has other legal basis for working, e.g. a student permit (card type Z), then you must also in this case be aware of the permits date of expiry. Even though you did not contribute to the application which gave the foreign national the right to work, and you thus have no direct insight into the situation, you can still risk to receive a fine for illegal work if the foreign employee continues to work after the permit’s date of expiry.
You can read more about illegal work here.
In the following sections we give you examples of how to act on expiry of various types of permits that include the right to work - if you want to continue the employment of a foreign national, and avoid illegal work. The list is not exhaustive.
One of your foreign employees has a residence permit which is not specific to your company but gives the right to work. This can for example be an establishment card (card type C), a study permit (card type Z), a green card, as an accompanying family member – or it can even be a permit which has been granted by the Danish Immigration Service, e.g. family reunification or asylum. These types of permit give the foreign national the right to work at any company.
A study permit (card type Z) only grants the right to work for a limited amount of hours per week (15 or 20 hours).
The permit is only valid until a certain date A – and since you are aware of this and wish to keep the employee, you want to make sure that the foreign national before date A applies for a residence and work permit specific to your company, for example according to the Pay Limit Scheme.
On date B the foreigner receives the new permit, localized at your company.
If date B is before date A, then the foreigner can start working according to contract commencement. Before date A the non-localized permit gives the right to work anywhere, and after date A the new localized permit gives the right to work at the specific job at your company.
If date B instead is later than date A, the foreign national must stop working on date A and can only resume work when the new permit is received on date B.
When an employee changes from one basis with work rights (not localized) to a permit based on a specific employment at your company, then it is not an extension according to the Aliens Act – as it is a change of residence basis. This is the reason why SIRI, in such cases has to evaluate the new basis – and thus the foreign national cannot work before the new permit has been granted (except in the case of change to the provisional permit of the Fast-track Scheme).
If one of your foreign employees has a permit with a right to work which is not specific to your company (not localized), and this permit is about to expire, then it is possible that the employee wants to apply for a permit on a different basis which, as the previous, is not the specific employment at your company.
Example: One of your foreign employees has a residence permit as a student on higher education (card type Z) which is valid until date A. Before date A the foreigner applies for a residence permit as an accompanying family member. The foreigner receives the new permit on date B.
As employer you can until date A employ the foreign employee for either 15 or 20 weekly hours (the residence card will give show the correct weekly work hours). During the period from date A until date B you are not allowed to employ the foreign worker. From date B you can employ the foreign worker for an unlimited amount of hours (according to the contract) until the new permit as an accompanying family member is no longer valid.
When an employee changes between two bases with a right to work which are not specific to your company, it is not regarded as an extension according to the Aliens Act – as it represents a change of residence basis. Thus, the foreign national cannot work with reference to the new basis before the new permit has been granted.
If one of your foreign employees has a study permit (card type Z) with the right to work (not based on specific employment at your company), and this permit is about to expire, then it is possible that the foreigner wants to apply for a new study permit based on a new educational programme.
Example: The foreign national has a residence permit as a student on a higher educational programme which is valid until date A, and the foreigner applies for a new study permit on the basis of a new programme before date A. The foreign national is granted the new residence permit on date B.
As an employer you can until date A employ the foreign national for 15 or 20 hours weekly – depending on the content of the residence card. In the period from date A until date B you are not allowed to employ the foreign national. From date B you can again employ the foreign national for up to 20 weekly hours.
When an employee with a study permit with the right to work changes to a different study programme it is considered a change of residence basis, and thus, according to the Aliens Act, it is not an extension. The foreign national is not allowed to work during the period from the expiration of the previous permit until the new permit has been granted.
If one of your foreign employees has a permit with the right to work which is not based on a specific employment at your company (not localized), and this permit is about to expire, then it will often happen that the employee wants to extent the permit on that same basis – for example as a student or as an accompanying family member.
Example: One of your foreign employees has a residence permit as an accompanying family member (residence card C). The foreigner applies for an extension of this permit before expiry. In this situation the foreign national can continue working even if the old permit expires before the new one is granted.
In this situation there is no change of residence basis, despite the right to work not being based on specific employment at your company – and this is why the foreign national can continue working, provided that extension application has been submitted on time.
If one of your foreign employees has a residence and work permit based on a specific employment, and this permit is about to expire, then the foreigner might want to change to a different residence basis.
Example: One of your foreign employees has a residence permit based on the Pay Limit Scheme (card type R or J) with expiry date A. Then, before date A, the foreign national applies for a residence permit as an accompanying family member. The foreigner receives the new residence permit on date B.
If date B is before date A, you are allowed to employ the foreign national for the entire period until the expiry of the new permit as an accompanying family member. If date B is after date A, you are not allowed to employ the foreign national during the period between date A and date B.
When an employee shifts from a permit based on a specific employment to a different basis with a right to work (not specific to your company), it is not an extension according to the Aliens Act. In such situations SIRI has to evaluate the new basis, and thus, the foreign national cannot work before the new permit has been granted.