To be granted a residence and work permit your salary and terms of employment must correspond to Danish standards. This means that you must receive a remuneration, which corresponds to the standards of the type of employment in question in Denmark.

This condition applies to both first time applications and applications for extension.

It applies to  the following schemes:

  • Pay Limit Scheme
  • Fast track Scheme (pay limit track, short term track, researcher track) 
  • Researchers Scheme
  • Positive List for People with a Higher Education 
  • Positive List for Skilled Work
  • Special Individual Qualifications Scheme
  • Herdsmen and Farm Managers Scheme
  • Internship Scheme
  • Employment for Adaption and Training Purposes Scheme

In cases under the Positive List for Skilled Work the assessment of whether the salary corresponds to Danish standards is made according to specific principles, which you can find more information about on the application page for the Positive List for Skilled Work.

Cases were we typically assess that the salary corresponds to Danish standards

SIRI will usually assume that your salary corresponds to Danish standards, if it is stated in the application form and employment contract that:

  • Your employer is covered by a collective agreement though a membership of an employers’ association. Please be aware that a membership of an industry association is not sufficient in this regard.
  • Your employment is covered by a collective agreement. It must stated in the employment contract that your employment is covered by a collective agreement in the relevant sector/line of employment. Please note that the employer must have adopted the agreement merely following an agreement is not sufficient in this regard.
  • Your salary is at least DKK 71,020.83 per month (2024 level). 

In such cases, we will usually not make further assessment of whether the salary offered corresponds to Danish standards. 

Cases were we will examine whether the salary corresponds to Danish standards

If the above-mentioned terms are not documented in your employment contract SIRI will assess whether the salary offered corresponds to Danish standards. When we assess whether the salary corresponds to Danish standards we use the income statistics from The Confederation of Danish Employers (DA) as a guideline.

In order to apply DA’s income statistics, we need to have information about job title, job description, relevant work experience for the offered position and the the six-digit DISCO code corresponding to the job function. 

Read more about DISCO and DISCO codes

Once we have the information mentioned above, we can assess whether the offered salary corresponds to Danish standards. The offered salary must as a minimum be at the lower quartile level for the job function in question (six-digit DISCO code) and equivalent years of work experience in DA’s income statistics for the region in which you work.

DA's income statistics valid for applications submitted from 1 January 2024 (in Danish only)

DA's income statistics valid for applications submitted from 1 April 2024 (in Danish only)

If we assess that the salary does not correspond to Danish standards, we can ask for a comment from your employer.

If we assess that the income statistics show a salary that does not correspond to Danish standards, e.g. compared to the overall salary level for the same job function, we can ask the Regional Labour Market Councils (RARs) to assess whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards. If RAR finds that your salary does not correspond to Danish standards, we will request your employer’s comments before we make a decision in your case.