Intern in Greenland

You have been offered a job as an intern in Greenland.

Normal processing time
3 months

Processing fee
No fee

Who can be granted a residence permit as an intern?

You can be granted a residence permit as an intern in Greenland if you meet two conditions:

  • You are enrolled in an educational programme in your home country or in a country in where you have been a legal resident, and
  • there are specific educational reasons for your internship in Greenland.

What are my rights if I am granted a permit?

What are you allowed to do with a residence permit as an intern in Greenland – and what are you not allowed to do?

A residence and work permit allows you to stay in Greenland for the period of time your permit is valid.

If you are a citizen from a country outside the EU/EEA, the residence permit does not give you the right to reside in the Schengen area. 

If you have been legally living in Greenland for less than two years, you can stay outside the Greenland up to 6 months. 

If you need to stay abroad for a longer period of time, you can apply for dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing. Please note that dispensation is only given under special circumstances e.g. if a close family member is seriously ill.

You can only work in the position and in the place of internship that you have been granted a permit to work in.

If you are offered a new internship, you must apply for a new permit. This also applies if you are offered a new position in the same workplace.

If you, in connection to your job, need to stay abroad for a longer period of time, you can apply for dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing.

You must be able to support yourself during your stay. You are not allowed to receive public benefits. 

If you receive such benefits during your stay, your permit can be revoked – and you will lose the right to stay in Greenland. 

What are the conditions?

You must be at least 18 years old but cannot have turned 35 at the time of application.

The internship must supplement the educational programme you have begun in your home country or in the country where you have been a legal resident. The internship’s purpose should not be to supplement a Greenlandic educational programme. You must provide documentation of enrollment in your educational programme with a list of the courses you have completed. An authorised translation of the list must be submitted along with your application.

The internship must be professionally related to your on-going educational programme.

If your education is completed, then this must have happened recently. If you have completed your education more than 18 months ago we will estimate whether there still is coherence between your completed education, your career direction and the proposed internship. Our estimation will include information about your post-educational employment.

If your internship is without pay, you must provide documentation of your ability to support yourself during the full period of your internship.

You must have an amount at your disposal corresponding to DKK 4.200 for each month you will be staying in Greenland.

Documentation can be in the form of a bank statement or a copy of a scholarship certificate. It is important that the documentation is in your name. You will not meet the requirement if someone else supports you.

Your internship host must be qualified to host and train an intern. If an approval of the place of internship is not issued within the field in question, your place of internship must submit a description of the internship’s training programme.

In addition, your place of internship must inform who has been appointed to supervise you during the internship, and also inform about the firms experience with interns or trainees. As a supplement, SIRI can obtain information from relevant professional organizations.

Your place of internship must submit a description of your tasks and a training programme along with the application.

If your internship is paid, then salary and terms of employment must correspond to the current collective agreements for interns.

How long can I stay in Greenland?

As an intern in Greenland, you can be granted a residence and work permit valid for up to 12 months with the possibility of an additional extension of 18 months in total.

A residence permit can only be valid until 2 months before the expiry date of your passport.

If your passport has a shorter validity than the otherwise possible period of stay, your residence permit will be shortened. This means that the validity of your residence permit will be shorter than it could be. When you have renewed your passport, you can apply for an extension of your residence permit.

What should I do if I lose my internship or change my job?

If you are granted a permit as an intern, your residence permit is linked to your internship on Greenland. Your internship is the basis for your permit.

If you lose your internship or change to a new, you must always inform SIRI. 

Your work permit is limited to the internship that your permit is based on. You may not work in other positions than the one stated on your permit. This also applies if you are offered a new position at the same workplace.

If you find a new internship or are offered a job while doing your internship, you must submit a new application for a residence and work permit with information on the new internship or job. You are not allowed to begin working before you have received a new permit.

Can my family be granted a residence permit?

Normally, with a residence permit as an intern you are not allowed to bring your family with you to Greenland.

What more to know before I apply?

An application for a residence permit based on an internship is processed by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

You must have an internship agreement with a company registered in Greenland to be able to apply.

You can submit the application under the tab ’How to apply’ to the right on this page. Here you will also be given access to the relevant application form PR3.

Your place of internship must fill in one of two parts of the form. 

SIRI will contact you or your place of internship if we need further information to process your case.

Below you will find a step-by-step guide to submitting an application to the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

It is important that you have carefully read the conditions for being granted a residence permit before you begin step 1. You can do this on the tab “Need to know” on the left.

It is a good idea to gather the necessary documents before you start to complete the application form. You can use the check list below.

If you submit documents not written in English, German, Norwegian, Swedish or Danish, you must also submit certified translations into Danish or English.

If you are submitting a new application because you have changed place of internship you do not have to attach educational documents - unless your educational situation has changed.

 

You must submit:

Expect to use

30-40 minutes

per person to complete the application

2 persons

You and your place of internship are each required to complete a part of the

In this step you and your place of internship have access to the relevant application form.

Make sure that you have read all the relevant information on the tab 'Need to know' and gathered documentation according to step 1 before you begin.

All our application forms contain careful instructions on how to complete the form and what kind of documents you must submit along with the form.

 

In the application form PR3 your place of internship must complete the second part of the form. When they have completed their part, you must complete your part. Once parts 1 and 2 have been completed, they must be submitted together – read more in the next step.

You must submit the necessary documents together with the application.

The printable application form in Word format can be completed on screen before you print. The application form in PDF format must be printed first and then completed by hand.

 

Download the printable form PR3 (Word format) 

Download the printable form PR3 (PDF format) 

You are submitting the application abroad

The application can be submitted to a Danish diplomatic mission or an application centre in the country where you are residing.

See the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ list of diplomatic missions or application centres where you can hand in your application (opens in a new window)

In certain countries Denmark does not have a diplomatic mission or application centre. In these instances the list will refer you to one of the Norwegian missions with which Denmark has made an agreement or to the nearest Danish diplomatic mission or application centre in the region.

We recommend that you visit the local diplomatic mission’s webpage to get more information before you submit the application. The individual diplomatic mission can have additional requirements regarding payment of additional fees, submission of additional passport photos or additional copies of the application.

You are submitting the application in Denmark

If you are residing legally in Denmark, you are normally able to submit the application in Denmark. This is the case, if you:

  • hold a valid visa
  • are exempt from the visa requirement or
  • already hold a valid residence permit.

You can read more about the legal residence requirement and submission of your application in Denmark here

You can submit the application in one of SIRI’s branch offices.

If you plan to submit your application in one of SIRI’s branch offices, you must remember to book an appointment

You can also send the application to SIRI.

You are submitting the application in Greenland

Generally, you cannot submit the application in Greenland, except if you have a preceding residence permit. 

Only if very special reasons support it, and you have entered Greenland legally, a first time application can be submitted to the police in Greenland.

You can see the normal case processing time to the right on this page. When we make a decision in your case, you will receive an answer.

SIRI will contact you or your intership host if we need further information to process your case.

Your residence card will automatically be sent to the address that has been registered under your name in the Civil Registration System (CPR). It is important that your name is written on your mailbox. If your name is not written on your mailbox, there is a chance that the residence card will not be delivered to you, and that it will be sent back to SIRI instead.

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Last updated 06-02-2025 - Published by: SIRI