Fast-Track Scheme

It is a requirement that your employer is certified by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

You and your employer can read more about certification here

You can find a list of all companies certified by SIRI to recruit foreign labour via the Fast-Track Scheme here

An application for a residence and work permit under the Fast-Track Scheme must be submitted online by your employer.

You must grant your employer power of attorney to handle the application on your behalf.

Read more about power of attorney and download an approved power of attorney template here

If you do not wish to grant your employer power of attorney, you can use the application form AR1.

Read more on how to apply using AR1

It is a condition that you have been offered a job with an annual salary that corresponds to at least the pay limit amount. The pay limit amount for 2025 is DKK 514,000. The pay limit amount is regulated every year on 1 January.

When SIRI has to assess whether you have been offered a salary that corresponds to at least the pay limit amount, only the following salary components can be taken into account:

• Cash salary, including fixed supplements which therefore are guaranteed salary
• Payments to labour market pension schemes, including pension contributions paid by the employer and contributions paid by the applicant
• Paid holiday allowance 

You must meet the condition of an annual salary that corresponds to at least the pay limit amount even if you take holiday without pay.

If you earn holiday allowance that can only be paid to you the following year, this amount cannot count towards the annual salary for the year in which you have earned it. Moreover, it is only holiday allowance paid by the specific employer that you right now are allowed to work for, that can be counted as part of your salary.

Your employer can offer you, as a supplement to your salary, benefits such as paid canteen, free use of car, paid phone, paid internet and paid living and housing expenses. Note that these salary components cannot be taken into account when assessing whether your salary corresponds to the pay limit amount.

The salary that you have been offered must not be less than the standard within the professional field in which you are going to work.

When assessing whether the salary you have been offered corresponds to Danish standards, only the following salary components can be taken into account:

• Cash salary, including fixed supplements which therefore are guaranteed salary
• Payments to labour market pension schemes, including pension contributions paid by the employer and contributions paid by the applicant
• Holiday allowance

If you are paid on a monthly basis, you will earn a fixed holiday supplement of 1 % as part of your monthly salary. We include the supplement when we assess whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards and whether you meet the pay limit. 

If you are paid hourly and earn a holiday allowance of 12.5 % in addition to your basic salary, we do not include the holiday allowance as a supplement to your basic salary when we assess whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards and whether you meet the pay limit.

Your employer might offer you, as a supplement to your salary, benefits such as paid canteen, free use of car, paid phone, paid internet and paid living and housing expenses. Note that these salary components cannot be taken into account when assessing whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards.

Read more about Danish standards for salary

Your terms of employment, such as your holiday entitlements, terms of notice, etc. must not be inferior to the standards within the professional field in which you are going to work.

If SIRI has any doubts on whether your terms of employment correspond to Danish standards, we can ask the regional labour market councils to assess your terms of employment.

Read more about Danish standards for terms of employment

It is a condition that you work full time. As a rule, this mean 37-40 working hours a week.

The condition that your salary corresponds to a least the pay limit amount must be met regardless of the number of work hours.

A residence and work permit cannot be granted for a job that is covered by a legal labour dispute.

A permit can be given for other jobs in a company affected by a dispute if these jobs are not covered by the conflict according to the rules of labour law.

In some instances, it is required that you have a Danish authorisation or a temporary authorisation for employment for adaption and training purposes before you can be granted a residence and work permit.

If you have taken up employment for adaption and training purposes in order to obtain a Danish authorisation, you need to have a temporary authorisation (evalueringsautorisation) issued by the Danish Patient Safety Authority.

If you have been offered employment as a medical doctor, you need to obtain an authorisation from the Danish Patient Safety Authority.

Read more about authorisation here

It is a requirement that your employer is certified by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

You and your employer can read more about certification here

You can find a list of all companies certified by SIRI to recruit foreign labour via the Fast-Track Scheme here

An application for a residence and work permit under the Fast-Track Scheme must be submitted online by your employer.

You must grant your employer power of attorney to handle the application on your behalf.

Read more about power of attorney and download an approved power of attorney template here

If you do not wish to grant your employer power of attorney, you can use the application form AR1.

Read more on how to apply using AR1

It is a condition that you have been offered a job with an annual salary that corresponds to at least the supplementary pay limit amount. The supplementary pay limit amount for 2025 is DKK 415,000. The pay limit amount is regulated every year on 1 January.

When SIRI has to assess whether you have been offered a salary that corresponds to at least the pay limit amount, only the following salary components can be taken into account:

• Cash salary, including fixed supplements which therefore are guaranteed salary
• Payments to labour market pension schemes, including pension contributions paid by the employer and contributions paid by the applicant
• Paid holiday allowance 

You must meet the condition of an annual salary that corresponds to at least the supplementary pay limit amount even if you take holiday without pay.

If you earn holiday allowance that can only be paid to you the following year, this amount cannot count towards the annual salary for the year in which you have earned it. Moreover, it is only holiday allowance paid by the specific employer that you right now are allowed to work for, that can be counted as part of your salary.

Your employer can offer you, as a supplement to your salary, benefits such as paid canteen, free use of car, paid phone, paid internet and paid living and housing expenses. Note that these salary components cannot be taken into account when assessing whether your salary corresponds to the supplementary pay limit amount.

Your salary must be paid into a Danish bank account in your own name, and the bank has to be operating legally in Denmark.

It is not a requirement that the salary which is paid into your Danish bank account is transferred from a Danish bank account.

You must contact a bank yourself, in order to create a Danish bank account. There are no immediate restrictions concerning the type of bank account.

If you have not yet received a Danish address or CPR number and you are experiencing diffuclties creating a Danish bank account, in order to find out what options you have in terms of creating a basic payment account, you can read more on www.basalbetalingskonto.dk (opens in a new window)

Your Danish bank account must be opened within 180 days of your residence and work permit being granted. If you enter Denmark after you have been granted a residence and work permit, you must open a Danish bank account within 180 days from your entry into Denmark. If you already hold a Danish residence permit that is valid for at least 180 days, your salary must be paid into your Danish bank account from your first salary payment.

Read more about having your salary paid into a Danish bank account

The salary that you have been offered must not be less than the standard within the professional field in which you are going to work.

When assessing whether the salary you have been offered corresponds to Danish standards, only the following salary components can be taken into account:

• Cash salary, including fixed supplements which therefore are guaranteed salary
• Payments to labour market pension schemes, including pension contributions paid by the employer and contributions paid by the applicant
• Holiday allowance 

If you are paid on a monthly basis, you will earn a fixed holiday supplement of 1 % as part of your monthly salary. We include the supplement when we assess whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards and whether you meet the pay limit. 

If you are paid hourly and earn a holiday allowance of 12.5 % in addition to your basic salary, we do not include the holiday allowance as a supplement to your basic salary when we assess whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards and whether you meet the pay limit.

Your employer might offer you, as a supplement to your salary, benefits such as paid canteen, free use of car, paid phone, paid internet and paid living and housing expenses. Note that these salary components cannot be taken into account when assessing whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards.

Read more about Danish standards for salary

Your terms of employment, such as your holiday entitlements, terms of notice, etc. must not be inferior to the standards within the professional field in which you are going to work.

If SIRI has any doubts on whether your terms of employment correspond to Danish standards, we can ask the regional labour market councils to assess your terms of employment.

Read more about Danish standards for terms of employment

It is a condition that the seasonally adjusted gross unemployment has not exceeded 3.75 pct. on average in the 3 months prior to applying.

Whether the level of the seasonally adjusted gross unemployment is regulated after you have submitted the application, has no impact on your application. 

Read more about the seasonally adjusted gross unemployment and see the current level

It is a condition that the job position offered has been posted on Jobnet and the EURES portal for at least 2 weeks before you apply for a residence and work permit at SIRI.

As a rule, the job position must not have been posted for more than six months before you apply for a residence and work permit. SIRI calculates the six months starting from the day the job is created on Jobnet and the EURES portal.

If the job position is posted on other portals, this condition will not be met.

The number of applicants to the job position, as well as whether the job position is still open or the recruitment process finalised, have no impact on your application.

Your employer must therefore attach documentation that the job position has been posted on Jobnet and the EURES portal for at least 2 weeks prior to applying. SIRI will run spot-checks to verify whether the documentation is correct.

Note that this is a condition even though you already have a residence and work permit in Denmark based on another job position. If you submit a new application before the position has been posted for at least two weeks, you will not fulfil this condition.

It is also a condition that in the 2 years prior to applying you must not have received a fine of DKK 3,000 or more under the Criminal Code, the Act on Euphoriant Substances, the Act on Weapons and Explosives, etc. or the Aliens Act.

You must not receive such a fine after having submitted your application either. 

If you receive a fine of DKK 3,000 or more after you have submitted the application or after you have been granted a residence and work permit under the supplementary pay limit track, SIRI can withdraw your permit and you will lose your right to stay in Denmark.

You must sign a sworn declaration that you meet the above condition above and send it to your employer so that it can be attached to the application.

Download sworn declaration that you have not been fined (PDF)

It is a condition that you work full time. As a rule, this mean 37-40 working hours a week.

The condition that your salary corresponds to a least the pay limit amount must be met regardless of the number of work hours.

A residence and work permit cannot be granted for a job that is covered by a legal labour dispute.

A permit can be given for other jobs in a company affected by a dispute, if these jobs are not covered by the conflict according to the rules of labour law.

In some instances, it is required that you have a Danish authorisation or a temporary authorisation for employment for adaption and training purposes before you can be granted a residence and work permit.

If you have taken up employment for adaption and training purposes in order to obtain a Danish authorisation, you need to have a temporary authorisation (evalueringsautorisation) issued by the Danish Patient Safety Authority.

If you have been offered employment as a medical doctor, you need to obtain an authorisation from the Danish Patient Safety Authority.

Read more about authorisation here

It is a requirement that your employer is certified by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

You and your employer can read more about certification here

You can find a list of all companies certified by SIRI to recruit foreign labour via the Fast-Track Scheme here

An application for a residence and work permit under the Fast-Track Scheme must be submitted online by your employer.

You must grant your employer power of attorney to handle the application on your behalf.

Read more about power of attorney and download an approved power of attorney template here

If you do not wish to grant your employer power of attorney, you can use the application form AR1.

Read more on how to apply using AR1

You are at any time only allowed to have a maximum of 90 days of residence under the short-term track, within the last 365 days. The 90 days can be distributed across several stays. This means that a method referred to as a ‘rolling’ calculation is being used. The rolling calculation only accounts for the number of days of residence within a 365-day period. When calculating the period, the count starts from the first day that your permit is to be valid and is then counted 365 days back in time. This means that if you are applying for a residence under the short-term track starting from 1 May 2023, the rolling calculation will start from 2 May 2022.

You must apply for a permit for each stay.

If you are granted a preliminary work permit, the period of residence will be calculated from the first date of the preliminary permit.

Residence in Denmark on another basis than the short-term track is not taken into account when calculating the period of a maximum of 90 days that is possible under the short-term track. 

It is important to remember that the stay must not last more than 90 consecutive days, and that the day you enter the country and the day you leave both count as part of the 90 days.

Example 1: A person applies for residence under the short-term track and wishes to start working on 26 March 2023. The person in question has previously had residence under the short-term track in the period between 23 January 2023 and 2 February 2023 (11 days), and previously for 7 and 13 days in September and October of 2022 as well. In total, this adds up to 31 days within the last 365 days, calculated from 26 March 2023. The person in question can be granted residence under the short-term track for 59 days, starting from 26 March 2023. 

Example 2: A person applies for residence under the short-term track and wishes to start working on 1 July 2023. Said person requests a residence of 90 days under the short-term track. The person in question has previously had residence under the short-term track which consisted of 70 days from 1 November 2022. Therefore, the full period of residency under the short-term track cannot be met. However, the person can be granted a residence of 20 days under the short-term track from 1 July 2023.

Example 3: A person applies for residence under the short-term track and wishes to start working on 15 August 2023. The request is for 30 days. Said person has previously had multiple residences under the short-term track within the last 365 days; 10 days from 15 August 2022, 30 days from 1 October 2022, 10 days from 1 January 2023, 30 days from 1 April 2023, and with the latest residence being 10 days from 1 June 2023. Therefore, the application for residence under the short-term track from 15 August 2023 cannot meet the full period of 30 days. The person in question can only be granted a permit for a residence of 10 days under the short-term track.

When applying for short-term stay number two (or more) within a 365-day period, you must attach documentation for previous short-term stays in Denmark.

If you, during a previous short-term stay, stayed for a shorter period than your permit allowed, it is possible to only factor in the actual length of stay in Denmark. In that case you must attach documentation for entry and exit related to your previous stay.

This can be documented by providing the following documentation:

• Stamps in your passport
• Boarding pass or other travel documentation
• Information or data from your company’s HR department  

The so called job change rule does not apply between two short-term stays at the same employer.

Read more about the job change rule here

The salary that you have been offered must not be less than the standard within the professional field in which you are going to work.

When assessing whether the salary you have been offered corresponds to Danish standards, only the following salary components can be taken into account:

• Cash salary, including fixed supplements which therefore are guaranteed salary
• Payments to labour market pension schemes, including pension contributions paid by the employer and contributions paid by the applicant
• Holiday allowance 

If you are paid on a monthly basis, you will earn a fixed holiday supplement of 1 % as part of your monthly salary. We include the supplement when we assess whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards and whether you meet the pay limit. 

If you are paid hourly and earn a holiday allowance of 12.5 % in addition to your basic salary, we do not include the holiday allowance as a supplement to your basic salary when we assess whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards and whether you meet the pay limit.

Your employer might offer you, as a supplement to your salary, benefits such as paid canteen, free use of car, paid phone, paid internet and paid living and housing expenses. Note that these salary components cannot be taken into account when assessing whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards.

Read more about Danish standards for salary

Your terms of employment, such as your holiday entitlements, terms of notice, etc. must not be inferior to the standards within the professional field in which you are going to work.

If SIRI has any doubts on whether your terms of employment correspond to Danish standards, we can ask the regional labour market councils to assess your terms of employment.

Read more about Danish standards for terms of employment

It is a condition that you work full time. As a rule, this means 37-40 working hours a week.

A residence and work permit cannot be granted for a job that is covered by a legal labour dispute.

A permit can be given for other jobs in a company affected by a dispute, if these jobs are not covered by the conflict according to the rules of labour law.

It is a requirement that your employer is certified by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

You and your employer can read more about certification here

You can find a list of all companies certified by SIRI to recruit foreign labour via the Fast-Track Scheme here

An application for a residence and work permit under the Fast-Track Scheme must be submitted online by your employer.

You must grant your employer power of attorney to handle the application on your behalf.

Read more about power of attorney and download an approved power of attorney template here

If you do not wish to grant your employer power of attorney, you can use the application form AR1.

Read more on how to apply using AR1

The salary that you have been offered must not be less than the standard within the professional field in which you are going to work.

When assessing whether the salary you have been offered corresponds to Danish standards, only the following salary components can be taken into account:

• Cash salary, including fixed supplements which therefore are guaranteed salary
• Payments to labour market pension schemes, including pension contributions paid by the employer and contributions paid by the applicant
• Holiday allowance 

If you are paid on a monthly basis, you will earn a fixed holiday supplement of 1 % as part of your monthly salary. We include the supplement when we assess whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards and whether you meet the pay limit. 

If you are paid hourly and earn a holiday allowance of 12.5 % in addition to your basic salary, we do not include the holiday allowance as a supplement to your basic salary when we assess whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards and whether you meet the pay limit.

Your employer might offer you, as a supplement to your salary, benefits such as paid canteen, free use of car, paid phone, paid internet and paid living and housing expenses. Note that these salary components cannot be taken into account when assessing whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards.

Read more about Danish standards for salary

Your terms of employment, such as your holiday entitlements, terms of notice, etc. must not be inferior to the standards within the professional field in which you are going to work.

If SIRI has any doubts on whether your terms of employment correspond to Danish standards, we can ask the regional labour market councils to assess your terms of employment.

Read more about Danish standards for terms of employment

If you are invited as a researcher, scientist or speaker to teach for shorter than a 90 days period, you may not need a residence and work permit, since you may be covered by the rules of exemption.

Read more about the rules of exemption here

The same applies if you are going to work as a researcher at a university or a company in Denmark, and the total duration of your stay, counted from your date of entry, is 90 days or less. 

If you are a foreign nationals from a country with a visa requirement, you must obtain a valid visa for the full duration of your stay before entering Denmark. 

Read more about the conditions for visa and visa-free stays and about how to apply for a visa here

If you know beforehand that you will be staying in Denmark for longer than 90 days, you must apply for a residence permit that also covers the first 90 days of your stay.

If you, aside from your primary job, wish to be affiliated with one or more Danish universities as a researcher, or you obtain other sideline employment, you do not need a specific permit for it.

You can find more information on the rights you get with a permit under the Fast-Track Scheme here

You can find more about sideline employment here

Full time employment is not a requirement for researchers, but you need to have a contract or a specific employment agreement which shows that your salary and terms of employment conform to Danish standards.

With a permit as a researcher after the Fast-Track Scheme, your job content can change within the same university or company without you having to apply for a new work permit. For example, this applies if you are promoted or if your research project changes. Salary and terms of employment must continue to correspond to Danish standards.

You must inform SIRI if your salary and terms of employment deteriorate.

It is a requirement that your employer is certified by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

You and your employer can read more about certification here

You can find a list of all companies certified by SIRI to recruit foreign labour via the Fast-Track Scheme here

An application for a residence and work permit under the Fast-Track Scheme must be submitted online by your employer.

You must grant your employer power of attorney to handle the application on your behalf.

Read more about power of attorney and download an approved power of attorney template here

If you do not wish to grant your employer power of attorney, you can use the application form AR1.

Read more on how to apply using AR1

If you are applying for a permit via this track, your employer must describe the educational purpose of your stay.

The description must be attached to the application.

As a trainee, you are not able to obtain a permit using the educational track. A trainee stay does not imply education on a sufficiently high level to meet the requirement of this track. 

You can read more about the trainee scheme here

The salary that you have been offered must not be less than the standard within the professional field in which you are going to work.

When assessing whether the salary you have been offered corresponds to Danish standards, only the following salary components can be taken into account:

• Cash salary, including fixed supplements which therefore are guaranteed salary
• Payments to labour market pension schemes, including pension contributions paid by the employer and contributions paid by the applicant
• Holiday allowance 

If you are paid on a monthly basis, you will earn a fixed holiday supplement of 1 % as part of your monthly salary. We include the supplement when we assess whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards and whether you meet the pay limit. 

If you are paid hourly and earn a holiday allowance of 12.5 % in addition to your basic salary, we do not include the holiday allowance as a supplement to your basic salary when we assess whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards and whether you meet the pay limit.

Your employer might offer you, as a supplement to your salary, benefits such as paid canteen, free use of car, paid phone, paid internet and paid living and housing expenses. Note that these salary components cannot be taken into account when assessing whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards.

Read more about Danish standards for salary

Your terms of employment, such as your holiday entitlements, terms of notice, etc. must not be inferior to the standards within the professional field in which you are going to work.

If SIRI has any doubts on whether your terms of employment correspond to Danish standards, we can ask the regional labour market councils to assess your terms of employment.

Read more about Danish standards for terms of employment

It is a condition that you work full time. As a rule, this mean 37-40 working hours a week.

A residence and work permit cannot be granted for a job that is covered by a legal labour dispute.

A permit can be given for other jobs in a company affected by a dispute, if these jobs are not covered by the conflict according to the rules of labour law.

In some instances, it is required that you have a Danish authorisation or a temporary authorisation for employment for adaption and training purposes before you can be granted a residence and work permit.

If you have taken up employment for adaption and training purposes in order to obtain a Danish authorisation, you need to have a temporary authorisation (evalueringsautorisation) issued by the Danish Patient Safety Authority.

If you have been offered employment as a medical doctor, you need to obtain an authorisation from the Danish Patient Safety Authority.

Read more about authorisation here

This is how to get a quick job start if you can enter into Denmark legally right away, e.g. if you are exempt from the visa requirement or you have a valid Schengen visa: 

• Your employer must submit an application for a residence and work permit under the Fast-Track Scheme with a power of attorney from you. Find an approved power of attorney form
• In the application, your employer must choose that you need a quick job start and that you are exempt from the visa requirement. Your employer will then get a link to book a meeting at SIRI so that you can get a preliminary work permit. Your employer can also get the link from their contact person in SIRI. You cannot book an appointment for the meeting on newtodenmark.dk.
• You must appear in SIRI’s Citizen Centre at the appointed time. Bring your passport and receipt for the application. At the meeting, SIRI will do a number of checks, such as an identity check, check if you are registered as unwanted in the Schengen area, and a check to make sure that you have entered into a contract with the certified company. In addition, we will check if the case processing fee has been paid. You will also have your biometric features recorded.

If you meet the requirements, you will at the meeting get a preliminary work permit. This means that you can start working right away. The preliminary work permit is valid until SIRI has processed your application for a residence and work permit.

This is how to get a quick job start if you are required to have a visa and therefore cannot enter Denmark legally:

• Your employer must submit an application for a residence and work permit under the Fast-Track Scheme with a power of attorney form you. Find an approved power of attorney form
• In the application, your employer must choose that you need a quick job start and that you are required to have a visa. If you employer forgets to choose that you need a quick job start, you can write us through our contact form. Choose the option "We are applying under the Fast-Track Scheme and need a quick job start for our employee". Remember to state the application's case order ID and reference number in the message. Write to SIRI
• No later than 14 days after your employer has submitted the application, you must have your biometric features recorded at the nearest Danish diplomatic mission.

When you have recorded your biometric features, SIRI will give you a residence and work permit if you meet the requirements. At the same time, SIRI approves that the Danish diplomatic mission gives you a long-stay visa (visa type D) so that you can enter Denmark.

Once you have travelled to Denmark, you can immediately register your residence at the Civil Registration Office and get a health insurance card.

You are only allowed to work in the job and in the company that you have been granted a permit to work in.

With a permit under the Fast-Track Scheme, your job content can change within the same university or company without you having to apply for a new work permit. For example, this applies if you are promoted or if your place of work changes. Salary and employment conditions must still correspond to the Danish standards.

If you are granted a permit on the pay limit track then your salary must continue to correspond at least to the pay limit.

Please note, if you have been granted a work permit based on the pay limit track, the researcher track or the educational track, you may still have a residence permit even if your work permit has expired. This residence permit is called a job seeking permit, and you are allowed to stay in Denmark for a period of time while looking for a new job. Read more about the job seeking permit

It is important that you do not work during this so-called job-seeking period as it is only intended for job seeking in Denmark.

If you are offered a new job, you must apply for a new permit.  

If you wish to take a sideline job, you have to obtain a separate permit. With a residence permit on the researcher track, you are exempt for the requirement for a work permit for sideline employment with other employers; as a result you do not apply for a specific permit for sideline employment.

You can read more about sideline employment here.

Furthermore, you are allowed to take up unpaid voluntary work.

A Danish residence and work permit does not allow you to work in other Schengen countries.

You can read more about working conditions in Denmark and 'The Danish labour market model' here.

A residence and work permit based on the Fast-Track Scheme allows you to stay in Denmark for the period of time your permit is valid. 

In addition, a permit allows you to stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days within the latest 180 days period. The permit, however, does not allow you to work in other Schengen countries.

Normally, with a Danish residence permit, you must not give up your Danish address or stay abroad for longer than 6 successive months. A violation will result in the lapse of your permit. 

With a permit based on the Fast-Track Scheme, you are exempt from these rules that can cause your permit to lapse. Hence, you are allowed to give up your Danish address if you stay abroad for a period of time.

If you are granted a job seeking permit after the expiry of your employment contract, the exemption from the rules that can cause your permit to lapse does not apply during the job seeking period.  

If you periodically reside abroad and do not receive the salary stated when you applied for a residence and work permit, you and your employer must be able to provide documentation that you have not been residing in Denmark during the periods in question. 

This can be documented by providing the following documentation:

• Deregistration from the CPR registry if you are residing outside of Denmark for more than 90 days

• Boarding pass

• Stamps in your passport

• Information or data from your company’s HR department – e.g. a statement of leave

• Documentation of received salary abroad

Your employer can be requested to provide this documentation if you apply for extension of your permit or as a part of our verification and spot-check procedures.

You must be able to support yourself and your family during your stay. You are not allowed to receive benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act, e.g. social security benefits.

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

If an authority, e.g. a municipality, disburses benefits to foreign nationals, SIRI will be notified.

 You can see a list of benefits that you are not allowed to receive here.

With a residence permit in Denmark, you are entitled to free Danish lessons. However, you must have turned 18 years and have your Danish address registered in the Danish National Register.

If you have a residence permit in Denmark based on work, study, etc. you have to pay a deposit before you can start receiving lessons. Be aware that you can lose your deposit if you do not pass the different modules within a specific timeframe.

Your municipality of residence is obliged to offer you Danish lessons and refer you to a language centre. If you have not been offered Danish lessons within a month after registering your address in Denmark, you can contact your municipality. 

You will (typically) be taught together with other foreign nationals who have arrived in Denmark recently.

If you apply from abroad, you can be granted a residence permit valid for 1 month before you start working. It will give you the time to settle in Denmark. When you apply, you must declare that you can support yourself and any accompanying family members during this time. If you do not declare this, your residence permit will be valid for 14 days before you start working.

If you apply in Denmark, your residence permit will be valid from the day you start working.

A residence permit can only be valid until 90 days 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 – however, this can only be done 90 days before your permit expires at the earliest. 

Read more about the passport requirements.

A permit for a short-term stay can have a maximum duration of 90 days within a period of 1 year.

The permit cannot be extended, but the 90 days can be divided into several stays.

Each stay must be applied for individually and the combined period must not exceed 90 days from entering Denmark the first time.

The 3 months are counted from your date of entry into Denmark.

If the duration of your employment contract is shorter than 90 days, your permit will expire 14 days later than the expiry of your contract – if possible within the limit of 90 days in total.

If your employment is 4 years or more, you will normally be granted a residence and work permit for 4 years. If you are employed for a shorter period than 4 years, your residence and work permit will normally be valid for the period of your employment. 

In addition, you will automatically be granted a 6 month job seeking permit allowing you to look for a new job in Denmark.

You are not allowed to work during your job seeking period. 

If you find a new job, you must submit a new application based on the new job – it can either be based on one of the Fast-Track Scheme's tracks, or it can be based on another of our work schemes. When you have submitted your application based on the new job, you do not have to wait for your permit before you start working. You can start your new job on the day you submit the new application.

Extension of your permit

If you wish to continue working in Denmark after your permit has expired, you must apply for an extension of your residence and work permit.

It is very important that you apply for an extension before your permit expires. You can apply for an extension of your permit at the earliest 3 months before your permit expires.

If you submit your application for an extension in time, you can stay in Denmark and continue to work even though your permit is expiring.

You must inform SIRI if you lose your job. Your residence and work permit will be revoked as it is based on this exact job. 

However, if you become unemployed through no fault of your own, e.g. due to cutbacks, and you have a residence permit based on the Fast-Track Scheme's pay limit track, short-term track or educational track, you can apply for an extra 6 month residence permit allowing you to look for a new job in Denmark. You must apply for this job seeking permit no later than 2 days after your employment ends.

Please note that you cannot be granted a job seeking permit if your permit is based on the Fast-Track Scheme's short-term track or the supplementary pay limit track.

You are not allowed to work while you have a job seeking permit.

If you find a new job, you must apply for a new residence and work permit based on one of our work schemes. When you have submitted your new application, you can start working even though you have not been granted a permit yet.

Read more about the job seeking permit here