Guest researcher - extension

You want to extend your residence permit as a guest researcher. You continue to be invited to do research in Denmark, and you are still not employed in Denmark.

Normal processing time
3 months

Processing fee
DKK 6,055,-

Can I extend my permit?

You can apply for an extension of your residence permit as a guest researcher if your invitation to do research in Denmark has been extended.

If you have already had your permit as a guest researcher for 3 years on the same research project, you cannot extend your stay as a guest researcher further.

It is very important that you apply for an extension before your current work permit expires.

If you do not apply for an extension before your permit expires, you no longer have the right to stay in Denmark – and an application submitted in Denmark will usually be rejected.

If you submit your application for an extension in time, you can stay in Denmark while SIRI is assessing you application for an extension – even if your permit expires.

What are the conditions for extending a permit?

It is a condition for extending your permit that you have met the conditions of your residence permit during the entire period of your stay.

Invitation and research facilities

The invitation from the research institution or company, which is the basis of your stay as a guest researcher, must either still be valid or have been renewed – this includes their acceptance to put research facilities at your disposal.

You must be able to support yourself and your family

As a guest researcher, you will not be paid a salary by the research institution or company in Denmark. Therefore, you must be able to support yourself and any of your family members accompanying you to Denmark.

This can be by done through your own funds or through payments from your employer in your home country.

You must provide documentation of your ability to support yourself and your family for the entire period you are applying for an extension for.

Read more in the next section about supporting yourself.

Do I have to be able to support myself during my stay in Denmark?

In order to extend a residence permit as a guest researcher, it is a condition that you can support yourself.

Documentation of self-support

You must document that you have sufficient funds to support yourself for the entire period you are applying for. If any family members are accompanying you to Denmark, you must provide documentation of your ability to support them as well.

For each month you are in Denmark, you must document that you have:

DKK 12,770 (2025 level) if you are in Denmark without any family
DKK 25,540 (2025 level) if your spouse is accompanying you to Denmark
DKK 29,742 (2025 level) if your spouse and one or more children are accompanying you.
DKK 16,972 (2025 level) if one or more of your children, but not your spouse, are accompanying you.

Documentation of your ability to support yourself and any accompanying family members can for example be in the form of a bank statement.

What are my rights, if I am granted a permit?

What are you allowed do with a Danish residence and work permit as a guest researcher? – and what are you not allowed to do?

Work

You can only work as a guest researcher in the research institution or company that you have been granted a permit to work in.

If you are offered paid employment in Denmark, you must apply for a new permit. This also applies if you are offered employment at the same research institution or company in which you are a guest researcher.

As a guest researcher you are exempt for work permit for sideline employment. This means that the residence permit also allows you to take up sideline employment with other employers without applying for a specific work permit.

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

Residence

A residence and work permit as a researcher 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 last 180 days. The permit, however, does not allow you to work in other Schengen countries.

You must not give up your Danish address or stay abroad for more than 6 successive months. A violation will result in the lapse of your permit. This means that you will lose your right to stay in Denmark.

If you need to stay abroad for a longer period of time, e.g. if you are stationed abroad for a period of time by your company, you can apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing.

Public benefits

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.

Danish lessons

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.

Additional information

When living in Denmark, there are a number of things to acquaint yourself with. Depending on your personal situation, you might need other important information and options.

You might already have done what is necessary, but if you still have any questions, the portal lifeindenmark.dk provides you with information, links and in many cases also options concerning the most important subjects such as:

MitID
The CPR register
Health card
Tax matters
Holiday entitlements
School and daycare
Housing
Danish lessons
Car registration and driver’s license

What are my rights while I wait for a decision?

While you are waiting for a decision to your application for an extension, you are allowed to stay in Denmark with the same rights as granted by your original permit.

If you have any questions while you wait for an answer, you can find more information here.

How long can I stay in Denmark?

Duration of the permit

As a guest researcher, you can be granted a residence permit for a maximum of 3 years.

If your invitation is for a shorter period than 3 years, your permit will expire 14 days after your invitation as a guest researcher in Denmark expires.

If you find a new job, you have to submit a new application based on the new job. You can only apply as a guest researcher, if you start on a new research project – otherwise, you can apply based one of our other 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.

If a research project shorter than 3 years is extended, you can apply for an extension of your residence and work permit as a guest researcher. The total duration of your permit can, however, not exceed 3 years.

It is very important that you apply for an extension 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 expires.

Shorter validity because your passport expires

A residence permit can only be valid until 3 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 – however, this can only be done 3 months before your permit expires at the earliest.

Can my family’s residence permits be extended?

An extension of your residence and work permit as a guest researcher in Denmark allows any accompanying family members to extend their residence permits as well.

If you do not already have your family with you in Denmark, we can inform you that a permit can be granted to your spouse, registered or cohabiting partner as well as children under the age of 18 living at home.

What more do I need to know before I apply for an extension?

An application for extension of a residence permit on the basis of work is processed by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

Before submitting your application, you must create a case order ID for your application and pay a fee to cover SIRI’s case processing expenses. You can do this on the “How to apply” tab to right. Here you also find the relevant application form, AR3.

The research institution must complete the first of the two parts of the form. When the research institution has completed their part, a reference number and password will be shown, which the research institution must pass on to you. You are then able to open the application and complete your part.

If you have given the research institution a power of attorney to handle the application on your behalf, the research institution must use the AR7 form. This form is completed by the research institution only.

SIRI will contact you or the research institution 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.

If you are a commuter and will not be residing in Denmark and for this reason will only apply for a work permit, you do not need to create a case order ID or pay a fee. Instead you kan go directly to step 3. Read more about commuting here

Create case order ID

Pay the fee

Gather documentation

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

If you submit documentation not written in English, German, Norwegian, Swedish or Danish, you must also submit a certified translation in either Danish or English.

You must submit:

Documentation of paid fee – attach a receipt of your payment

Copy of all pages of your passport – including all empty pages and the passport’s front and back cover

Documentation of valid invitation letter, in which your are invited as a guest researcher

Documentation that you can support yourself during your stay in Denmark

Valid power of attorney from you to your research facility, if you use the application form AR7, or a valid power of attorney from both you and the research facility to the party representative, if they fill in the application form

Documentation and comments if you have not received full salary for periods of time or have not worked in accordance with your contract for periods of time

Complete the application form

Expect to use

30 minutes

completing the application

2 persons

You and your research facility are each required to complete a part of the form.

In this step you and your research facility have access to the relevant application forms.

Make sure that you have completed all the preceeding steps 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.

You must choose between these two application forms:

AR3 in which you and your research facility each are required to complete separate parts of the form
AR7 in which you grant your research facility power of attorney to apply on your behalf

In the AR3 form the research facility must complete the first of the two parts of the form. When the research facility has completed its part, a reference number and password will be shown, which the research facility must pass on to you. You are then able to open the application and complete your part.

In the AR7 form only your research facility must complete the form

Make sure you have all documents ready in digital form, in order to attach them as you complete the application form.

Use the form AR3

Use the form AR7

Please note that it is mandatory to use these application forms. Under special circumstances, you can be exempted from the requirement to use an online application form. You can read more here.

Please note that it is mandatory to fill in your passport number in the application form AR3. If you are not in possession of a valid passport, you can contact us for guidance. You can find our contact information here.

Biometrics

When you apply for an extension of your residence permit, you must have your biometric features recorded.

This means that you must have a facial photo taken and your fingerprints recorded. The facial photo and your fingerprints will be stored on a microchip embedded in the residence card, which will be issued to you if you are granted a permit.

SIRI can, as a rule, only start processing your application once you have had your biometric features recorded. This must happen no later than 14 days after you submitted your application.

If you do not agree to have your biometric features recorded, your application will be rejected. This means that your application will not be processed.