Dispensation to prevent permit from lapsing - greencard

If you give up your Danish address or if you travel outside Denmark for an extended period of time, your permit can lapse. However, on this page you can apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing. 

Processing fee
DKK 6,290,-

What do you want to print?

Can my residence permit lapse?

Your permit will always lapse automatically if

  • you give up your address and leave Denmark,
  • you do not enter Denmark in due time after you have been granted a residence permit – generally within the first 6 months of the validity period (if your permit is valid for more than 6 months)
  • If you stay outside Denmark for longer than 6 months

However, you can apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing.

What do you want to print?

What does it mean if my permit lapses?

If your permit lapses, it means that you no longer have the right to stay in Denmark. You risk not being able to return to Denmark after you have been abroad.

If your permit lapses, you must start over again by submitting a new application for a residence permit in Denmark. Your new application will be processed according to the rules in force at the time of application. Consequently, it is of no importance how and why you initially were granted your residence permit.

There are three ways that your permit can lapse:

Your residence permit lapses automatically, for example, if you sell or give up your residence in Denmark and no longer have your name registered at a Danish address in the Central Personal Register (CPR), and you leave the country.

That your permit lapses automatically means that you will not receive any letter or similar with a decision.

Stays in Greenland or the Faroe Islands are considered as time abroad.

Your residence permit lapses automatically if you stay outside Denmark for more than 6 successive months. This applies even though you keep being registered at a Danish address in the CPR.

That your permit lapses automatically means that you will not receive any letter or similar with a decision.

Stays in Greenland or the Faroe Islands are considered as time abroad.

Your residence permit lapses automatically if you do not enter Denmark, take up residence and have your name registered at a Danish address in the Central Personal Register (CPR) within 6 months from when you were granted your residence permit. You can read more about CPR registry here.

That your permit lapses automatically means that you will not receive any letter or similar with a decision.

Stays in Greenland or the Faroe Islands are considered as time abroad.

What do you want to print?

What are the conditions for granting a dispensation?

You must meet certain conditions in order to be granted a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing.

If SIRI has granted you the permit, you must apply before you have been outside Denmark for more than 6 successive months and before you give up your Danish residence.

There must be a specific purpose with your stay abroad, e.g.:

  • Work
  • Education
  • Stationing by a Danish authority, institution, organisation or company
  • Stationing by an international institution, organisation or company based in Denmark
  • Tending of near family with serious illness
  • Taking parental leave (as a rule, we can grant a dispensation from 2 months before the due date and up to 1 year after birth)
  • Serving in the military as a conscript or performing required community service.

When you apply for a dispensation, you must always state why you believe that you are eligible to be granted a dispensation, and you must provide documentation of your reason for applying for a dispensation.  

What do you want to print?

For how long a duration can I be granted a dispensation?

You can be granted a dispensation for a maximum duration of 3 years. However, you cannot be granted a dispensation that exceeds the duration of your residence permit.

If you do not wish to return to Denmark within your dispensation period, you can apply for an extension of your dispensation period. It is important that apply before the dispensation period ends.

What do you want to print?

Can my family be granted a dispensation to prevent their permits from lapsing?

If you are granted a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing, the dispensation can also apply to your spouse, cohabiting partner or children living at home under the age of 18. You must state in your application if you want your dispensation to encompass your family members as well. Your family can be granted a dispensation with a duration equal to your dispensation.

If your spouse and/or child/children living at home stay in Denmark, they can only keep their residence permits for 6 months as the condition of cohabitation will no longer be met. 

What do you want to print?

Can I enter Denmark while I hold a dispensation?

You can enter Denmark within the period you have been granted a dispensation, provided that it is a short-term stay of a private character, e.g. to participate in a family celebration, a funeral, a short holiday or a weekend stay.

This means that, in general, a dispensation will lapse if you take up residency in Denmark after you have been granted a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing. Registering your name at an address in the CPR or entering Denmark to work or study (even though you do not register in the CPR) is considered as taking up residency in Denmark.

However, you can enter Denmark without losing your dispensation if you take part in work related activities which could be a part of a business visit without a work permit, or if you will be doing work that does not require a work permit.  

What do you want to print?

While abroad with a dispensation

Please note that a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing does not mean a dispensation from the conditions of your residence permit. This means that you must still meet the requirements on salary and working hours when you apply for an extension of your residence permit. This applies even though you have been holding a lapse dispensation for a period of time.  

If you are granted a lapse dispensation because you are stationed abroad, you should be aware that your salary must still be disbursed in Denmark in order to be included in the salary requirement. Salary disbursed abroad will not be included in the salary requirement when you apply for an extension of your residence permit.  

What do you want to print?

My permit has lapsed

In the event that your permit has lapsed, we can in some cases decide that it should still be valid if you apply for it. This concerns the following situations: 

We can decide that your residence permit should still be valid if you are able to prove that your intention was to return to Denmark within the 6 months, but you were prevented from returning by unforeseen circumstances beyond your control, e.g.:

  • Illness
  • Imprisonment
  • War-like situations
  • Natural disasters
  • Problems with leaving the country in which you were staying

We can decide that your residence permit should still be valid if you were prevented from entering Denmark by circumstances that you could not possibly have foreseen, e.g.:

  • Serious illness
  • Imprisonment
  • War-like situations
  • Natural disasters
  • Problems with leaving the country in which you are staying
  • Pregnancy (and there is more than 3 months until due date, or if you have given birth and less than 3 months have passed since the birth)

What do you want to print?

What more do I need to know before I apply?

An application for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing is processed by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) if your permit is based on one of our schemes.

You can find the relevant application forms on the “How to apply” tab to the right:

  • BF1 – if you apply before your permit expires or lapses
  • BF2 – if your permit has lapsed but you want to apply for that it should still be valid.

SIRI recommends that you apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing before you leave Denmark.

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

What do you want to print?

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 dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing 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.

You must submit:

If your permit has already lapsed, you must, if possible, submit:

Expect to use

30 minutes

completing the application

1 person

You fill in the application form yourself.

In this step you 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.

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

 

Use the form BF1/BF2

 

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

When a decision on your case has been made, you will receive an answer. 

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

You are welcome to contact us if you have further questions about your application which have not been answered by this application page.

What do you want to print?

Responsible agency

Contact SIRI
Send link

Last updated 07-12-2023 - Published by: SIRI