Denmark's Opt-Out and the Danish Aliens Act

Since Europe has no single work visa, each country makes its own laws, and the rules you meet also shift with the type of job you get. The official EU Immigration Portal sums up the routes for each EU state and links to the sites they run. Denmark belongs to the EU and to Schengen, but it has an opt-out from the EU's joint rules on justice and home affairs.

Due to that opt-out, the Danish Aliens Act sets the terms for foreign staff, and the EU's own laws on who may come to live and work do not apply here. So a permit or an EU Blue Card that you got in some other EU state does not open the door to a job here, while a Schengen visa covers short trips, not paid jobs.

Our hub for work visas in Europe puts the country side by side with other places. You can weigh it up against work permits in Sweden just over the bridge, jobs in Norway and work rules in Iceland, which all run schemes of their own.

Which Passport Holders Need a Danish Permit

Your passport and the permit you hold now decide if you need SIRI at all, and the table shows what each main group needs to start a job here.

What SIRI Looks for in a Danish Job Offer

SIRI looks at the job and the firm as closely as it looks at you, and most schemes ask for the points below before it will grant you a permit.

• You need a real job offer or contract from a firm in Denmark, and the work must take place in the country.
• Your pay and terms must be in line with the norm for that job here, which a deal between unions and firms often sets.
• On the Pay Limit Scheme, your pay must reach at least DKK 552,000 a year, a sum that is set again each January.
• On the pay limit routes, your wage must go into a Danish bank account in your own name.
• For a Positive List job, you need a degree or trade training that fits the job title as it is set out on the list.
• Some jobs, such as doctor and nurse, need Danish authorisation, so you must get that right to practise before you start.

Each scheme adds rules of its own on top of these. The law does not ask you to speak Danish for most work permits, though a lot of firms outside big global groups will want you to use it at work.

Danish Schemes for Work: Pay Limits, Lists and Fast Track

The country sorts its work permits into schemes, and each one has its own terms, so which one fits you depends on your pay, your training and the firm that takes you on.

There are also schemes for trainees, for PhD staff paid by a firm, for sports people and coaches, and for those with rare skills. If you hold a degree from a Danish university or college, an establishment card gives you time here to find a job or start a firm.

From Case Order ID to Residence Card

Most first cases run in this order, and though your firm does a lot of the work, nothing moves until the fee is paid, the form is in and SIRI has your prints.

1. Agree the job offer: you and a firm in Denmark agree on a job whose pay, hours and tasks meet local norms and the rules of your scheme.
2. Create a case order ID: you or your firm make a case order ID on nyidanmark.dk, then pay the fee, which the ID links to your case.
3. Fill in the online form: your firm fills in its part, often with a power of attorney from you, and you add your details and load your papers.
4. Give your prints and photo: within 14 days of sending the form, you give prints and a photo at a Danish mission or visa centre abroad, or at a SIRI branch here.
5. Wait for SIRI to check: SIRI checks the job, the pay and your skills against the scheme, and it asks for any missing paper, which adds time.
6. Travel and start work: once SIRI says yes, you travel and start on the agreed date, and your residence card shows your right to live and work here.
7. Register for a CPR number: when you arrive, you register your address with the local council or an International Citizen Service centre to get a CPR number for health care, bank and tax.

Your permit is tied to the job and the firm named in your case, so if you change firms, you must tell SIRI and ask for a new permit. On the pay limit routes, you may start the new job as soon as that new form is in.

Papers SIRI Expects in a Danish Application

SIRI rules only on the papers in front of it, so a page left out can cost you weeks. Get it all in hand before you send the form, as the 14-day clock for your prints starts then.

Your Part of the File

• A passport that is valid for the whole time you ask for, plus a copy of each page in it.
• The job contract or offer, signed, which shows your pay, your hours and the tasks you will do.
• Your degrees and the marks that go with them, which count most of all for a job on one of the lists.
• Proof of Danish authorisation, if the law says you need a right to practise to do the job.
• A signed and dated power of attorney, if your firm is the one that sends in the form for you.
• The receipt for the fee, which is linked to your case order ID so that SIRI can match it to you.

What Your Danish Employer Provides

• The firm's part of the online form, filled in by someone with the power to sign for it.
• A note on the job, the pay and any deal with the unions that sets the terms for that kind of work.
• Proof that the job was on Jobnet and EURES for at least two weeks, for the Supplementary Pay Limit Scheme.
• Proof that SIRI has certified the firm, if it wants to use the fast-track scheme for your hire.

SIRI Fees and the Cost of Moving to Denmark

SIRI charges a fee for each case, and for a work visa for Denmark on the pay limit routes, the lists or fast track it is now DKK 6,810. Fees can change, so look up the sum on nyidanmark.dk on the day you make the case order ID.

Do not count on getting the fee back if SIRI says no, so make sure you meet the terms of your scheme before you pay. Homes in Copenhagen and Aarhus are in high demand, and a landlord will often ask for a deposit of a few months' rent.

SIRI Service Goals and Real Waiting Times

The time it takes to get a work visa for Denmark depends on the scheme. On the Pay Limit Scheme and the lists it is about one month, or up to three if SIRI needs more facts from you. The lower pay limit route takes about two months, or up to five, while fast track takes about a month, and its quick job start route about ten days.

You must give your prints and photo within 14 days of the day you send the form, so if you cannot get a slot in time, tell SIRI the date you have booked. To renew, apply before your permit runs out, as in most cases a request made in good time lets you keep on working while SIRI decides.

Shortage Jobs From Copenhagen to Esbjerg

The two lists show where firms here find it hard to hire, and they change on 1 January and 1 July. Health care, the building trades, IT and engineering show up on them a lot, so use the table as a rough guide, then check the list in force now for your exact job title.

Our Danish Guides on Timing, Pay and Settling In

These EU Helpers guides go deeper into the wait, the jobs and day to day life in the country, so you know what to plan for.

• Waiting times for a Danish work permit, with the time each step needs, from the case order ID to the card in your hand.
• Well-paid Danish jobs that firms find hard to fill, with a look at the roles that sit on the Positive Lists.
• What work life in Denmark is like, from your hours and time off to what the move means for your family.
• Moving to Denmark, with advice on finding a home, getting your CPR number and settling in during the first weeks.

Avoidable Setbacks in Danish Applications

• Missing the 14-day limit for your prints and photo, and not telling SIRI the date you have booked.
• Paying the fee with no case order ID, so SIRI has no way to match the money to your case.
• Planning your pay around last year's limit, when the sum is set again each year on 1 January.
• Picking a job title that does not match the words used for that job on the Positive List.
• Moving to a new firm before you have sent SIRI a form for a new permit for that job.
• Thinking that a Swedish or German permit lets you take a job on this side of the border.

Why Workers and Employers Use EU Helpers for Denmark

• We match your job to the right scheme before you or your firm pay any fee to SIRI.
• We check your pay against the current limit and against what is the norm for that job here.
• We help your firm with the case order ID, the online form and the signed papers it needs from you.
• We plan the date for your prints and photo so that it fits well inside the 14-day window.
• We help with your CPR sign-up when you arrive, and later on with a renewal or a move to a new job.

SIRI and the other state bodies rule on each case, and we make that clear before you start. Our record of approved visas and what clients say about us are there for all to see, and you can also read who we are at EU Helpers.

Get Started With EU Helpers

Pick the option below that fits you, and someone from our team will explain how the schemes apply to you. If you are not sure yet, book time with an EU Helpers adviser first.

Register as a Worker (Find Jobs in Denmark)

Make your profile once, and we will look for checked firms in Denmark whose jobs fit your skills and one of the schemes, then help you through each step with SIRI.

1. Job matches with checked firms on the pay limit and Positive List routes.
2. A check of your degree or your trade against the current Positive Lists.
3. A SIRI checklist of papers, made for your scheme and for the people who come with you.
4. Help with the forms you sign and with the date for your prints and photo.
5. Help with your CPR number and with each renewal while you work in the country.

Register as a Worker

Register as a Recruiter / Agency

Agencies can work with us on Danish jobs that will hold up when SIRI checks the pay and skills of each worker.

1. Open jobs in Denmark, each one matched to the scheme it can use.
2. Clear help on the pay limits, the local pay norms and Positive List wording.
3. Each worker's papers checked before a case order ID is made for them.
4. News on each case, step by step, until the worker lands in Denmark.
5. Help to plan group hires in care, the trades and farming.

Register as a Recruitment Partner

Register as an Employer (Hire Foreign Workers in Denmark)

If you run a firm in Denmark and cannot fill a job with people at home or from the rest of the EU, we help you hire from further afield within the rules.

1. Checked workers for jobs in health, engineering, IT, the trades and farming.
2. Advice on which scheme suits each job and each pay level you offer.
3. Help with the online form, the papers you need from each worker and the fee to SIRI.
4. Guidance on how to get SIRI to certify your firm for the fast-track scheme.
5. One EU Helpers contact for each hire, from the first talk to the first shift.

Register as an Employer

Why Registration Is Important

When you sign up first, we have time to check each person and firm before a case goes to SIRI, and the contract, the degrees and each signed form are ready before the 14-day clock starts.

Author

EU Helpers Team. We help workers and firms with Danish permits and with other routes in Europe, and we update this page each time SIRI sets new pay limits, fees or job lists.

Official Sources

Danish pay limits and fees are revised often, and these official bodies publish every change:

• Denmark, official portal for residence and work permits, SIRI and the Danish Immigration Service: nyidanmark.dk
• Denmark, Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI): siri.dk
• Denmark, international recruitment and EURES, Workindenmark: workindenmark.dk
• Denmark, public job portal used for job adverts, Jobnet: jobnet.dk
• Denmark, CPR registration and life in Denmark, Danish public authorities: lifeindenmark.borger.dk
• EU Immigration Portal, information for EU member states, European Commission: home-affairs.ec.europa.eu