How to get a residence or work permit
When considering coming to Denmark to work, you should make sure whether you are required to hold a residence and a work permit or not. The specific requirements in connection with living and working in Denmark depend, first and foremost, on a person’s nationality and qualifications.
Denmark’s most important competition parameter is know-how, which is reflected in both work facilities and views on employee development. Workplaces attach considerable priority to competence development, and most offer ongoing supplementary training to their employees. Thus, a number of schemes have been designed in order to make it easier for highly qualified professionals to get a residence and work permit in Denmark.
The Positive List is a list of the professions and fields currently experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals. Persons who have been offered a job in one of these professions or fields have particularly easy access to the Danish labour market. The Pay Limit scheme gives persons who have been offered a job with an annual pay above a certain limit particularly easy access to the Danish labour market. The Corporate scheme makes it possible for employees in a company outside Denmark to be stationed in the company's Danish subsidiary, parent or sister company or the like for a period of time. The Greencard scheme makes it possible for highly qualified professionals to come to Denmark in order to seek work and subsequently to work in Denmark. Researchers have particularly easy access to the Danish labour market. Trainees can work in a Danish company for a period of time for educational and training purposes. Athletes can work in Denmark as professional athletes or coaches.Religious workers can come to Denmark to work for a religious order or denomination.Self-employed persons can come to Denmark to establish a business. Certain groups are exempt from the normal rules, e.g. diplomats, certain musicians and performing artists, personnel in the transport industry, and some Turkish citizens. A person, whose Danish residence permit granted on the grounds of e.g. asylum or family reunification has been revoked or denied extension, can be granted a new residence permit if he/she has held a job or operated an independent business for an extended period of time. Read more about keeping foreign labour in Denmark.
