Denmark - Visa

Unless you are a Nordic citizen, a citizen from a EU country or a country listed below in the paragraph "Countries not requiring a short-term visa", you have to apply for a visa if you wish to visit Denmark or take up residence in the country.

If you are a foreign national who holds a residence permit in a Schengen country, contact the authority to determine if you must apply for a visa to enter Denmark.

Application for visa, residence and work permits are handled by the Danish Immigration Service, a department under the Ministry for Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs.

Danish Immigration (Udlændingestyrelsen)
Ryesgade 53
2100 Copenhagen Ø
Tel: +45 35 36 19 16
E-mail: [email protected]
website: www.udlst.dk 
To read about Danish society and about life as a new citizen in Denmark in a number of languages.

Short-stay visa

If you plan to go to Denmark for a short visit and not to work, you need to request a short-term visa, which allows you to stay a maximum of 90 days per a 6 month period.

The period is calculated from the first day of entry to the Schengen region which are the following countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Germany and Austria. 

If you need to stay in several countries in the Schengen region apply to the country in which you will stay the longest time, if the period is the same for more than one country, apply to the first country you will visit.

Extension of this visa is only possible under particular circumstances, such as airline strikes, illness or business/personal reasons which you were not aware of at the time of applying for your visa. The latter must be documented.

Should you need to stay longer time or work in Denmark you must apply for a residence/work permit.

Short term visa can take somewhere between 2 and 5 weeks to be processed and approved, so apply in good time.

Application forms are available at any diplomatic mission or by downloading them below:
- application form for Danish visa to be submitted at a diplomatic mission (.pdf format; text in danish, english and french)
- schengen visa application (.doc format; english only)

Together with the application form you need to provide:
- Valid national passport or other valid travel identification
- Two passport photos of the applicant. The photo must be 35 mm x 45 mm (size of head 30-36 mm from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head). The person must be facing the camera directly
- An invitation, if possible, from the person residing in Denmark, with information about the people the applicant will visit, as well as name and address, purpose of the visit, and a description of the relationship between the applicant and the individual residing in Denmark
- Alien identification number of the individual residing in Denmark (if applicable)
- proof of inscription to courses, conference, cultural event or any other event, if it is the scope of your visit.

Additional documentation may be required when submitting the application. Since you will be, in most cases, required to pay a processing fee, it is a good idea to contact the diplomatic mission in question about any other documentation needed prior to submitting the visa application.
Do not  purchase airline tickets or travel insurance before the diplomatic mission confirms that you are eligible for a visa.

Residence permit (work permit)

You should apply for a residence permit at least 2-3 month before you plan to move to Denmark. You can obtain the necessary forms at the Danish Consulate or Embassy in your country or country of residence, or in Denmark at the Immigration office.

When presenting your application you must have the following:

- compiled forms from the Immigration Office (download it from the Danish Immigration website or dowload it here
- Work contract
- A statement from your employer detailing why you are suitable for the job;
- your CV;
- Graduation Certificates
- Wedding Certificate, if you are married and bringing your wife
- Birth Certificates for your children, if you do you bring your children along

Once handled by the immigration office, you will receive a letter informing you of your status. When approved you will either receive a card stating this, or you will be asked to return to the Immigration office to get your passport stamped.

Who grants the visa?

Danish authorities process around 80,000 visa applications per year, of which only a fourth of these are decided upon by the Immigration Service, the overwhelming majority is approved by a Danish diplomatic mission.

A diplomatic mission though can only make decisions in cases in which there is no doubt that the applicant is eligible for a visa.

All other cases, including all rejections, are processed by the Immigration Service. The application may be rejected if:

- the applicant does not legally reside in the country where the application is submitted
- the application form does not contain all information necessary for processing
- the documents enclosed with the application are not authentic and/or complete.

How to apply

Visa applications must be submitted at a Danish diplomatic mission (embassy or consulate general) either in your country of residence (you have to have resided there for at least three months prior the request of visa) or in your home country.

In countries where there is no Danish diplomatic mission, Denmark generally has an agreement with the diplomatic mission of another Schengen country to handle all visa applications on their behalf. In this case the application will be processed according to that country's rules and procedures. (click here to have the list of countries where Denmark is represented by another Schengen country).

Countries not requiring a short-term visa

All Scandinavians as well as EU* and EEA** countries' citizens can enter Denmark without a visa, however workers from Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia are subject to a special transitional scheme.

Nationals from the following countries do not need a visa either:
- Andorra, Argentina, Australia
- Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria
- Canada, Chile, China Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao (passports issued by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Região Administrativa Especial de Macao), Costa Rica, Croatia
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Israel
- Japan
- Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco
- New Zealand, Nicaragua
- Panama, Paraguay
- Romania
- San Marino, Singapore, South Korea
- Uruguay, USA
- The Vatican
- Venezuela

Nationals from all other countries must have a visa to enter Denmark.

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(*) EU citizens are citizens from: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Cyprus (only the Greek-cypriotic area), Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

(**) EEA citizens are citizens from: Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.

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Useful websites or links

www.um.dk - The Foreign Ministry's website contains information about Danish diplomatic missions as well as agreements with other countries' diplomatic missions.

new to denmark  - New to Denmark the official portal for Foreigners and integration.  Read about Danish society and about life as a new citizen in Denmark in English and in many other languages (Arab, Bosnian-Serb-Croatian, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Polish, Russian, Somalian, Spanish, Thai, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese)

Denmark missions abroad Find Danish consulates embassies or diplomatic missions abroad

Copenhagen Survival Guide compiled by the Copenhagen Business School for overseas students. The International Office publishes every year the Copenhagen Survival Guide, which is included in the information package sent by post to all incoming exchange students.