Permanent residence

You can get a permanent residence permit after at least eight years of uninterrupted legal residence in Denmark, and in certain cases after just four years. Here is an overview of the conditions. The full description is on nyidanmark.dk.

All the basic requirements must be met, including at the time the Danish Immigration Service (Udlændingestyrelsen) makes its decision. You must:

1. Be at least 18 years old.
2. Still meet the conditions for your current residence permit. If you have been granted family reunification with a spouse or cohabiting partner, the Danish partner must also still meet certain ongoing conditions. You must each fill in your own part of the application.
3. Have lived legally in Denmark without interruption for at least eight years at the time the decision is made. If you meet all four supplementary requirements (see below), four years is enough. If you have held residence permits on the basis of more than one marriage or cohabiting relationship, the eight (or four) years must be met on the basis of the most recent marriage or cohabiting relationship. Stays abroad are deducted, unless they are short, for example holidays. You must be living in Denmark when the decision is made. How legal residence is calculated.
4. Not have committed certain types of crime. Many sentences trigger a waiting period during which you cannot get permanent residence. For example, a suspended prison sentence without community service gives a waiting period of 6 years (7 years and 6 months with community service), an unconditional prison sentence of less than 60 days gives 12 years (18 years for certain offences), and an unconditional prison sentence of 60 days to less than 6 months gives 15 years. An unconditional prison sentence of at least 6 months excludes you permanently, as do certain serious offences with a sentence of at least 60 days. If you have been charged with or indicted for an offence that can lead to imprisonment, you also cannot get permanent residence until the case has been decided.
5. Not have overdue public debts, for example repayment of cash benefits, tax or day-care fees. If you have been granted a deferral, the debt does not exclude you, as long as it does not exceed DKK 143,100.982026. A repayment plan is not enough. Student loans and debts to banks or mortgage credit institutions do not exclude you.
6. Not have received certain public benefits under the Active Social Policy Act or the Integration Act during the last four years. If you have received such benefits, you can as a starting point only get a permanent residence permit four years after the last payment. Be aware that if your spouse or cohabiting partner has received cash benefits, you may yourself have received supplementary cash benefits in the same period, and this can lead to a refusal. Read more about public benefits.
7. Accept a declaration of residence and self-support (opholds- og selvforsørgelseserklæring). It is part of the application.
8. Pass Danish language test 2 (Prøve i Dansk 2) or a Danish language test at an equivalent or higher level. See which tests count.
9. Have been in regular full-time employment or self-employment for at least three years and six months within the last four years before the decision. Full-time means at least 30 hours a week on average (about 120 hours a month), and you may combine several jobs. "Regular" means without public subsidies, such as wage subsidies. Periods with unemployment benefits, unpaid work and education do not count. Read more about regular full-time employment.
10. Still be in work when the Danish Immigration Service makes its decision. Your current work does not need to be full-time, but it must be at least 15 hours a week.
11. Not have actively obstructed the clarification of your identity, for example by using forged identity documents or someone else's, or by giving false information about your personal circumstances. However, you can still be granted the permit if there are exceptional reasons for doing so.

Supplementary requirements

In addition, you must meet two out of four supplementary requirements. If you meet all four, you can get a permanent residence permit after just four years of legal residence:

• Pass Danish language test 3 (Prøve i Dansk 3) or a test at an equivalent or higher level.
• Have been in regular full-time employment or self-employment for at least four years within the last four years and six months before the decision.
• Have passed the active citizen exam (medborgerskabsprøven) or have shown active citizenship through at least one year's participation in, for example, boards, associations or organisations. The citizenship test (indfødsretsprøven) does not count.
• Have had an average annual taxable income of at least DKK 346,155.572026 over the last two years before the decision.

Read a more detailed description.

When can you apply?

If you do not meet all the conditions, you can instead apply for an extension of your current residence permit, no earlier than three months before it expires. There is no limit to the number of times you can extend.

How to apply

The fee is DKK 4,9702026 if your residence permit is based on family reunification or asylum, and DKK 7,5702026 if it is based on work or studies. First you create a case order ID, pay the fee and gather your documentation (passport, documentation of work, income, Danish language tests, active citizenship and so on).

Unless you are exempt, the application must be submitted digitally in the self-service solution TU1-4 online, which you can find on nyidanmark.dk. You need MitID. According to the Danish Immigration Service, it takes about 40-50 minutes to fill in for a couple where one spouse has been granted family reunification. Within six weeks of applying, you must have your fingerprints and a facial photo taken (biometric features) at the Danish Immigration Service's Citizen Service, where you need to book an appointment. If your biometric features are not recorded, your application may be rejected.

If you hold a residence permit on the basis of work or studies and are also applying for a new temporary permit at the same time, that application goes to the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) with a separate fee.

Be careful with your documentation. An incomplete application takes longer to process and may be rejected.

Who has the right to permanent residence?

A Union citizen who has lived legally for five years in an EU/EEA country other than their own has the right to permanent residence there. A family member who is not a Union citizen has the right to permanent residence after five years of actual and uninterrupted residence in the same country, provided they have met the conditions for residence under the EU rules the whole time. Family members do not automatically get permanent residence because the Union citizen has got it. They must apply themselves. If you have lived in Denmark for five years as the family member of a Danish citizen who has exercised the right to free movement, you can apply for permanent residence in Denmark under the EU rules. The rules also apply to family members of Danes who live in another EU/EEA country.

Your residence must be genuine: it is not enough to be registered at an address or to own or rent a home. You must not have committed particularly serious crime. Once you have permanent residence, you no longer need to meet the conditions of your original basis of residence, and you can receive public benefits without losing your right of residence. You only lose the right if you no longer live in Denmark, and absences of less than two years are normally fine. Also read the guide to the EU rules.

Others who have the right to permanent residence under the EU/EEA rules

You may have the right to permanent residence under the EU/EEA rules, even if you have so far held a residence permit under Danish rules. Example: you are married to a Danish citizen, you moved together from another EU/EEA country to Denmark, and you have lived here for more than five years. If you can document that you have had a right of residence under the EU/EEA rules the whole time, you probably have the right to permanent residence.

You may also have this right if you have lived in Denmark on, for example, a residence permit for studies and have been married to or cohabiting with a citizen of an EU/EEA country other than Denmark for at least five years. Read more.

When can you apply?

When you have had actual and uninterrupted residence in Denmark under the EU rules for five years. If you are not an EU/EEA citizen yourself, you can apply up to one month before you have been here for five years, and the application must be submitted before your residence card expires. Your residence is not considered interrupted by stays abroad that together come to less than six months a year, by longer stays because of military service, or by one absence of no more than 12 months for important reasons, for example pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, studies or a posting abroad. Contact SIRI.

How do you apply?

The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) processes applications for permanent residence under the EU/EEA rules. As the family member of a Danish citizen who has exercised the right to free movement, you fill in application form OD2/D. Your Danish spouse fills in part of the form. If you are the family member of a citizen of another EU/EEA country, you use application form OD1C, which you can find on nyidanmark.dk.

There is no fee. Processing normally takes three months, but up to six months if SIRI needs more information. If you are not an EU/EEA citizen yourself, you must have your fingerprints and photo taken before you can get your residence card. You may live and work in Denmark while you wait for the decision. Read more about permanent residence under the EU rules.