Higher Educational Programmes
You will be studying in Denmark in a higher educational programme
Who can apply for a residence permit?
If you have been admitted to a higher educational programme in Denmark, you can be granted a permit to stay and study in Denmark.
You can either complete a full educational programme or do part of your education as a guest or exchange student.
You can also be granted a residence permit to complete a preparatory course for a higher educational programme.
If you are a citizen of a EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you do not need to apply for a residence permit, but must instead apply for a EU residence document.
What are the conditions?
You must be admitted to a higher educational programme
It is a requirement that you have been admitted to a higher educational programme at a publicly accredited educational institution in Denmark.
You must have certain language proficiencies
You must be able to speak and understand the language of instruction. You must be able to understand either Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, English or German with a reasonable level of proficiency.
If you have been admitted to a preparatory course
If you have been admitted to a preparatory course for a higher educational programme, and you will be staying in Denmark for more than 3 months, you can be granted a permit to stay and study in Denmark.
The preparatory course must meet the following conditions:
-The Ministry of Higher Education and Science must have determined that attendance in the course is a prerequisite for admission to a particular higher educational programme.
-The course must not have a duration of more than 1 year.
-You must have been admitted to the higher educational programme that the preparatory course is linked to.
Moreover, you must meet the same requirements as if applying for a residence permit to study at a higher educational programme.
Your place of education and the educational programme must be approved.
The educational institution must be publically accredited. As an alternative at least one of the board members of the educational institution must be appointed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science.
The educational programme must be approved by a state authority or by the Danish Evaluation Institute, EVA.
An educational programme is considered to be a higher educational programme if the admission requirement is to have completed a high school programme. However, this does not apply to programmes where admission is based on an entrance examination.
The educational programme must be a full-time study.
You must be able to support yourself
You must have sufficient funds to be able to support yourself during your stay in Denmark.
You have sufficient funds, if your disposable amount corresponds to DKK 6,397 per month (2022 level). You must multiply the amount with the number of months you will be studying in a higher educational programme in Denmark – for a maximum of 12 months, however.
Documentation of your ability to support yourself and any family members accompanying you, can be in the form of a bank statement, for example.
If you are to pay a tuition fee for studying in the educational programme and if you have already paid tuition for the first semester, this is seen as documentation that you have sufficient funds. In this case you do not need to provide additional documentation.
If you have not yet turned 18
If you have not yet turned 18, both of your parents must sign a declaration of consent to allow you to study in Denmark.
You must provide documentation of who your custody holders are, e.g. by submitting a copy of your birth certificate.
The school must declare that it will ensure that you will have proper residence and study conditions in Denmark
How long can I stay in Denmark?
Residence while you study
You can stay in Denmark for the standard (nominal) duration of your educational programme, provided that you participate actively in the programme.
If you do not complete your educational programme within the nominal period of study, it is important that you apply for an extension of your permit.
Your permit can be extended for a maximum of 1 year. As a rule, your permit cannot be extended further if you prolong your studies by more than a year.
However, if the prolonging of your studies is caused by pregnancy or parental leave, your permit can be extended by an additional year. In these cases, your permit can be extended for a maximum of 2 years in total.
You must apply for an extension before your permit expires – however, not earlier than 4 months before your permit for studying expires.
If you change your educational programme, you must apply for a new residence permit based on the new programme. You are allowed to start your new programme while you wait for us to reach a decision in your case.
Job seeking period after you have completed your education
If you have completed a higher educational programme in Denmark, you can be granted a 6 month residence permit to look for employment in Denmark.
If you are granted a permit to complete a full educational programme, you will generally be granted the 6 month job seeking permit along with your residence permit.
A residence permit for job seeking gives you the same work rights as you had during your studies: 20 hours per week (15 hours per week if you were granted your permit before 1 January 2015) and full-time through June, July and August.
The job seeking period gives you the opportunity to find employment in Denmark after you have completed your educational programme. If you are offered a job during the job seeking period, you must apply for a new residence and work permit.
Shorter validity because your passport expires
A residence permit can only be valid until 3 months before the expiry date of your passport.
If your passport has a shorter validity than the otherwise possible period of stay, your residence permit will be shortened. This means that the validity of your residence permit will be shorter than it could be. When you have renewed your passport, you can apply for an extension of your residence permit – however, this can only be done 3 months before your permit expires at the earliest.
Can my family be granted a residence permit?
A residence and work permit based on studies in Denmark allows your family to come with you to Denmark.
A permit can be granted to your spouse, registered or cohabiting partner as well as children under the age of 18 living at home.
