Brexit - Permanent residence

You are a UK citizen and have had residence under the Withdrawal Agreement previously. You now wish to apply for permanent residence in Denmark.

Normal processing time
2 months

Processing fee
No fee

Need to know
How to apply

Who can apply for permanent residence based on the Withdrawal Agreement?

If you are a UK citizen or a family member to a UK citizen and have had residence in Denmark under the Withdrawal Agreement, you can now apply for permanent residence in Denmark, provided that you meet the conditions.

You are entitled to permanent residence based on the Withdrawal Agreement when you have had genuine and effective residence in Denmark for at least 5 consecutive years and have had, for the entire period, legal stay by meeting the conditions for one (or more) grounds for residence, either as an employee, self-employed person, student, person with sufficient funds or family member to a UK citizen.

What are the conditions for permanent residence based on the Withdrawal Agreement?

You must have had residence based on the Withdrawal Agreement

You are a UK citizen or a family member to a UK citizen and you have been granted a new residence document based on the Withdrawal Agreement.

You must have had genuine and effective residence in Denmark for at least 5 consecutive years and you must have had legal stay in the entire period

You must be able to document that you have had genuine and effective residence in Denmark for at least 5 consecutive years. To have established genuine and effective residence implies that you have lived your life and arranged yourself in such a way that shows that you have lived and had a daily life in Denmark.

Furthermore, you must have met the conditions for at least one of the grounds for residence, either as an employee, student, self-employed person or person with sufficient funds in the entire period.

It is not mandatory that you have met the conditions for the same grounds for residence for the entire 5 year period. In fact, you can have had different grounds for residence in this period.

If you are a third-country national, you must have been a family member to a UK citizen in the entire period.

Can I be granted permanent residence if I for a period of time have been residing outside Denmark?

You must have had genuine and effective residence in Denmark for the entire 5 year period.

Temporary stays abroad for up to 6 months in total per year are in and of itself not a hindrance for you to be granted permanent residence.

The same applies to one stay abroad of up to one year for important reasons, or stays abroad for a longer duration due to e.g. mandatory military conscription.

What are my rights, if I am granted a permanent residence document based on the Withdrawal Agreement?

Once you have been granted permanent residence in Denmark, you no longer need to meet the conditions for your original grounds for residence.

This means that you will not lose your right to reside in Denmark if you e.g. no longer work, study or run your own business.

Once you have been granted permanent residence in Denmark under the Withdrawal Agreement, you only lose your right to reside in Denmark if you stay outside Denmark for more than 5 consecutive years. If you stay outside Denmark for more than 5 consecutive years, and lose therefore your permanent residence, you will not be able to apply under the Withdrawal Agreement again. You will instead have to apply for a residence permit in Denmark under Danish national law.

Can I lose my permanent residence?

Residing outside Denmark

Residence outside Denmark for less than 5 years

If you have been granted permanent residence based on the Withdrawal Agreement and reside outside Denmark for less than 5 years, you will not lose your permanent residence.

Residence outside Denmark for more than 5 years

If you have been granted permanent residence and reside outside Denmark for more than 5 years, you will normally lose your permanent residence. It means that, if you wish to reside in Denmark again, you will not be able to apply under the Withdrawal Agreement again but you will have instead to apply for a residence permit under Danish national law.

Will SIRI contact me if a new decision is to be made about my grounds for residence?

If you have resided outside Denmark for more than 5 consecutive years and SIRI is considering a new decision about your grounds for residence, you will have the opportunity to provide your comments on why your stay abroad does not constitute the basis for losing your right to residence. Based on your comments, we will make an individual assessment on whether the circumstances and the reasons that you have informed us about are sufficient for you to keep your right to reside in Denmark.

Gather documentation

You can submit the following documentation:

Copy of your passport

Documentation that you have met the conditions for one or more grounds for residence

As documentation that you have met the conditions as an employee/self-employed person you can submit:

Your tax returns for 5 the last years

If you have been a self-employed person running your own business, you can supplement your tax returns with the annual accounts from your company, if your company's income does not otherwise appears in your tax returns

Copy of letter of termination, if applicable, and documentation for registration with the job center (if your have had periods without work)

As documentation that you have met the conditions as a student you can submit:

Documentation of your education, e.g. diplomas

As documentation that you have met the conditions as a person with sufficient funds you can submit:

Bank statements showing that you have had ordinary household and/or consumption expenses in Denmark

As documentation that you have met the conditions as a family member you can submit:

Documentation that the UK citizen (your sponsor) has met one or more grounds for residence for at least 5 consecutive years

If the UK citizen (your sponsor) already has a permanent residence document, you only need to submit a copy of this

Complete and submit the application

Expect to use

10-15 minutes

to complete the application

1 person

You complete the appication form yourself

In this step you have access to the relevant application form BR1.

The application form contains instructions for how to complete it and what kind of documents you must submit along with the form.

Online form BR1

Please note, if you need to complete more than one application - e.g. if you have family members, who also need to apply - you must close your browser completely after completing each application. If you do not close your browser completely after completing and submitting the first application, you might find that the online form does not work as intented.

Biometrics

When you apply for a new residence document, you must have your biometric features recorded. This means that you must have a facial photo taken and your fingerprints recorded. The facial photo and your fingerprints will be stored on a microchip embedded in the residence card, which will be issued to you, if you are granted a new residence document.

You must have your biometric features recorded no later than 2 weeks after submitting your application

Your biometric features can be recorded in one of SIRI's branch offices in Denmark.

You can find information on SIRI's branch offices here

Remember you must always book an appointment before appearing in one of SIRI's branch offices.

You can book an appointment here

If you are currently residing abroad, you can have your biometric features recorded at a Danish diplomatic mission or visa application center instead.

See the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ list of diplomatic missions or application centres where you can have your biometric features recorded (opens in a new window)

Receive an answer

You have submitted your application succesfully if you have: