Apply for a passport for foreign nationals

Foreign nationals residing in Denmark will normally hold a national passport. A national passport is renewed by the diplomatic mission (embassy or consulate general) of the country that issued it. The embassy may be situated either in Denmark or in another country.

Some foreign nationals cannot obtain a passport from the authorities in the country of which they are a citizen.

If you hold a Danish residence permit as a refugee you cannot be required to apply for a passport from the authorities in the country of which you are a citizen. Instead, you can be issued a passport by the Danish authorities.

If you hold a Danish residence permit and are recognised as stateless under the United Nations Convention of 28 September 1954 relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, you are entitled to an alien’s passport, which states that the holder has been recognised as stateless in accordance with the convention.

The Immigration Service can also issue an alien’s passport to foreign nationals who hold a Danish residence permit, for example, as a family-reunified person, if the authorities in the country of which they are a citizen will not issue a national passport.

There are two types of passports issued to foreign nationals:

• A Danish travel document (convention passport)
• An alien's passport
   

The requirements you need to meet in order to qualify for an alien’s passport depend on the type of passport you are applying for.

The fee for obtaining a new passport depends on your age, and if necessary whether you can present your last issued passport.

The price depends on your age

• If you are 18 years old or older, the fee is normally DKK 893.
• If you are a child at the age of 11 or younger, the fee is DKK 150,
• If you are a child between 12-17 years old the fee is DKK 181.
• If you have reached the state retirement age, the fee is DKK 381. Your retirement age depends on when you were born.

The state retirement age is:

• 65 years if you were born before 1 January 1954
• 65 ½ years if you were born in the period from 1 January 1954 to 30 June 1954
• 66 years if you were born in the period from 1 July 1954 to 31 December 1954
• 66 ½ years if you were born in the period from 1 January 1955 to 30 June 1955
• 67 years if you were born in the period from 1 July 1955 to 31 December 1962
• 68 years If you were born after 31 December 1962.

Double fee if you cannot present your last issued passport

If you have previously received a passport from the Immigration Service and you are not able to show your most recent passport when you apply for a new passport – e.g. because you have lost or damaged your recent passport – you have to pay a double fee for your passport. 

How do you pay the fee?

The fee must be paid in person to the Immigration Service. If you are not issued a passport, the fee will be returned to you.

The Immigration Service can refuse to issue or revoke a convention passport or alien’s passport if:

• you have a pending criminal case and there is some suspicion that you will travel abroad,
• you have received a prison sentence that has not been served, have been imposed a confiscation or fee that has not been paid and there is some suspicion that you will travel abroad,
• you have not fulfilled your obligations towards public authorities or a private party, and your presence in Denmark, therefore, has to be ensured,
• there is reason to believe that you will travel abroad to join activities that endanger the state’s safety or other states’ safety or will pose a significant threat to the public order,
• you are a minor and there is reason to believe that you will be sent abroad to get married or  to be sent on a re-education, 
• you have been issued multiple replacement convention passports or alien’s passports within the last few years because you lost your passport,
• there is reason to believe that you or someone else has destroyed or removed parts of your passport,
• there is reason to believe that you have provided or attempted to provide someone else with your convention or alien’s passport or someone has attempted to travel to the Schengen region with your passport,
• you have deliberately withheld information or given incorrect information which has led to you or someone else receiving travel documentation that will not include the holder’s photo, correct name, date of birth, or other personal information,
• we decide that issuing you a passport would pose a threat to national security or the public order, or otherwise not be in Denmark’s best interest, or
• you have been imposed an exit ban by a court ruling under the Criminal Act’s section 236 (1), no. 5. 

The Immigration Service cannot refuse to issue or revoke a convention or alien’s passport if doing so will be against Denmark’s obligations under international law. 

If you have a residence permit as a convention refugee or you have been issued an alien’s passport that states that you are stateless, the Immigration Service can only refuse to issue a passport if not doing so would pose an immediate threat to national security or the public order.

Even if the requirements for refusing to issue or revoke a convention or alien’s passport are present, the Immigration Service can make an exception and issue you a new passport if there are exceptional reasons for doing so. It may, for instance, be that you have lost your passport several times within the last few years and received a new one, but you can prove that it was lost in a fire or that it was stolen and found by the police.  

If the Immigration Service refuses to issue you a convention passport or alien’s passport you will be barred from holding a passport for five years, unless there are exceptional reasons for issuing you a new passport. Such reasons include: the death or serious illness of an immediate family member living abroad, or planned work-related travel that would be particularly disruptive to your work, or result in substantial financial loss for you or your employer, if not completed. In such cases, you can be issued travel documentation that will be valid for the specific trip.

Young people who are subjected to force

If you are a minor or related to a minor, and think that you or your relative will be sent on a re-education trip or a trip where a marriage or a marriage-like relationship will be entered into, you can contact the Immigration Service’s hotline for young people subjected to force. You can also write to us via the Immigration Service’s contact form.

If you have been granted refugee status in Denmark, your passport will state that it is invalid for travel to your home country or the country where you risk persecution. You can apply to the Immigration Service to have this travel restriction revoked.

Read more about travel restrictions for refugees
 

Children holding a residence permit in Denmark who would like to go on a school trip to another EU country will normally be able to travel without a passport, provided they are registered on the school’s travel list.

Read more about school travel lists
 

The Immigration Service only issues laissez-passer to a very limited extent and your application has to show cause. We do not issue laissez-passer for vacation trips.  

You can be granted a laissez-passer if you have a residence permit in Denmark and wish to travel out of the country, but do not hold any other valid travel documentation. 

For instance, it may be that you have to travel out of the country in order to apply for a new passport from the authorities in your home country. 

Read more about laissez-passer