Guidance for educational institutions
It is a high priority goal for the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) to ensure that foreign students, who are going to stay and study in Denmark, receive their residence permit in time for the beginning of their study programme.
If your educational institution is planning to enrol a high number of foreign students for the coming semester or year of study, it is a good idea to contact SIRI as early as the planning stage.
You can contact Head of Division Dorte Lohmann Kjærgaard at dlk@siri.dk or Deputy Head of Division Maria Nyvang Nielsen at mnni@siri.dk.
You have to complete a list of students. One list of students should be completed for each study programme. It must be specified if the applicants added to the list have been fully or provisionally admitted. It must also be specified if the tuition fee has been paid or not.
The idea behind the list of students is that we can process applications that do not contain all necessary information, if we based on the list can verify that the applicant meets the conditions for granting a residence permit as a student. Additionally, the list should reduce the number of telephone calls between the educational institutions and SIRI which otherwise would be necessary in each single case.
In order to be granted a residence permit, the foreign student must be able to submit documentation of his or hers admittance into a Danish educational institution. In certain cases the student must also provide documentation that he or she has sufficient funds to support him- or herself during the stay as a student.
The conditions for a residence permit as a student are described on the following application pages:
The fact that the educational institution has completed and submitted its part of the online form ST1, is considered sufficient documentation that the foreign student has been admitted to a Danish educational programme. If the printable version of ST1 is used, additional documentation in the form of a list of students must be submitted.
If the educational institution in its part of the online form ST1 indicates that the foreign student has only been provisionally admitted, the institution must however submit a written or verbal confirmation to SIRI once the student has been fully admitted.
If one of the foreign students does not appear for the beginning of the study programme or is not actively studying, you must immediately inform Study at SIRI. We will then decide whether the study permit should be revoked.
It is SIRI’s goal that an application for a resident permit as a student will be processed within 2 months. This service goal requires that all information has been submitted with the application from the beginning. Special verification considerations may extend the case processing time.
Not all foreign students need to have a residence permit to study in Denmark.
Nordic citizens can freely enter and study in Denmark.
EU citizens that have been admitted to a private or public institution, which has been certified by the government or publicly funded, with the aim of following an educational programme, including a vocational educational programme, can apply for an EU residence document.
Read more about the rules for citizens of the EU or Nordic countries.
The International Education Forum (IUF) is aimed at educational institutions in Denmark that accepts international students. The purpose of this forum is to inform about changes in rules and practices, which has an impact on foreign exchange students’ possibility to enter and stay in Denmark.