Published 03-04-2020

A residence permit under the Working Holiday Scheme will from now on only grant permission to do salaried work

In December 2019, the Danish government signed an agreement on a number of adjustments to the Working Holiday Scheme.

Read about the agreement here (in Danish only)

The purpose of a Working Holiday stay should primarily be holidaying for an extended period and secondarily to work for the purpose of supplementing travel means and/or completing a short term study or educational programme.

According to Danish practice, a residence permit under the Working Holiday Scheme has until now granted the right to carry out salaried work and to carry out independent business activities.

The Minister for Immigration and Integration wishes for the Working Holiday Scheme to a higher degree to support the aim of creating a space for mutual cultural exchange and to allow for a temporary - but extended - holiday stay with employment as a temporary side element that must not conflict with the purpose of the Working Holiday Scheme.

In accordance with the agreement, the Minister for Immigration and Integration therefore wishes to change practice so that a foreign national with a residence permit under the Working Holiday Scheme from now on may only perform salaried work in Denmark.

The amendment becomes effective for all applications for residence permits under the Working Holiday Scheme when case processing once again is underway (following the suspension of the Working Holiday scheme on 19 March 2020).

Read more about the suspension of the Working Holiday Scheme

A foreign national who from now on is granted a residence permit under the Working Holiday Scheme may therefore only carry out salaried work in Denmark, and only in accordance with the conditions of the relevant Working Holiday Scheme.

Salaried work is to be understood as a salary earner job with formal employment in a traditional “employer-employee relationship”. The employer must pay a salary to the foreign national, report taxes to the authorities and must in general assume responsibility for compliance with work environment legislation, etc.

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