Your salary must be paid into a Danish bank account in your own name.

This condition applies to you if you are granted a residence and/or work permit based on:

  • The Fast Track Scheme's Supplementary Pay Limit Track
  • The Pay Limit Scheme
  • The Supplementary Pay Limit Scheme
  • The Positive List for People with a Higher Education
  • The Positive List for Skilled Work
  • Special individual qualifications
  • Herdsmen and farm managers
  • Labour market attachment
  • Change of job within the same professional field which formed the basis for the original residence permit due to labour market attachment
  • Internship 

The requirement to have your salary paid into a Danish bank account means that only salary which constitutes liquid assets can be included in the assessment of whether the salary and terms of employment you have been offered correspond to Danish standards, or whether you meet the pay limit for the Pay Limit Scheme, the Supplementary Pay Limit Scheme or the Fast-Track Scheme's Supplementary Pay Limit Track. Please note that expenses such as rent or canteen expenses cannot be deducted from your salary before it is paid into your Danish bank account.

The requirement that your salary must be paid into a Danish bank account does not apply to you if you are a foreign national covered by EU-regulations, including the Assocation Agreement with Türkiye.

Neither does it apply to you, if you have been granted a residence permit as an accompanying family member and your employment requires a specific work permit.

Read more about ordinary salary and terms of employment here.

If you enter Denmark after you have received your residence and work permit, you must open a Danish bank account no later than 180 days after you enter Denmark. Under some circumstances, you must open a Danish bank account no later than 180 days after you have been granted your residence and work permit. If you already hold a residence and work permit that lasts at least 180 days, your first salary must be paid into a Danish bank account.

If you have been granted a residence and work permit based on an internship, you have 90 days to open a Danish bank account instead of 180 days.

New rules

From July 1, 2024, new rules came into effect, which means that where you previously had 90 days to open a Danish bank account, you now have 180 days – except if you have been granted a residence and work permit based on an internship, in which case you still have 90 days. The rules apply retroactively, so even if you received a residence and work permit before July 1, 2024, you will also have 180 days to open a Danish bank account.

The new rules also mean that from July 1, 2024, there are some schemes that are no longer subject to the requirement to pay salary into a Danish bank account. This applies if you have a residence or work permit based on:

  • The researcher scheme

  • The fast track scheme's ordinary pay limit track, researcher track, education track or short-term track

For the above-mentioned schemes, it is no longer required that your salary is paid into a Danish bank account. The rules apply retroactively, which means that even if you have been granted a residence and work permit for one of the above-mentioned schemes before July 1, 2024, you will also be covered by the new rules, and it will no longer be a requirement that you have your salary paid into your Danish bank account.