Visa (short term) – How long are you allowed to stay in Denmark, the other Schengen countries, the Faroe Islands and Greenland?
A Schengen visa allows you to stay a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period in Denmark and is normally valid for the entire Schengen region. If you want to travel to the Faroe Islands and Greenland, your visa must be valid for entry into the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
If you are a national of a country with a visa requirement, you can be granted a Schengen visa valid for a stay of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. A visa normally allows you to enter the entire Schengen region. If you want to travel to the Faroe Islands and Greenland, your visa must be valid for entry into the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Your visa will indicate the total number of days you are allowed to stay in Denmark, the other Schengen countries, the Faroe Islands and/or Greenland.
If you are a national of a visa-exempt country, you can stay in the Schengen region, Greenland and the Faroe Islands for a maximum of 90 days in total in any 180-day period. The 90 days may be used for one continuous stay or several shorter stays.
The immigration authorities recommend that you count the days on a calendar, including both the date of entry and the date of departure.
Both the day of entry and the day of departure count towards the maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period, regardless of the time of day you enter or leave. It is always your own responsibility to be aware of how long you are allowed to stay in Denmark and the other countries.
If you can enter Denmark without a visa, you can also enter the Faroe Islands and Greenland without a visa. Read more about visa-free travel
Every day you stay in a Schengen country, the Faroe Islands and/or Greenland will count, which means that both the entry day and the exit day are included in the 90 days. The entry day to a Schengen country or the Faroe Islands or Greenland is the first day and the exit day is the last day of the stay.
You must at any given time only have a maximum of 90 days stay in the Schengen region and the Faroe Islands and Greenland in any 180-day period. This is in other words a ‘rolling’ calculation by which the period of 180 days prior to each day of the stay are taken into account.
It is important to remember that your stay must not last longer than 90 consecutive days.
Example 1: You are applying for a visa (or do not require a visa) and wish to enter on 26 March 2017. You have previously stayed in the Schengen Area from 23 January 2017 until 2 February 2017 (11 days) and then for 7 and 13 days. This totals 31 days within the past 180 days calculated from 26 March 2017. Starting on 26 March 2017, you can spend 59 days in the Schengen Area.
Example 2: You are applying for a visa (or do not require a visa) and wish to enter on 15 March 2017. You have previously stayed in the Schengen Area from 19 October 2016 until 19 November 2016 (32 days) and then from 1 December 2016 until 14 December 2016 (14 days). Starting on 15 March 2017, you can spend 90 days in the Schengen Area. The rules permit you to stay in the Schengen Area for 90 days, exit the Schengen Area for 90 days and then re-enter and spend another 90 days here.
A short-stay (visa) calculator in English has been created to provide an indication of the length of the stay – both for visa applications and to control whether a stay complies with the rules. The visa calculator can also be used for the calculation of a visa-free stay.
Your entry and exit will be registered in the Entry/Exit System (EES). Read more about the EES
If you have stayed in Denmark on procedural stay e.g. if you have submitted an application for a residence permit in Denmark on a valid visa stay or as a visa-free person and has been allowed to stay in Denmark while the application is being considered this must be included in the 90 days.
This means that if you e.g. have stayed in Denmark for 90 days or more on a procedural stay and your application for a residence permit is refused you need to leave Denmark and the Schengen-countries, and the Faroe Islands and Greenland and wait 90 days before you can re-enter into Denmark as a visa-free or on a visa. The same rules apply if your stay has been extended, for example due to serious illness of the person you have visited.
If you have stayed in the Schengen countries, including Denmark, or on the Faroe Islands or in Greenland holding a residence permit or on the basis of a long-stay visa, this stay is not included in the maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period that you are allowed to stay in the Schengen countries, including Denmark, or the Faroe Islands and Greenland on a visa or as a visa-free.
If you are visa-free and your residence permit or long-stay visa (D visa) in Denmark has expired, been revoked, denied an extension or lapsed, you can immediately thereafter reside in Denmark for up to 90 days within a period of 180 days as visa-free.
If you require a visa and you have a residence permit or a long-stay visa (D visa) issued by Denmark, you must normally exit Denmark when the permit expires. If you have obtained a Schengen visa before your residence permit expires, you may continue your stay in the Schengen countries after the residence permit has expired, based on the issued visa. It is not possible to submit an application for a Schengen visa in Denmark.
If you wish to remain in the Schengen countries after your residence permit expires, you can have your stay registered in the EES.
If you have been granted certain types of residence or re-entry permits in another Schengen country, you do not need a visa to enter Denmark.
Read more about residence permits issued by another Schengen country
For citizens of Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Mauritius and the Seychelles, the following calculation applies:
The six-month period is calculated from the date of your first entry into the Schengen region. 'First entry' means:
- Your very first entry into the Schengen region, and thereafter
- Any subsequent entry into the Schengen region if more than six months have passed since your last entry.
This means that if you enter Denmark or another Schengen country for the very first time on 1 February 2017, you can stay in Denmark for three months (i.e. 90 days) within the six-month period ending on 31 July 2017.
If you then re-enter Denmark on 1 October 2017 – more than six months after your very first entry into the Schengen region – this date will be considered a new 'first entry'. Therefore, 1 October 2017 will determine the start of a new six-month period during which you can stay in the country for up to three months.
If you enter again on 1 June 2018, this date will be considered your new 'first entry', and so on.
If you have a visa that is valid for multiple entries for at least six months, you can submit an application for a new visa before your current visa expires. If you are granted a new visa with a period of validity immediately following that of your current visa, you can enter on the first visa and leave on the second visa, provided that the conditions for both visas are met, including the rules on a maximum continuous stay of 90 days and no more than 90 days per six-month period in the Schengen region.
If you have stayed in Denmark or another Schengen country on a residence permit or on the basis of a long-stay visa limited to another Schengen country (D visa), this stay is not included in the maximum of 90 days per six-month period that you are allowed to stay in Denmark on a visa or visa-free.