Accompanying family member to an expatriate Danish citizen

You are an accompanying family member to an expatriate Danish citizen who wishes to return to Denmark in order to work.

Normal processing time
2 months

Processing fee
DKK 2,380,-

What does it mean to be an accompying family member to an expatriate Danish citizen?

In some cases, you can be granted a residence permit as an accompanying family member, provided that you are

  • spouse
  • registered partner
  • cohabiting partner
  • child under the age of 18 years or
  • other family

to an expatriate Dane.

In extraordinary cases, it is possible for a child over the age of 18, who is living with you, or for your parents, to be granted a permit.

You are a cohabiting partner, if you have lived with the expatriate Danish citizen for at least 1½-2 years and is able to document this.

What are the requirements for financial self-support?

There is no requirements for financial self-support, if the expatriate Danish citizen meet the conditions for a residence and work permit based on salaried work. Therefore you do not need to document that the expatriate Danish itizen can support you, if the expatriate has salaried employment.

If the expatriate Danish citizen meet the conditions for the Start-up Denmark scheme, you must document that the expatriate can support you in the form of a bank statement.

The following must be stated in the bank statement:

  • The full name of the expatriate Danish citizen,
  • the date the statement is issued (no later than 30 days before the date the application is submitted),
  • currency,
  • the account balance and
  • if you provide more than one statement, they must all be issued on the same date.

Read more about the requirements for self-support under the Start-up Denmark scheme

The financial self-support requirement also entails that you are not allowed to receive benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act, e.g. cash benefits.

See a list of benefits you are not allowed to receive

What are the conditions?

You must be able to document that you are related to the expatriate Danish citizen. The documentation can be a marriage certificate, birth certificate or similar.

In addition, a number of other conditions must be met:

You must hold a valid passport. This also applies to infants born in Denmark.

Read more about the passport requirements

In order to be granted a residence permit as an accompanying spouse, it is a requirement that the marriage or registered partnership can be recognised under Danish law.

A foreign marriage or registered partnership can be recognised in Denmark, if it was entered into in accordance with the rules in the country where it took place, and if the circumstances surrounding the marriage or registered partnership do not violate fundamental Danish legal principles.

Please note that a foreign marriage or registered partnership cannot be recognised if

  • one or both parties were under the age of 18 at the time of the wedding or registration, or

  • the marriage or registration was concluded without both parties being physically present

If we decide that the marriage or the registered partnership cannot be recognised under Danish law, we will consider whether you and your spouse can be considered as cohabiting partners.

Since 15 June 2012 the Danish Act on the Formation and Dissolution of Marriage has been changed to allow same-sex couples to enter into marriage the same way that opposite-sex couples can enter into marriage.

At the same time the Danish Registered Partnership Act has been repealed. This means that since 15 June 2012 it is no longer possible to enter into a registered partnership in Denmark. The Act, however, continues to regulate registered partnerships entered into before this date.

On 1 February 2017 changes were introduced to the Act on Marriage Formation and Dissolution, the Aliens Act and the Guardianship Act. The changes mean that it is no longer possible to exempt applicants from the requirement that both parties must be 18 years of age in order to enter into marriage in Denmark.

Marriages entered into by minors in a country outside Denmark (except by EU/EØS citizens) are no longer recognised in Denmark. This also applies to marriages entered into before 1 February 2017 and to applications being processed when the law came into effect.

The law does not apply to marriages or registered partnerships recognised by the Danish authorities before the law came into effect

You must have been living together with the expatriate Danish citizen for the last 1½-2 years or more. This must be documented, for example, by providing lease contracts, insurance policies, joint bank statements or similar documents stating both of your names.

If the child’s parents have joint custody, and if only the expatriate Danish citizen will be staying with the child in Denmark, the other parent must consent to let the child travel to Denmark. If the parent has full custody, we need to see documentation of this.

As a declaration of consent you can use this form

When granted a permit as an accompanying family member, you must reside at the same address as the expatriate Danish citizen.

This also applies to children - regardless of the child's age.

The expatriate must be a Danish citizen and established abroad

The expatriate must be a Danish citizen who is established abroad.

SIRI will do a concrete assessment of when the expatriate Danish citizen can be considered to be established abroad.

The main factors in the assessment are:

  • The duration of the expatriate Danish citizen’s residence abroad
  • The purpose of the expatriate Danish citizen’s residence abroad
  • The expatriate Danish citizen’s access to housing abroad as well as in Denmark during the residence abroad
  • The expatriate Danish citizen’s visits to Denmark during the residence abroad
  • Purpose of the expatriate Danish citizen’s visits to Denmark during the residence abroad

You must document those of the above-mentioned circumstances that apply.

The expatriate Danish citizen’s employment

The expatriate Danish citizen must have signed a job contract or received a job offer in Denmark that could result in a residence permit under one of the following work schemes, if the expatriate Danish citizen was a foreign national.

You can read more about the various work schemes below:

The Positive Lists

The Pay Limit schemes

Researcher

Special Individual Qualifications

Herdsmen and farm managers

The Fast Track scheme's pay limit track, the supplementary pay limit track, the researcher track, and the education track

The expatriate Danish citizen may also have an innovative business plan with the intention of running or continuing to run his or her own business or conducting business in Denmark through a Danish branch of a foreign self-employed business that could result in a residence permit under the Start-up Denmark scheme.

Read more about the Start-up Denmark scheme

Residence permit for children older than 18 and parents

If you are a child of 18 years or older or a parent of the expatriate Danish citizen who is established abroad, SIRI cannot grant you a residence permit as an accompanying family member unless extraordinary circumstances and weighty special considerations apply.

This may – based on a concrete assessment - be the case, if several of the following circumstances apply to you:

  • The sponsor has always supported you financially and has always lived at the same address as you
  • You are particularly dependent on the sponsor because of disability, old age or similar
  • You do not have any other family in your home country
  • You have previously been living together with the sponsor when he or she has been stationed abroad

You must document the special circumstances that apply to your case.

In such cases, SIRI will assess whether the special circumstances provide sufficient grounds for you to be granted a permit as an accompanying family member even though you are a parent or a child that have turned 18 years old.

What are my rights if I am granted a permit?

What are you to allowed do with a Danish residence permit as an accompanying family member to an expatriate Danish citizen and what are you not allowed to?

A residence permit allows you to stay in Denmark for the period of time your permit is valid.

In addition, a permit allows you to stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days within the last 180 days. The permit, however, does not allow you to work in other Schengen countries.

Read more about Schengen

You must not give up your Danish address or stay abroad for longer than 6 successive months. A violation will result in the lapse of your permit. This means that you will lose your right to stay in Denmark.

If you need to stay abroad for a longer period of time, you can apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing.

If the expatriate Danish citizen has entered into an agreement or has received an offer for employment in Denmark that could result in a residence permit after the Fast Track scheme’s pay limit track or researcher track, you are exempt from the rules that can cause your permit to lapse, and you are therefore allowed to give up your address during the period statying abroad.

Read more about how a permit can lapse

Read more about applying for dispensation to prevent a permit from lapsing

Holding a permit as an accompanying family member to an expatriate Danish citizen allows you to work in Denmark. Therefore, you do not need to apply for a separate work permit if you get a job.

You are also allowed to run your own business and follow an educational programme in an educational institution.

If you are under 18 years of age, special rules apply to how much you are allowed to work.

Read more about these rules on the website of the Danish Working Environment Authority (Arbejdstilsynet) (opens in a new window)

A Danish residence permit does not allow you to work in other Schengen countries

Read more about Schengen

You must support yourself financially during your stay. It can influence your application if you receive or have received benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act, e.g. cash benefits etc.

If you receive or have received such benefits during your stay, your permit can be revoked and you will lose the right to stay in Denmark.

If an authority, e.g. a municipality, disburses benefits to foreign nationals, SIRI will be notified.

You can see a list of benefits that you are not allowed to receive here

If the expatriate Danish citizen receives benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act when SIRI makes a decision in your case, it can have an impact on the decision.

 

With a residence permit in Denmark, you are entitled to free Danish lessons. However, you must have turned 18 years and have your Danish address registered in the Danish National Register.

Your municipality of residence is obliged to offer you Danish lessons and refer you to a language centre. If you have not been offered Danish lessons within a month after registering your address in Denmark, you can contact your municipality.

You will (typically) be taught together with other foreign nationals who have arrived in Denmark recently.

If you are going to stay and possibly work in Denmark, there are a number of things to acquaint yourself with. Depending on your personal situation, you might need other important information and options.

The portal lifeindenmark.dk provides you with information, links and in many cases also options concerning the most important subjects such as:

  • MitID
  • The CPR register
  • Health card
  • Tax matters
  • Holiday entitlements
  • School and daycare
  • Housing
  • Danish lessons
  • Car registration and driver’s license

Read more on lifeindenmark.dk (opens in a new window)

How long can I stay in Denmark?

You can be granted a permit as an accompanying family member for up to 5 years.

You will be granted a permit for a shorter period of time if the expatriate Danish citizen is employed on a temporary basis, for example for 1 year. In this case, the permit cannot be granted for longer than the employment’s length, namely 1 year.

It is very important that you apply for an extension before your permit expires.

If you submit your application for an extension in time, you can stay in Denmark even though your permit expires.

If you are an accompanying child and you were granted your first residence permit before you have turned 18 years old, you can extend your permit even though you have turned 18 in the meantime. However, you must still be living at the same address as the sponsor.

If you apply form abroad, you can be granted a permit valid for 14 days before the time, when the expatriate Danish citizen must begin working.

If you are already in Denmark when you apply, you can stay in Denmark while your application is being processed.

A residence permit can only be valid until 3 months before the expiry date of your passport.

If your passport has a shorter validity than the otherwise possible period of stay, your residence permit will be shortened. This means that the validity of your residence permit will be shorter than it could be. When you have renewed your passport, you can apply for an extension of your residence permit – however, this can only be done, at the earliest, 3 months before your permit expires.

Read more about the passport requirements

What more do I need to know before I apply?

An application for a residence permit as an accompanying family member to an expatriate Danish citizen is processed by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

If you are in Denmark when submitting the application, you must be here legally.

Read about legal submission

You must document in what way you are related to the expatriate Danish citizen . Therefore, it is very important that you attach a copy of your marriage certificate, documentation of cohabitation or birth certificate to the application.

Before submitting your application, you must create a case order ID for your application and pay a fee to cover SIRI’s case processing expenses. You can do this on the “How to apply” tab to the right. Here you also find the relevant application form, MF3.

The expatriate Danish citizen must complte one of two parts of scheme, and you will complete the other part.

Each accompanying family member must submit an individual application. For example, if a spouse and two children are applying for residence permits as accompanying family members, 3 case order IDs must be created, 3 fees must be paid and 3 application forms must be submitted.

Please note that, as a general rule, SIRI will refuse your application for a residence permit on new grounds, if the application is submitted prematurely in relation to the wished for start date for your stay in Denmark.

If you submit such an application earlier than 6 months before your stay in Denmark will begin, you can expect a refusal to your application. If you have paid SIRI's case processing fee, you will not receive a refund of the fee.

SIRI will contact you or the expatriate Danish citizen in Denmark if we need further information to process your case.

Below you will find a step-by-step guide to submitting an application to the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

It is important that you have carefully read the conditions for being granted a residence permit before you begin step 1. You can do this on the tab “Need to know” on the left.

 

It is a good idea to gather the necessary documents before you start to complete the application form. You can use the check list below.

If you submit documents not written in English, Norwegian, Swedish or Danish, you must also submit professional translations into Danish or English. You need to attach both the translation as well as the orginal document. 

Read more about SIRI's documentation requirements

You must submit:

If the expatriate Danish citizen has salaried work in Denmark, you must submit:

If the expatriate Danish citizen is running his or her own business, you must submit:

If you are the spouse or registered partner, you must submit:

If you are a cohabiting partner, you must submit:

If you are a child under the age of 18, you must also submit:

Expect to use

60 minutes

completing the application

2 persons

You complete part 1 of the application form and the expatriate Danish citizen completes part 2.

In this step you have access to the relevant application form MF3.

Make sure that you have completed all the preceeding steps before you begin.

All our application forms contain careful instructions on how to complete the form and what kind of documents you must submit along with the form.

You can read more about how we process your personal data here.

The printable application form in Word format can be completed on screen before you print. The application form in pdf format must be printed first and then completed by hand.

You must submit the necessary documentation with the application form.

Download the printable form MF3 (Word format)

Download the printable form MF3 (Pdf format)

You are submitting the application abroad

The application can be submitted to a Danish diplomatic mission or an application centre in the country where you are residing.

See the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ list of diplomatic missions or application centres where you can hand in your application (opens in a new window)

In certain countries Denmark does not have a diplomatic mission or application centre. In these instances the list will refer you to one of the Norwegian missions with which Denmark has made an agreement or to the nearest Danish diplomatic mission or application centre in the region.

We recommend that you visit the local diplomatic mission’s webpage to get more information before you submit the application. The individual diplomatic mission can have additional requirements regarding payment of additional fees, submission of additional passport photos or additional copies of the application.

You are submitting the application in Danmark

If you are residing legally in Denmark, you are normally able to submit the application in Denmark. This is the case, if you:

  • hold a valid visa
  • is exempt from the visa requirement or
  • already hold a valid residence permit.

Read more about the legal stay requirement when submitting an application in Denmark

You can submit the applicaton in one of SIRI’s branch offices.

If you plan to submit your application in one of SIRI’s branch offices, you must remember to book an appointment

You can also send the application to SIRI through our contact form. You have to choose “I want to submit an application to SIRI”.

When you apply for a residence permit, you must have your biometric features recorded. This means that you must have a facial photo taken and your fingerprints recorded. The facial photo and your fingerprints will be stored on a microchip embedded in the residence card, which will be issued to you if you are granted a permit.

If you do not agree to have your biometric features recorded, your application will be rejected. This means that your application will not be processed.

Read more about biometrics

You are are submitting the application abroad

If you submit an printable application form, you can have your biometric features recorded at a Danish diplomatic mission or an application centre in the country where you reside.

See the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ list of diplomatic missions or application centres where you can have your biometric features recorded (opens in a new window)

In certain countries Denmark does not have a diplomatic mission or application centre. In these instances the list will refer you to one of the Norwegian missions with which Denmark has made an agreement or to the nearest Danish diplomatic mission or application centre in the region.

If you submit your application to a Norwegian diplomatic mission, you must also submit one passport photo. If you are granted a residence permit based on your application, you must within a specific time frame after you entry to Denmark have your biometric features recorded.

We recommend that you visit the local diplomatic mission’s webpage to get more information before you submit the application. The individual diplomatic mission can have additional requirements regarding payment of additional fees, submission of additional passport photos or additional copies of the application.

You are submitting the application in Danmark

If you are residing legally in Denmark, you are normally able to have your biometric features recorded in Denmark. This is the case, if you:

  • hold a valid visa
  • are exempt from the visa requirement or
  • already hold a valid residence permit.

Read more about the legal stay requirement when submitting an application in Denmark

You can have your biometric features recorded in one of SIRI’s branch offices.

If you plan to have your biometrics recorded in one of SIRI’s branch offices, you must remember to book an appointment

You have submitted your application succesfully if you have:

  • created a case order ID
  • paid the fee
  • submitted the application
  • had your biometric features recorded

You can see the normal case processing time to the right on this page. When we make a decision in your case, you will receive an answer.

SIRI will contact you or the expatriate Danish citizen if we need further information to process your case.

Your residence card will automatically be sent to the address that has been registered under your name in the Civil Registration System (CPR). It is important that your name is written on your mailbox. If your name is not written on your mailbox, there is a chance that the residence card will not be delivered to you, and that it will be sent back to SIRI instead.

Read more about what you can expect while you are waiting for an answer.

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