Accompanying family to Greencard holders

You are an accompanying family member to a person holding a Greencard.

Normal processing time
2 months

processing fee
DKK 2,880,-

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What is an accompanying family member?

You can be granted a residence permit as an accompanying family member, if you are the:

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

of a person (also called 'sponsor') who is already living and working in Denmark as a Greencard holder.

In extraordinary cases, it is possible for other family members to be granted a residence permit.

Special rules apply to persons born stateless in Denmark who apply for Danish citizenship.

Your options for becoming a Danish citizen as a stateless person born in Denmark depend on whether you are under 18, between 18 and 21 or over 21.

Read more about citizenship for stateless persons born in Denmark

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What are the conditions?

In order to be granted a residence permit as an accompanying family member, you and the sponsor must meet a number of conditions.

Read about which conditions apply to you in the sections below.

It is a condition that the sponsor

  • is working in Denmark
  • has an employment contract valid for at least 1 year from the time you submit your application as an accompanying family member
  • has been paid at least 1 monthly salary based on their employment
  • has a guaranteed income of at least:
    - DKK 12,326 (2024 level) per month if you are a spouse/cohabiting partner/registered partner or
    - DKK 16,382 (2024 level) per month if you are either one or more children under 18 or a spouse/cohabiting partner/registered partner and one or more children under 18
  • meets the conditions by being employed in a single job. The conditions cannot be met by combining several different jobs.

The sponsor’s salary must derive from ordinary employment and reported to the Danish Customs and Tax Administration, SKAT. The sponsor's employer must be established in Denmark.

Your marriage must be recognised under Danish law. This means that the marriage can be recognised if the marriage is legal in the country where it took place and that  

  • you were both physically present at the wedding
  • you had both turned 18 years old at the time of the wedding
  • the marriage is not a marriage of convenience
  • the marriage does not violate fundamental legal principles.

If you are not married or if the marriage cannot be recognised under Danish law, we will instead assess if you can be considered as cohabiting partners.

A registered partnership can be recognised in Denmark if the partnership is equivalent to a marriage under Danish law. This means that the registered partnership must be legal in the country where the registration took place and that:

  • you were both physically present at the registration

  • you had both turned 18 years old at the time of the registration

  • the registration is not a registration of convenience

  • the registration does not violate fundamental legal principles.

If we assess that your registered partnership cannot be recognised under Danish law, we will instead assess if you can be considered as cohabiting partners.

Cohabiting partners over the age of 18 are equivalent to spouses. Cohabiting partners are people that live together in a committed relationship of longer duration. You must have lived together with the sponsor for at least 1.5-2 years prior to the application date.

Your committed cohabitation can, for instance, be documented by:

  • registration papers showing joint tenancy or rental agreements
  • shared bank accounts
  • shared loans
  • shared insurances and bills
  • official letters/documents sent to you both at your shared address during that period of time.

You can be granted a residence permit as an accompanying child if you are under the age of 18. You must document your family relation to the sponsor. For instance, documentation can be:

  • a copy of birth certificate
  • a Certificate of Personal Data
  • adoption papers.

If your parents have joint custody and only one of your parents is to stay with you in Denmark, you must get consent from your other parent that you can stay in Denmark. If one of your parents has full custody, you must document this. 

Declaration of consent (PDF) 

You must submit a copy of the data page or a copy of another valid photo ID from your other parent in order to validate the consent.  

As a rule, a consent is valid until it is withdrawn.

When you are granted a residence permit as an accompanying family member, it is a condition that you reside at the same address in Denmark as the sponsor who is in Denmark on a Greencard.

This also applies to children over the age of 18. You must still reside at the same address as the sponsor, even if you turn 18 years old after you are granted a residence permit as an accompanying family member in Denmark.


The sponsor who is in Denmark on a Greencard must be able to support you. Read more under the headline ’Your sponsor must be working in Denmark’.

You are not allowed to receive certain public benefits. As a rule, you are not allowed to receive any benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act, e.g. social security benefits.

Read about public benefits when you have been granted a residence permit

You must have a valid passport in order to be granted a residence permit in Denmark. This applies to everyone – even if you are a child.

The residence permit you are granted can only be valid until 3 months before the expiry date of your passport.

If your passport has a shorter validity than the possible period of time that you can be granted a residence permit, the residence permit will be shortened. This means that you will be granted a residence permit for a shorter amount of time due to the expiry date of your passport. If you renew your passport, you can apply for an extension of your residence permit – however, the earliest you can apply is 3 months before the expiration of your current residence permit.

Read more about passport requirements

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Can I be granted a residence permit as other family?

If you are a family member to the sponsor, but you are not the spouse/cohabiting partner/registered partner nor a child under the age of 18, you are other family. If you are other family, SIRI cannot grant you a residence permit as accompanying family unless extraordinary circumstances and weighty considerations apply.

When you are other family, SIRI will conduct a specific assessment of whether extraordinary circumstances and weighty considerations apply for you be to granted a residence permit as an accompanying family member.

After a specific assessment, this can be the case if several of the following circumstances are present:

  • The sponsor has always financially supported you and has always resided at the same address as you.
  • You are particularly dependent on the sponsor due to a disability, advanced age or similar.
  • You have no other family in your home country.
  • You have lived together with the sponsor during posting in other countries in the period up to the time of application.

You must document the specific circumstances that make you particulary dependent on the sponsor.

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What are my rights if I am granted a permit? 

What are you allowed do with a Danish residence permit as an accompanying family member to a Greencard holder? – And what are you not allowed to do?

A residence and work 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.

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, e.g. if you wish to take parental leave in your home country, you can apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing. 

Read more about lapse of permit

Read more about and apply for a dispensation to prevent a permit from lapsing

Holding a permit as an accompanying family member to a Greencard holder grants you the right 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.

If you are under 18 years of age, special rules apply to how much you are allowed to work. You can read more about these rules on the website of the Danish Working Environment Authority (Arbejdstilsynet).

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

You and your family must support yourselves during your stay. You are not allowed to receive benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act.

If you or your sponsor receive benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act during your stay, your permit can be revoked – and you will lose the right to stay in Denmark. Your sponsor also risks losing their residence permit, even if only you receive benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act.

If you are unsure whether a benefit is disbursed under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act, your local municipality can provide you with the information.

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

See the list of benefits that you are not allowed to receive

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.

If you have a residence permit in Denmark based on work, study, etc. you have to pay a deposit before you can start receiving lessons. Be aware that you can lose your deposit if you do not pass the different modules within a specific timeframe.

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.

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How long can I stay in Denmark?

Typically, you will be granted a residence permit for the same period as the family member who is in Denmark on a Greencard (the sponsor), however, for no longer than 4 years.

If the sponsor’s residence permit is extended and you want to stay in Denmark, you must apply for an extension of your residence permit.

It is very important that you apply for an extension before your residence permit expires. If you submit your application after your residence permit has expired, you risk having your application rejected and having to leave Denmark.

If you submit the application for an extension in time, you can stay in Denmark while we process your case, even if your permit expires. 

If you are an accompanying child and you are granted your first residence permit before you turn 18 years old, you can have your permit extended, even if you have turned 18 in the meantime. However, only if you still reside at the same address as the sponsor.

What do you want to print?

What more do I need to know before I apply?

An application for a residence permit as an accompanying family member to a Greencard holder 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. More about legal submission here. 

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, MF1. 

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.

You can be represented by a third party. It can be a family member, attorney or relocation agency. If you choose to be represented, you must give the third party representing you power of attorney to handle the application on your behalf.

You can find an approved template of a power of attorney here

Please note that, as a 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 sponsor in Denmark if we need further information to process your case.

What do you want to print?

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 certified translations into Danish or English.

You must submit:

If you are a spouse or registered partner, you must also submit:

If you are a cohabiting partner, you must submit:

If you are a child, you must submit

Expect to use

60 minutes

completing the application

1 person

You complete the application form yourself.

 

In this step you have access to the relevant application form MF1.

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.

Make sure you have all documents ready in digital form, in order to attach them as you complete the application form.

If you do not have a MitID, you must sign, scan and attach to the application the document 'Sworn declarations and information'.

You can download the document 'Sworn declarations and information' here (also available in the form)

You can download the form for the declaration of consent here (also available in the form)

 

Use the form MF1

 

Please note that it is mandatory to use this application form. Under special circumstances, you can be exempted from the requirement to use an online application form. You can read more here.

Please note that it is mandatory to fill in your passport number in this application form. If you are not in possession of a valid passport, you can contact us for guidance. You can find our contact information here.

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 here

You must have your biometric features recorded no later than 14 days after you submitted your application.

If you are unable to have your biometric features recorded within the time limit of 14 days, because you are unable to book an appointment at a Danish diplomatic mission, you can inform us of the appointed time you will have your biometrics recorded. This way you can avoid having your application rejected.

You are abroad

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 afte 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 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 residence requirement and submission of your 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 your employer if we need further information to process your case.

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

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Last updated 16-05-2024 - Published by: SIRI