Accompanying family member to a person who has been granted permanent residence in connection with work or study

You are an accompayning family member to a person who has been granted permanent residence in Denmark in connection with work or study.

Processing fee
DKK 2,880,-

Normal processing time
2 months

Who can get a residence permit as an accompanying family member?

You can apply using this page, if:

  • your family member has been granted permanent residence in extension of a work or study permit in Denmark
  • your family member has been granted permanent residence in extension of the Greencard scheme
  • you have a residence permit as an accompanying family member under the repealed expatriate Dane scheme.

Please note that if you are a child and fulfil the conditions below, you may be eligible for a residence permit under more lenient conditions:

  • You were born in Denmark.
  • You have not had a residence permit on any other basis in Denmark.
  • Your family member has either been granted or applied for a permanent residence permit before you were born.

Read more about residence permits for children born in Denmark

What do you want to print?

What does it mean to be an accompanying family member?

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

  • spouse

  • civil partner

  • cohabiting partner

  • child under the age of 18 or

  • other family member

of a foreign national from a country outside the EU/EEA who has been granted permanent residence in Denmark in connection with work or study. We will refer to the foreign national that you are accompanying to Denmark as the ‘sponsor’.

You do not need to apply for a new residence permit as an accompanying family member, just because your sponsor has been granted a permanent residence permit.

If you already have  a residence permit as an accompanying family member, you can apply for an extension of your current residence permit before it expires.

You can apply for an extension of your permit no earlier than 3 months before it expires.

You are a cohabiting partner if you have been living together with the sponsor for the last 1½-2 years or more and have documentation of this.

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

What do you want to print?

What are the conditions?

You must be able to document that you are related to the sponsor. 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 here

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.

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 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 sponsor 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 sponsor 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 sponsor.

This also applies to children who have turned 18 years old.

The sponsor must have been granted permanent residence in connection with work or study. 

That means that you cannot be granted a residence permit as an accompanying family member to a sponsor who has been granted their permanent residence as an accompanying family member.

The sponsor must also:

  • either continue to meet the conditions for an extension of the residence permit he/she had at the moment of being granted permanent residence

  • or have employment that qualifies him/her for a residence permit under one of the current work schemes.

You can read more about the different work schemes on the links below. 

Positive Lists

Pay Limits schemes

Researcher

Guest researcher

Trainee

Special Individual Qualifications

Drill rigs and other mobile workplaces

Herdsmen and farm managers

Labour Market Attachment, including job change within the same line of business

Fast track scheme’s pay limit track, supplementary pay limit track, researcher track and educational track

ESS scheme

Work permit during the job seeking period after completing an educational programme

If the sponsor has lost his or her job, he or she must meet the conditions for a new residence permit to seek for a new job in Denmark.

You can read more about the jobseeking permit here

The same applies to a sponsor who has been granted permanent residence or Danish citizenship in connection with the Greencard scheme. Likewise, the same conditions must be met by an expatriate Dane.

The sponsor, who has been granted permanent residence, must be able to support you.

It can influence your application if you receive or have received benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act.

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

You can read more about the self-support requirement in the next step.

 

What do you want to print?

Financial support

We do not require documentation for the sponsor’s ability to support you if he/she has employment.

 

If the sponsor was a student in a higher educational programme or an unpaid PhD student when he or she was granted permanent residence and still meets the requirements for an extension of a residence permit as such a student or PhD student, you can read more about the self-support requirement here.

If the sponsor held an establishment card when he or she was granted permanent residence and still meets the requirements for an extension of the establishment card, you can read more about the self-support requirement here.

If the sponsor held a residence permit based on the Start-up Denmark Scheme when he or she was granted permanet residence and still meets the requirements for an extension under this scheme, you can read more about the self-support requirement here.

What do you want to print?

Residence permit for children older than 18 and parents

If you are a child of 18 years or older or a parent of the sponsor who has been granted permanet residence in Denmark in connection with work or study, SIRI cannot grant you a residence permit as an accompanying family member unless extraordinary circumstances and weighty special considerations apply.

This may be the case, if at least two or more of the following circumstances apply to you - and still it is only upon specific evaluation by SIRI:

  • 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 do you want to print?

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 a person who has been granted permanent residence in connection with work or study and what are you not allowed to?

Holding a permit as an accompanying family member 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. 

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

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.

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.

You can read more about how a permit can lapse here

You can read more about and apply for dispensation to prevent a permit from lapsing here

You must support yourself 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, self-sufficiency and return benefit as well as transition benefit 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 your sponsor 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.

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

What do you want to print?

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 your sponsor 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. If the sponsor is a PhD student and has 1 year left of his/her education, your permit will be granted for 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.

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 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 person who has been granted permanet residence 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. 

You must document in which way you are related to the sponsor. Therefore, it is very important that you attach a copy of your marriage certificate, documentation of your cohabitation or your 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, MF4. 

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 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 your family member is working, you must also submit:

If your family member is studying, you must also submit:

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

If you are a cohabiting partner, you must also submit:

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

If you are applying as another family member, you must also submit:

Expect to use

60 minutes

completing the application

2 persons

You complete part 1 of the application form and the sponsor completes part 2.

In this step you have access to the relevant application form MF4.

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 MF4 (Word format)

Download the printable form MF4 (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 residence requirement and submission of your 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 wish to submit an application, documentation or new information regarding a case at 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 here

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 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 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 08-10-2024 - Published by: SIRI