Jobseeking permit for employees

A job seeking permit is a residence permit valid for up to 6 months with the purpose to look for a new job in Denmark.

You are not allowed to work while you have a job seeking permit, but if you find a new job during the job seeking stay, you must submit a new application for a residence and work permit under one of the job schemes.

You can apply for a job seeking permit if you have a residence permit under

• The Positive List for People with a Higher Education,
• The Pay Limit Scheme,
• The Researcher Scheme or 
• The Fast-track Scheme's pay limit track, researcher track or educational track

And you have lost your job through no fault of your own.

Please note that you cannot be granted a residence permit to look for a new job in Denmark, if you hold a residence and work permit under the Fast-Track scheme's supplementary pay limit track or any of the other work permits that are not mentioned above.

If you have been granted a permit for less than 4 years under one of the abovementioned schemes, your residence and work permit will normally be of the same length as your contract – in which case you would automatically have been granted a permit for job seeking for a period of up to 6 months where you can seek a new job in Denmark.

It is a condition that you have lost your job through no fault of your own, e.g. due to cut-backs.  You may therefore not have caused yourself to lose your job.

You must apply for a permit no later than 2 days after your employment has been terminated.

Remember to enclose your letter of dismissal or other documentation as to the reason for you becoming unemployed.

You must pay a fee for the application. Remember to enclose the receipt when you apply.

You must continue to be able to support yourself. You must therefore not receive any social benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act, e.g. social security benefits.

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 you want to apply for a job seeking permit, you can continue in the tab ‘How to apply’.

When choosing the category of your  fee, you should pick the category corresponding to your current residence permit, e.g. the fast-track scheme, pay limit track or the positive list.