Dispensation to prevent permit from lapsing

If you give up your Danish address or if you travel outside Denmark for an extended period of time, your permit can lapse. However, on this page you can apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing. 

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Can my residence permit lapse?

Your permit will lapse automatically if

  • you give up your address and leave Denmark,
  • you do not enter Denmark in due time after you have been granted a residence permit – generally within the first 6 months of the validity period (if your permit is valid for more than 6 months)
  • if you stay outside Denmark for more than 6 successive months

These rules apply to permits issued by SIRI.

If your stay abroad is due to you having been sent, as a minor, on a re-education trip or any other trip abroad with negative implications for you, your residence permit will, in principle, not lapse.

Read more about re-education trips

In many cases, other rules for when your permit lapses apply if you have been granted a permit by the Danish Immigration Service. You can read more about these rules here.

There are certain types of residence permits that do not lapse. If you hold a residence permit based on one of the following schemes, your permit will not lapse:

  • the Fast-track Scheme  - or if you are an accompanying family member to a person with a permit based on the Fast-track Scheme.
  • as a researcher
  • the ESS Scheme (the research facility European Spallation Source)
  • as a PhD (if you are enrolled in a full PhD programme in Denmark) - or if you are an accompanying family member to a PhD
  • as a student on a joint degree

Your residence permit will always state whether you are exempt from the rules that can cause your permit to lapse.

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What does it mean if my permit lapses?

If your permit lapses, it means that you no longer have the right to stay in Denmark. You risk not being able to return to Denmark after you have been abroad.

If your permit lapses, you must start over again by submitting a new application for a residence permit in Denmark. Your new application will be processed according to the rules in force at the time of application. Consequently, it is of no importance how and why you initially were granted your residence permit.

There are three ways that your permit can lapse:

Your residence permit lapses automatically, for example, if you sell or give up your residence in Denmark and no longer have your name registered at a Danish address in the Central Personal Register (CPR), and you leave the country.

That your permit lapses automatically means that you will not receive any letter or similar with a decision.

Stays in Greenland or the Faroe Islands are considered as time abroad.

Your residence permit lapses automatically if you do not enter Denmark, take up residence and have your name registered at a Danish address in the Central Personal Register (CPR) within 6 months from when you were granted your residence permit. You can read more about CPR registry here.

That your permit lapses automatically means that you will not receive any letter or similar with a decision.

Your residence permit lapses automatically if you stay outside of Denmark for more than 6 successive months. This applies even though you keep being registered at a Danish address in the CPR.

That your permit lapses automatically means that you will not receive any letter or similar with a decision.

Stays in Greenland or the Faroe Islands are considered as time abroad.

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What if I hold a permanent residence permit?

Other rules apply if the Danish Immigration Service has granted you a permanent residence permit based on former permits issued by SIRI.

In this case, your residence permit will lapse automatically if you give up your Danish address or stay abroad for more than 12 successive months. This applies even though you keep being registered at a Danish address in the CPR.

That your permit lapses automatically means that you will not receive any letter or similar with a decision.

Stays in Greenland or the Faroe Islands are considered as time abroad.

If you hold a permanent residence permit based on former residence permits issued by SIRI, and if you need a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing, you must submit your application to SIRI – and thus use the tab “How to apply” to the right on the page that you are on right now. 

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What are the conditions for granting a dispensation?

You must meet certain conditions in order to be granted a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing.

You must submit your application before your permit lapses. If SIRI has granted you the permit, you must apply before you have been outside of Denmark for more than 6 successive months and before you give up your Danish residence.

You can only be granted a dispensation, if you intend to resume your residence in Denmark after your stay abroad and if you continue to meet the conditions for your residence permit at the time you intend to return to Denmark.

If you meet the basic requirements, then you can be granted a dispensation if there is a well-founded basis for your stay outside Denmark.

There must be a specific purpose with your stay abroad, e.g.:

  • Work
  • Studies
  • Stationing by a Danish authority, institution, organisation or company
  • Stationing by an international institution, organisation or company based in Denmark
  • Tending of near family with serious illness
  • Taking parental leave (as a rule, we can grant a dispensation from 2 months before the due date and up to 1 year after birth)
  • Serving in the military as a conscript or performing required community service.

When you apply for a dispensation, you must always state why you believe that you are eligible to be granted a dispensation, and you must provide documentation of your reason for applying for a dispensation. 

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For how long a duration can I be granted a dispensation?

You can be granted a dispensation for a maximum duration of 3 years. However, you cannot be granted a dispensation that exceeds the duration of your residence permit.

If you do not return to Denmark within your dispensation period, you can apply for an extension of your dispensation period. It is important that apply before the dispensation period ends.

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Can my family be granted a dispensation to prevent their permits from lapsing?

If you are granted a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing, the dispensation can also apply to your spouse, cohabiting partner or children living at home under the age of 18. You must state in your application if you want your dispensation to encompass your family members as well. Your family can be granted a dispensation with a duration equal to your dispensation.

If your spouse and/or child/children living at home stay in Denmark, they can only keep their residence permits for 6 months as the condition of cohabitation will no longer be met.

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Can I enter Denmark while I hold a dispensation?

You can enter Denmark within the period you have been granted a dispensation, provided that it is a short-term stay of a private character, e.g. to participate in a family celebration, a funeral, a short holiday or a weekend stay.

This means that, in general, a dispensation will lapse if you take up residency in Denmark anew after you have been granted a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing. Registering your name at an address in the CPR or entering Denmark to work or study (even though you do not register in the CPR) is considered as taking up residency in Denmark.

However, you can enter Denmark without losing your dispensation if you take part in work related activities which could be a part of a business visit without a work permit, or if you will be doing work that does not require a work permit.  

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My permit has lapsed

In the event that your permit has lapsed, we can in some cases decide that it should still be valid if you apply for it. This concerns the following situations: 

We can decide that your residence permit should still be valid if you are able to prove that your intention was to return to Denmark within the 6 months, but you were prevented from returning by unforeseen circumstances beyond your control, e.g.:

  • Illness
  • Imprisonment
  • War-like situations
  • Natural disasters
  • Problems with leaving the country in which you were staying

We can decide that your residence permit should still be valid if you were prevented from entering Denmark by circumstances that you could not possibly have foreseen, e.g.:

  • Serious illness
  • Imprisonment
  • War-like situations
  • Natural disasters
  • Problems with leaving the country in which you are staying
  • Pregnancy (and there is less than 3 months until due date, or if you have given birth and less than 3 months have passed since the birth)

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What more do I need to know before I apply?

An application for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing is processed by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) if your permit is based on one of our schemes.

You can find the relevant application forms on the “How to apply” tab to the right:

  • BF1 – if you apply before your permit expires or lapses
  • BF2 – if your permit has lapsed but you want to apply for that it should still be valid.

SIRI recommends that you apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing before you leave Denmark.

You can choose between an online form and a print form. It is best to use the online form as it is both safer and more efficient.

SIRI will contact you if we need further information to process your case.

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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 dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing 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, German, Norwegian, Swedish or Danish, you must also submit certified translations into Danish or English.

You must submit:

If your permit has already lapsed, you must, if possible, submit:

Expect to use

30 minutes

completing the application

1 person

You fill in the application form yourself.

In this step you have access to the relevant application forms. You can choose between an online form and a print form. It is best to use the online form as it is both safer and more efficient.

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.

Online applications

If you apply online, you must use the application form BF1/BF2-online.

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

 

Use the online form BF1/BF2

 

Printable application for lapse dispensation

When applying for a lapse dispensation, you can use the print application form BF1. The application form can also be used if your family members want to apply for a dispensation.

You must submit the necessary documents with the application.

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.

Download the printable form BF1 (Word format)   Download the printable form BF1 (Pdf format)

 

Printable application for that your permit should not be considered as lapsed

When applying for that your permit should not be considered as lapsed , you can use the print application form BF2. The application form can also be used if your family members want to apply for that their permits should not be considered as lapsed.

You must submit the necessary documents with the application.

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.

Download the printable form BF2 (Word format)   Download the printable form BF2 (Pdf format)

 

You have applied online

If you have applied online, your application has already been submitted.

 

You have used a print form

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

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

You can also send the application to SIRI. Please use our contact form.

 

If you are abroad, you can submit your application to the nearest Danish diplomatic mission or an application centre.

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 always visit the website of the diplomatic mission to obtain further information before you submit your application. The individual diplomatic mission can set additional requirements, e.g. payment of fees or extra copies of the application.

You can also send the application to SIRI. Please use our contact form.

When a decision in your case has been made, you will receive an answer. 

SIRI will contact you if we need further information to process your case.

You are welcome to contact us if you have further questions about your application which have not been answered by this application page.

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Last updated 20-04-2023 - Published by: SIRI

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