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. You can apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing.

Processing fee
No fee

Can my residence permit lapse?

Your permit will lapse automatically if:

you give up your address and leave Denmark
you do not enter and stay in Denmark within the first 6 months of you having a residence permit
if you stay outside Denmark for more than 6 successive months while having a temporary residence permit
if you have been staying outside of Denmark for more than 12 months, while having a permanent residence permit.

The 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 about re-education trips

If you have been granted a permit by the Danish Immigration Service, other rules may apply for when your permit lapses

Exemptions from permit lapse

There are certain types of residence permits that do not lapse. Your residence permit will always state whether you are exempt from the rules that can cause your permit to lapse.

Your residence permit will not lapse if the permit is based on one of the following schemes:

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

If you have been posted abroad by the Danish state your residence permit will not lapse, as long as the residence permit in question is still valid.

If you have been staying outside of Denmark as an employee posted abroad by the Danish state and have since then entered and stayed in Denmark for at least 1 month after your posted work has ended, your residence permit will not lapse.

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.

Your permit can lapse in the following three ways:

If you give up your address (erase your address from the Central Personal Register) and leave Denmark

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

To have your permit lapse automatically means that you will not receive any decision regarding your case in the form of a letter or similar.

Stays in Greenland or the Faroe Islands are considered as time spent outside of Denmark.

If you do not enter Denmark within 6 months after having been granted a residence permit

Your residence permit will lapse 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.

Read about CPR registry

If your permit lapses automatically, you will not receive any decision regarding your case in the form of a letter or similar.

If you stay outside of Denmark for more than 6 successive months

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

If your permit lapses automatically, you will not receive any decision regarding your case in the form of a letter or similar.

Stays in Greenland or the Faroe Islands are considered as time spent outside of Denmark.

What if I have a permanent residence permit?

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

Your residence permit will lapse automatically if you give up your Danish address or stay abroad for more than 12 successive months (also while being registered at a Danish address in the CPR).

If your permit lapses automatically, you will not receive any decision regarding your case in the form of a letter or similar.

Stays in Greenland or the Faroe Islands are considered as time spent outside of Denmark.

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 – use the tab “How to apply”.

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. You must meet the conditions for your residence permit at the time you intend to return to Denmark.

If you have a well-founded reason for staying abroad, this will increase your chances of being granted dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing.

The purpose of your stay abroad

There must be a well-founded purpose for your stay abroad, e.g.:

Work, posted work in relation to being employed in Denmark
Foreign posting by a Danish authority, institution, organisation or company
Foreign posting by an international institution, organisation or company based in Denmark
Caring for close family members who are seriously ill
Taking parental leave (as a rule, we can grant a dispensation from 2 months before the due date and up to 1 year in total from the time of leaving Denmark in relation to giving birth)
Serving in the military as a conscript or performing required community service
Studies, which are related to the stay in Denmark.

This list is not exhaustive.

The purpose of a stay outside of Denmark must, as a rule, be connected to the basis of the residence in Denmark.

When you apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing, 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.

For how long 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 you apply for an extension before the dispensation period ends.

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

Each family member must send their own application in order to apply for a dispensation.

Can I enter Denmark while I have 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 again 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 are not registered 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, e.g. business visits without a work permit, or if you will be doing work that does not require a work permit.

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:

If you have been residing in Denmark

We can decide that your residence permit should still be valid if you can provide documentation proving that your intention was to return to Denmark within the 6 months, but that you were prevented from doing so 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

If you have never entered Denmark

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 (where there is less than 2 months until the due date, or if you have given birth and less than 3 months have passed since the birth)

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 on the “How to apply” tab.

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

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