New to Denmark

When you enter Denmark and stay in this country you must have a valid passport or another recognised travel document.

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

Passport requirements

Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months beyond the date on which you expect to leave again or, if you are going to enter and leave several times, beyond the date on which you at the latest expect to leave.
Your passport must contain at least 2 empty pages
Your passport must have been issued within the last 10 years. A passport valid for more than 10 years cannot be used as a valid travel document in Denmark beyond the first 10 years of the passports validity period.

A residence permit can therefore only be granted for the period up until 3 months before the date of expiry of your passport.

If the validity of your passport is less than the otherwise possible residence period, your residence permit will be shortened accordingly. This means that the validity of the residence permit is shorter than it could have been. When your passport is renewed you can apply for an extension of your residence permit – however, no sooner than 3 months before your residence permit expires (if you apply as a student you can, however, apply 4 months before your permit expires).

If you have to renew your passport or have the validity of the passport extended, you must contact the embassy of your home country (the country of which you are a citizen) in Denmark or abroad.

If you cannot have a passport issued by the authorities in your home country, e.g. if you are a refugee, you can apply for a convention passport or alien’s passport with the Danish Immigration Service.

Temporary emergency passports (Laissez passer)

In certain situations we can issue a temporary emergency passport (Laissez passer). This could be the case, for example, if you are a child and it is not possible for you to obtain a passport or other travel document from the embassy of your home country in Denmark.

As a general rule, we can only issue an emergency passport valid for the duration of the journey to the country where you must collect your new passport. The country must be a European country or the country that you are a citizen of.

You can apply for an emergency passport with the Danish Immigration Service or SIRI – depending on which authority that has to process your application for a residence permit.