The Pay Limit Scheme

You must have been offered a job with an annual salary that meets, at least, the minimum amount. The minimum amount for 2024 is DKK 487,000. The minimum amount is regulated every year on 1 January.

When assessing whether the salary that you have been offered meets, at least, the minimum amount, only the following salary components can be taken into account:

• Salary in the form of liquid assets, including fixed supplements which are, therefore, guaranteed salary

• Payments to labour market pension schemes, including the pension contributions paid by both the employer and the applicant

• Paid holiday allowance 

Your annual salary must meet, at least, the minimum amount even if you take holiday without pay. If you earn holiday allowance, which can only be paid to you in the following year, it cannot count towards the annual salary for the year in which you have earned it. Moreover, it is only holiday allowance paid by the employer whom you are currently allowed to work for, that can be counted as part of your salary.

Your employer might offer you, as a supplement to your salary, benefits such as paid canteen, free use of car, paid phone, paid internet and paid living and housing expenses. Note that these salary components cannot be taken into account when assessing whether your salary meets the minimum amount.

Your salary must be paid into a Danish bank account in your own name, and the bank has to be operating legally in Denmark.

It is not a requirement that the salary which is paid into your Danish bank account is transferred from a Danish bank account.

You must contact a bank yourself, in order to create a Danish bank account. There are no immediate restrictions concerning the type of bank account.

If you have not yet received a Danish address or CPR number and you are experiencing diffuclties creating a Danish bank account, in order to find out what options you have in terms of creating a basic payment account, you can read more on www.basalbetalingskonto.dk (opens in a new window)

Your Danish bank account must be opened within 180 days of your residence and work permit being granted. If you enter Denmark after you have been granted a residence and work permit, you must open a Danish bank account within 180 days from your entry into Denmark. If you already hold a Danish residence permit that is valid for at least 180 days, your salary must be paid into your Danish bank account from your first salary payment.

Read more about having your salary paid into a Danish bank account

The salary that you have been offered must not be inferior to the standards within the professional field in which you are going to work.

When assessing whether the salary you have been offered corresponds to Danish standards, only the following salary components can be taken into account:

• Salary in the form of liquid assets, including fixed supplements which are, therefore, guaranteed salary

• Payments to labour market pension schemes, including the pension contributions paid by both the employer and the applicant

• Paid holiday allowance 

If you earn holiday allowance, which can only be paid to you in the following year, it cannot count towards the annual salary for the year in which you have earned it. Moreover, it is only holiday allowance paid by the employer whom you are currently allowed to work for, that can be counted as part of your salary.

Your employer might offer you, as a supplement to your salary, benefits such as paid canteen, free use of car, paid phone, paid internet and paid living and housing expenses. Note that these salary components cannot be taken into account when assessing whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards.

Read more about the Danish standards for salary

Your terms of employment, such as your holiday entitlements, terms of notice, etc. must not be inferior to the standards within the professional field in which you are going to work.

If SIRI has any doubts on whether your terms of employment correspond to Danish standards, we can ask the regional labour market councils to assess your terms of employment.

Read more about the Danish standards for terms of employment

It is a requirement that your working hours are at least 30 hours a week.

Your salary must meet, at least, the minimum amount regardless of how many hours your work per week.

It is not possible to be granted a residence and work permit for a job encompassed by a legal labour conflict. It is, however, possible to be granted a permit for other jobs in a company or institution involved in a legal conflict, if the jobs, according to the applicable agreements between the labour market parties, are not encompassed by the conflict. 

In some cases, before you can be granted a residence and work permit, it is required that you have a Danish authorisation or a temporary authorisation for employment for adaption and training purposes.

If you have taken up employment for adaption and training purposes in order to obtain a Danish authorisation, you need to have a temporary authorisation (evalueringsautorisation) issued by the Danish Patient Safety Authority. If you have been offered employment as a medical doctor, you need to obtain an authorisation from the Danish Patient Safety Authority.

You can read more about the professions that are regulated by law

Your permit is linked to your job in Denmark.

You must always notify SIRI if you lose or change job. 

With a permit under the Pay Limit Scheme, your job content can change within the same university or company without you having to apply for a new work permit. For example, this applies if you are promoted or if your place of work changes. Salary and employment conditions must still correspond to the Danish standards.

Your salary must continue to correspond at least to the pay limit.

Furthermore you are allowed to carry out unpaid voluntary work.

Please note that your work permit can expire before your residence permit. This happens if you have been granted a permit to stay in Denmark for a period of time while looking for a new job.

It is important that you do not work during this so called job seeking period as it is only intended for job seeking in Denmark.

If you are offered a new job with a new employer, you must apply for a new permit.

If you wish to take a sideline job, you have to obtain a separate permit.

You can read more about sideline employment here, and you can specific guidance regarding work as an external examiner here.

A Danish residence and work permit does not allow you to work in other Schengen countries.

You can read more about working conditions in Denmark and 'The Danish labour market model' here.

A residence and work permit based on the Pay Limit Scheme 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 latest 180 days period. 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 an extended period of time, e.g. if you are stationed abroad for a period of time by your employer, you can apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing. 

You can read more about permit lapse and dispensation options here.

You must be able to support yourself and your family during your stay. You are not allowed to receive benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act, e.g. social security benefits.

If you or your family members receive 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.

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 apply from abroad, you can be granted a residence permit valid for 1 month before you start working. It will give you the time to settle in Denmark. When you apply, you must declare that you can support yourself and any accompanying family members during this time.  If you do not declare this, your residence permit will be valid for 14 days before you start working.

If you apply in Denmark, your residence permit will be valid from the day you start working.

If your employment is for a period of 4 years or more, you will normally be granted a permit valid for 4 years. If you wish to continue to work after the first 4 years, you must apply for an extension of your residence and work permit based on the extension of your employment. 

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 and continue to work, even though your permit expires before SIRI makes a decision on your application for an extension.

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 3 months before your permit expires at the earliest.

Read more about the passport requirements.

You must inform SIRI if you lose your job. Your residence and work permit will be revoked as it is based on this exact job.

However, if you become unemployed through no fault of your own, e.g. due to cutbacks, you can apply for an extra 6 month residence permit allowing you to look for a new job in Denmark.

You must apply for a job seeking permit no later than two days after your employment ends.

You are not allowed to work while you have a job seeking permit.

If you find a new job, you must apply for a new residence and work permit based on one of our work schemes. When you have submitted your new application, you can start working even though you have not been granted a permit yet. 

Read more about the job seeking permit here