Accompanying family members to students, PhDs, persons with a job seeking residence permit after completed studies or persons having or applying for a residence permit to obtain a Danish authorisation - extension

You must have a valid passport. This also applies to infants born in Denmark.

You must have lived at the same address in Denmark as the sponsor and you must have lived together continuously.

This also applies to a child that has turned 18 since the first application. Should the child move away from home, the child must submit an application based on his or her own grounds, e.g. as a student.

If a child has moved away from home, the possibility of an extension after turning 18 cannot be recreated by moving back into the parent’s home.

If you are an accompanying child, and you were granted your first residence permit before you turned 18, you can have your residence permit extended even if you have turned 18 in the meantime. However, this is only possible if you continue to live at the same address as the sponsor.

If the child’s parents have joint custody and if it is the sponsor only that resides in Denmark with the child, a new declaration of consent from the other parent is needed in case the previously submitted declaration of consent was limited to a specific period of time.

As a declaration of consent you can use this form

The sponsor has sufficient funds to support you if he or she has disposable funds corresponding to DKK 6,820 (2024 level) per month you will be residing in Denmark - for a maximum of 12 months only, however.

In case you have already documented that your sponsor had disposable funds for 12 months when you applied for a residence permit in Denmark for the first time, you are not required to attach documentation for your sponsor’s funds again.

In case you have documented less than 12 months when you applied for a residence permit for the first time then you are required to attach documentation for your sponsor’s funds for the amount of months up to 12 months. For example if you have documented the first time you applied for a residence permit that your sponsor had sufficient funds to support you in 7 months then you are only required to attach documentation for your sponsor’s funds for 5 months (in case you are applying for an extension for 5 months or more).

The documentation can, for example, be a bank statement in the sponsor’s name with disposable funds corresponding to DKK 6,820 (2024 level) for each month you are required to attach documentation for.

No documentation of the sponsor's ability to support you is required if the sponsor is a PhD student who is employed by and receives a salary from a university or company.

Holding a permit as an accompanying family member to a student grants you the right to work in Denmark. Therefore, you do not need to apply for a separate work permit if you get a job.

You are also allowed to run your own business.

In addition you can follow an educational programme in an educational institution.

If you are under 18 years of age, special rules apply to how much you are allowed to work. You can read more about these rules on the website of the Danish Working Environment Authority (Arbejdstilsynet).

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

A residence permit 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 a period of 180 days. 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 a longer period of time, e.g. if you wish to take parental leave in your home country, you can apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing.

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

You and your family must support yourselves during your stay. You are not allowed to receive benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act, e.g. cash benefits (kontanthjælp).

If you or the sponsor receives 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.

You will normally be granted a permit valid for the same period as the family member who is in Denmark to study (the sponsor).

If you have had a residence permit on the same grounds for 8 years, your permit can be extended for up to 5 years if your sponsor has permanent residence.

If you are an accompanying child and you were granted your first residence permit before you turned 18 years old, you can extend your permit even though you have turned 18 in the meantime. However, you must still be living at the same address as the sponsor.