Work permit for study-related employment during studies

You want to work full-time as an intern as a part of your education in Denmark, and you therefore need a full-time work permit. Or you want a work permit to work part-time during your master's degree programme for working professionals.

Processing fee
No fee

Who can apply for a work permit for internships or a work permit for a study-related part-time employment?

If you have a residence permit as a student on a higher educational programme in Denmark, you can apply for a work permit for an internship that is part of your studies. This applies both if you are completing a full educational programme in Denmark or if you here as a guest or exchange student on a higher educational programme. If your higher educational programme includes a mandatory internship, and this is stated on the application form by your place of education, you will be granted a permit to work full-time during the period of your internship along with your residence permit.

If the internship is an optional part of your education, and you therefore have not been granted a work permit for an internship along with your residence permit, you can apply for it subsequently.

Please note that you can only receive a work permit for an internship during studies (an ST4 permit) if you have a residence permit in Denmark based on studies.

If you have a residence permit as a student in a master’s degree programme for working professionals and you change employments during your studies, you must apply for a new work permit that is based on you working part-time with a specific employer.

You should only apply for a work permit for internships if the internship is full-time. This also applies if you do not receive salary during your internship.

If your internship does not violate the conditions of your current work permit (you will not be working more than 90 hours per month in total), you do not need a separate work permit for your internship.

Neither do you need a work permit for an internship if you will be doing your internship abroad. In this case, however, you should be aware that your residence permit, under certain circumstances, can lapse when you stay outside Denmark.  

You can read more about the rules that can cause your permit to lapse here.

What are the conditions?

It is a requirement that your internship is either a mandatory or an optional part of your education

If you are going to participate in an optional internship as part of your education, you must have made an internship agreement with the place of internship.

The internship agreement defines the duration of your internship and describes your tasks.

The place of internship must be approved by your educational institution.

You must have signed a contract with an employer.

It is your educational institution that assesses whether your employment is relevant work for the master’s degree programme for working professionals that you are enrolled in.

What are my rights if I am granted a permit?

What are you allowed to do with a work permit for internships? – and what are you not allowed to do?

What are you allowed to do with a work permit for a study-related part-time employment as a student in a master’s degree programme for working professionals? – and what are you not allowed to do?

If you are granted a work permit to work full-time during an optional internship as a part of your education, the work permit only allows you to work in the company that has been approved as your place of internship.

If you want to change your place of internship, your educational institution must approve the new company, and you must submit a new application for a work permit for internships.

The permit letter that SIRI sends you is your only proof of your work permit. Therefore, you must keep the letter.

You do not get a residence card proving that you may work full-time during an internship.

You must not start working full-time at your internship before you have been granted a permit to do so.

If you work full-time without a permit, you risk being fined or imprisoned, and your residence permit may be revoked.

If you are a student in a master’s degree programme for working professionals, and you have changed employers during your stay, you will receive a new residence card.

If you want to change employments during your master’s degree programme for working professionals, it is your educational institution that assesses whether your new employment is relevant work for the master’s degree programme for working professionals that you are enrolled in. You must submit a new application for a work permit for a part-time employment during your master’s degree programme for working professionals.

You may start at your new employment and work until is has been decided whether you can get a work permit for your new employer. You must submit the application for a new work permit no later than the date you start your new employment.

Duration of the work permit

You can be granted a work permit allowing you to work full-time during the entire period of your internship, however no longer than the validity period of your residence permit.

If you are a student in a master’s degree programme for working professionals, you can get a work permit for relevant work for up to 112.5 hours per month during the duration of your education.

What more do I need to know before I apply?

An application for a work permit to work full-time during an internship, or an application for a part-time employment for up to 112.5 hours per month during your master's degree programme for working professionals is processed by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

You must be admitted to an education with a mandatory or an optional internship period to be able to apply, or you must be enrolled in a master’s degree programme for working professionals in Denmark and want to change place of employment. 

No fee is charged for submitting the application. On the “How to apply tab” to the right, you can find the relevant application form, ST4.

Your place of study must fill in one of the two parts of the form.

SIRI will contact you or your place of study if we need further information to process your case.

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.

You must submit:

If you are a student in a higher educational programme:

If you are a student in a master's degree programme for working professionals:

Expect to use

15 minutes

completing the application

2 persons

You and your place of study are each required to complete a part of the form.

In this step you and your place of study have access to the relevant application form, ST4.

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.

You can read more about how we process your personal data here.

 

Part 2 of the print form, ST4, must be filled in by your place of study. When the place of study has completed their part, you must fill in part 1 of the form. Subsequently, you must submit both part 1 and 2 - read how on the next step.

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 ST4 (Word format)

Download the printable form ST4 (Pdf format)

You can submit your 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 by regular post or by using our contact form.

The contact form is accessible here

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.

If you are a student in a master's degree programme for working professionals and have a new employer, your residence card will be sent to the address that has been registered under your name in the Civil Registration System (CPR). It is important that your name is written on your mailbox. If your name is not written on your mailbox, there is a chance that the residence card will not be delivered to you, and that it will be sent back to SIRI instead.

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 17-07-2025 - Published by: SIRI