Denmark - Work Skills & Ancestry - The Greencard Scheme

It is possible to be granted a three-year residence permit for the purpose of seeking work, and subsequently working, in Denmark. A residence and work permit under the Greencard scheme is issued on the basis of an individual evaluation using a point system designed to assess the likelihood that the applicant will be able to find qualified work in Denmark.

Conditions
In order to be granted a residence permit under the Greencard scheme, you must attain at least 100 points. Points are given for: educational level, language skills, work experience, adaptability, and age.

You must have full health insurance covering you and any accompanying family members until you are covered by the Danish national health insurance.

Educational level
Your educational level will be assessed after it has been converted to its Danish equivalent for comparison. This is done as academic degrees vary from country to country, even if they are called by the same name.

The Immigration Service will ask CIRIUS, a body under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, to assess your educational level. To enable CIRIUS to do this, you must include diplomas as well as transcripts in your application.

Please note: CIRIUS will only assess your educational level if asked to by the Immigration Service in connection with a specific application. Thus, CIRIUS will not assess your level prior to an application for a residence permit under the Greencard scheme.

In order to receive points for educational level, you must, as a minimum, have the equivalent of a Danish Bachelor’s degree. You will only be given points for one educational level. Points are given as follows:

Bachelor’s degree/Graduated from medium-length education: 30 points.
Bachelor's degree followed by one-year Master's degree: 50 points.
Master’s degree: 60 points.
PhD: 80 points.
You will be given bonus points if you graduated from a university which is internationally recognised for its high academic level according to the latest THES-QS World Ranking. Points are given as follows:

Top 400: 5 points.
Top 200: 10 points.
Top 100: 15 points.

You will be given 10 bonus points if your education qualifies you to work in a field where Denmark is currently experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals. You can find these fields on the Positive List.

You can be given a maximum of 105 points for your educational level.

Language skills
Your language skills will be given points based on a four-level system modelled after the official Danish language proficiency tests for foreigners (the Danish Language Test, Levels 1, 2 and 3 and the Study Test in Danish as a Second Language).

In order to be given points for language skills, you must document that you have passed an exam in either Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, English or German at a level corresponding to at least Danish Language Test, Level 1 (Prøve i Dansk 1). You can only receive points for one Scandinavian language and for either English or German. As such, you can receive points for both Swedish and English, or both Danish and German, but not for both Danish and Norwegian, or for both English and German.

As an alternative to a language exam, you can document your language skills with a statement from a previous employer attesting that you have used Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, English or German on the job for at least one year, or by presenting documentation that you have completed at least one year of studies at a higher educational programme which was taught in one of these languages. This will be accepted as a level corresponding to that of Study Test in Danish as a Second Language (Studieprøven). Points are given as follows:

Level corresponding to Danish Language Test, Level 1 (Prøve i Dansk 1): 5 points.
Level corresponding to Danish Language Test, Level 2 (Prøve i Dansk 2): 10 points.
Level corresponding to Danish Language Test, Level 3 (Prøve i Dansk 3): 15 points.
Level corresponding to Study Test in Danish as a Second Language (Studieprøven) or higher/one year's study or work: 20 points
You can be given a maximum of 30 points for your language skills.

Please note: Good Danish skills are often essential to engage effectively in the Danish labor market.

Work experience
Your work experience can be given points according to how many years, within the last five years, you have worked as a researcher or in a field where Denmark is currently experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals. You can see these fields and specific job titles on the Positive List. You can also be given points for other work experience. Points are given as follows:

1-2 years within the past five years as a researcher/in field listed on the Positive List: 10 points.
3-5 years within the past five years as a researcher/in field listed on the Positive List: 15 points.
3-5 years within the past five years, other work: 5 points.
You can be given a maximum of 15 points for your work experience.

Adaptability
You can be given points for your educational or work related attachment to the EU/EEA (including Denmark) or Switzerland, as this is seen to increase your ability to quickly adapt to the Danish labour market. Points are given for either education or work. Points are given as follows:

Completion of at least one year's study at a higher educational programme in an EU/EEA country or Switzerland: 5 points.
Completion of at least three years' study at a higher educational programme in an EU/EEA country or Switzerland: 10 points.
Or

At least one full year's (12 consecutive months') legal residence and work in an EU/EEA country or Switzerland: 5 points.
At least two consecutive year's legal residence and work in an EU/EEA country or Switzerland: 10 points.
You will be given 5 bonus points for Danish language skills (passed exam in Danish Language Test, Level 2 (Prøve i Dansk 2) or higher).

You can be given a maximum of 15 points for your adaptability.

Age
You can be given points based on your age. Points are given as follows:

35-40 years: 10 points.
34 years or younger: 15 points.
You can be given a maximum of 15 points for your age.

Duration
A residence permit under the Greencard scheme can be granted for up to three years with a possibility for extension of up to four years.

Your residence permit can only be granted or extended up to three months before your passport expires. This means that if your passport expires in 12 months, you can only be granted a permit for nine months, or your permit can only be extended by nine months.

Extension
Your residence permit can be extended by four years if you have worked for the past 12 months for a minimum of ten hours per week.

Your residence permit can be extended by one year if you have lost your job through no fault of your own (e.g. due to cutbacks) no more than three months before applying for an extension, and if prior to this, you worked for 12 months for a minimum of ten hours per week.

Read more about extension.

Jobseeking in Denmark
There are several web portals, databases and cv banks which can be useful in the process of seeking work in Denmark. Read more about jobseeking in Denmark.

Please note: The unemployment in Denmark is currently rising in some sectors. In May 2009 the unemployment rate had risen to 3,5 pct. of the labour force.

The general shortage of labour supply in the labour market during the last years has disappeared and is now being replaced by a situation with a low number of new vacant jobs.

Thus the demand of foreign labour force has been dramatically reduced.

Some sectors in Denmark, though, are still demanding imported labour and specifically high skilled labour is still in demand.

Because of the demographical development, Denmark is still expected to face demand of foreign labour in more job categories when the market situation is looking more promising in some years.