Denmark - Work Skills & Ancestry - The Pay Limit scheme

Persons who have been offered a highly paid job have particularly easy access to the Danish labour market. There are no specific requirements with regards to education, field or the specific nature of the job. The scheme also applies to persons who have applied for asylum in Denmark.

Your job must have a gross annual pay of no less than DKK 375,000. You must have a written job contract or job offer which specifies salary and employment conditions. Salary and employment conditions must correspond to Danish standards.

In some cases, you must obtain a Danish authorisation or similar. For example, foreign-trained doctors must be authorised by the Danish National Board of Health.


If you fall under the Pay Limit scheme, you can be granted a residence and work permit 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.

Residence permit for jobseeking
If you get a residence and work permit based on temporary job contract, you will also get up to six months' extra residence to look for work after your contract expires. However, you cannot be granted more than three years' residence in total. In the jobseeking period you are not allowed to work, so if you find a new job, you must apply for a new residence and work permit based on your new job.

If you lose your job through no fault of your own, e.g. due to cutbacks, you can get an additional six months' residence to look for a new job. In this case, you must apply for a residence permit for jobseeking no later than two days after the termination of your job contract. You can apply by sending a letter to the Immigration Service containing your full name, address, CPR number, Alien Identification number (Udl.nr.) and a copy of your valid passport, along with information about why you lost your job. In order to get the additional six monts' residence, it is a condition that you are not receiving public assistance under the active social policy act.

If you find a new job while you are working, or while you hold a residence permit for jobseeking, you must apply for a new residence and work permit. However, you may begin your new job before you have received your new permit, provided that you submit your application no later than the day you start your new job.

Extension
If your residence and work permit expires, and you have applied for an extension, and if you are still in the same job, on the same terms and conditions, as when you were granted your original permit, you may stay in Denmark and continue working while the Immigration Service processes your application.

Your permit can be extended even if the pay limit is raised, leaving your annual pay under the new limit, provided that you are still in the same job, on the same terms and conditions.