Immigration – Denmark 

20 March 2020

Processing of permits

The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and integration (SIRI) continues to process residence and work applications for non-EU citizens submitted from within Denmark as well as applications submitted abroad. However, it is not possible to have biometric features recorded in Denmark at SIRI’s nationwide citizens centers or at the police stations as long as the public sector in Denmark is shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Under normal circumstances, the biometric features must be recorded no later than 14 days after submitting your application. If an application has been submitted in Denmark or abroad and the biometric features have not yet been recorded, SIRI will postpone the processing of the application until it is possible to complete, regardless of whether the 14 days deadline is met or not. 

Please contact SIRI by phone or write via their online contact form in order to notify.

If it becomes necessary to postpone the employment start date, it should be considered informing SIRI hereof in order for the processing of the application to be postponed. 

Leaving and entering Denmark

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark advises against all non-essential travel abroad. Read more at the MFA webpage
• Currently, it is not possible to obtain a re-entry permit as long as it is not possible to appear in person at SIRI’s citizens centers. If you choose to leave Denmark and need a re-entry permit, you will have to enquire with the Danish diplomatic mission in your country of residence.
• If you are a Danish citizen or hold a Danish residence permit you will be able to enter Denmark.
• If you are not a Danish citizen or hold a residence permit, you are only allowed to enter Denmark if you have a worthy purpose for entering. It is the Danish Police at the borders who make the decision on who can enter Denmark. You can find more information here (in Danish): https://politi.dk/coronavirus-i-danmark/hvis-du-skal-rejse-ind-i-eller-via-danmark.
• Danish citizens returning from travels abroad are strongly urged to self quarantine for 14 days.

Deloitte’s comments

• Companies need to remain diligent that they continue to fulfill the employer obligations on which the residence and work permit was granted. In the event of changes to the employment conditions of foreign employees in Denmark, SIRI will need to be notified in order to determine whether the company remains compliant.
• Companies must continue to comply with the requirement to apply for extension of current permits before the expiry of the current residence and work permit.
• Companies need to be aware that de-registration from the national CPR register can lead to an invalid permit.
• The condition remains that biometric features (facial photo, signature and fingerprints) must still be recorded in order for the application to be processed.
• Deloitte will monitor the situation for when SIRI’s citizen centers re-open in order to keep clients updated.

Dansk version her