Accompanying Family Members — Work

You can be granted a residence permit as an accompanying family member if you are the spouse registered partner cohabiting partner child under the age of 18

In extraordinary cases, it is possible for other family members to be granted a residence permit.

of a foreign national (also called 'sponsor') who will be or is already residing in Denmark in order to work.

You can apply for a residence permit as an accompanying family member at the same time as your sponsor applies for a residence permit in Denmark.

If you are a family member to a person with a Danish greencard, there is a specific page with guidance for you.

If the sponsor has a permanent residence permit or a Danish citizenship, there are specific pages with guidance for you

Your marriage must be recognised under Danish law. This means that the marriage can be recognised if the marriage is legal in the country where it took place and that: you were both physically present at the wedding, you had both turned 18 years old at the time of the wedding, the marriage is not a marriage of convenience,

A registered partnership can be recognised in Denmark if the partnership is equivalent to a marriage under Danish law.

Cohabiting partners over the age of 18 are equivalent to spouses. Cohabiting partners are people that live together in a committed relationship of longer duration. You must have lived together with the sponsor for at least 1.5-2 years prior to the application date.

Your committed cohabitation can, for instance, be documented by: registration papers showing joint tenancy or rental agreements shared bank accounts shared loans shared insurances and bills official letters/documents sent to you both at your shared address during that period of time.

You can be granted a residence permit as an accompanying child if you are under the age of 18. You must document your family relation to the sponsor. For instance, documentation can be: a copy of birth certificate a Certificate of Personal Data adoption papers.

If your parents have joint custody and only one of your parents is to stay with you in Denmark, you must get consent from your other parent that you can stay in Denmark. If one of your parents has full custody, you must document this.

It is a condition that you reside at the same address in Denmark as the sponsor when you are granted a residence permit as an accompanying family member.

If the sponsor has a residence and work permit on the basis of a salaried employment, financial support is not a requirement. Therefore, you do not have to document this.

If you are an accompanying family member to a sponsor who either has a residence permit or is applying for a residence permit as a guest researcher, under the Start-up Denmark scheme, the Special individual qualifications scheme or the Establishment card scheme, you must document the financial support in the form of a bank statement.

The requirements for financial support also includes that you are not allowed to receive any benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act, e.g. social security benefits.

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

However, you must apply for a work permit if you wish to work for the same company as your sponsor, or for a company closely linked to that company.