EU Residence as a Self-Employed Person

You can get an EU residence document if you are an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen and have established and now run your own business in Denmark.

You may freely enter Denmark and you may begin to work in Denmark upon arrival. You do not need a permit to work in Denmark.

You must run your own business and bear the financial risk associated with it. The purpose of the business must be financial gain.

You must be the founder or co-founder of the business and be the one who runs the business on a daily basis.

The business must be established and registered in Denmark.

The business must be actual and real. This means that actual and real work is being carried out under the auspices of the business to a not insignificant extent.

If your business in Denmark is not yet fully established and functioning, it may be difficult in some situations to show sufficient documentation for you to get an EU residence document as a self-employed person.

Instead, you can apply for an EU residence document on other grounds - e.g. as a person with sufficient funds (self-supporting).

If you will be staying in Denmark for longer than 3 months, you need to apply for an EU residence document. You may then remain in Denmark as long as you continue to meet the conditions for grounds for residence under EU regulations. Your residence document does not have a date of expiry.

In this step you have access to the relevant application form OD1A.

Copy of the data page in your passport and/or your national ID card

Registration of the business with the Danish Business Authority

Budget of the business’s first year of operation

Annual accounts for the business. If your business has been operating in Denmark for more than one accounting period, your accounts for the entire period should be submitted instead of a budget

Receipts or another form of documentation for paid VAT

Bank statements for your business accounts

Invoices your business has sent or received

You must appear in person in one of SIRI’s branch offices within 30 days.

To get a CPR number you must show an EU residence document to the municipality in which you reside.

You are a family member of a (non-Danish) EU citizen living in Denmark who has independent grounds for residence in Denmark under EU regulations. As a family member you can either be an EU citizen or a citizen of a country outside EU, EEA or Switzerland.

You must be the spouse, cohabiting partner or a child under the age of 21 of either the sponsor or the sponsor’s spouse or partner.

Other family members - e.g. children over the age of 21 and parents - can in certain circumstances get an EU residence document, provided that a number of specific conditions are met.

If you are a third-country citizen, i.e. a citizen of a country outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland, and you meet the conditions for residence as a family member of an EU citizen, you have the same rights to reside and work in Denmark as the EU citizen.

If you are a third-country citizen this means that it is at your own risk, if you work in Denmark before we have made a decision in your case. In some instances you may be subject to criminal liability for illegal work, if it turns out that the conditions have not been met and you have been refused residence under EU regulations.

You have the right to permanent residence when you have had actual and real residence in Denmark under EU regulations for a period of at least 5 years.

The years must be consecutive and for the entire period you must continuously have met the conditions for residence under EU regulations.

Temporary residence abroad for a total of less than 6 months per year, however, will not in and of itself prevent you from getting permanent residence under EU regulations.

The same applies to absences of up to 12 months due to weighty reasons such as pregnancy and birth, serious illness, educational activities or vocational training or being stationed abroad.

Time spent abroad for more than 12 months due to compulsory military service, will also not in and of itself prevent you from getting permanent residence under EU regulations.

You do, however, no longer have to meet the conditions of your previous grounds for EU residence.

If you have been granted permanent residence and will be staying outside Denmark for more than 2 years and you then intend to return to Denmark, you may in special cases get a dispensation, so that you do not lose your right to residence.