Special Individual Qualifications — Athlete or Coach

If you have been offered a job as an athlete or coach in a sports club, you can apply for a residence and work permit in Denmark.

You must have special individual qualifications. This means that you must have been offered work as a professional athlete or coach. For example, you may have been offered work as a footballer, ice hockey player or as a coach, where you will be training individuals or a team.

As a general rule, the sports club that has offered you a job must be affiliated with a specialised association that is a member of the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark (DIF). You can check whether the association is a member of DIF on their website.

It is a requirement that you enclose an advance statement with your application. This is because the relevant association must assess whether your salary and employment conditions correspond to the Danish standards. They must also assess whether you are qualified to work as an athlete or coach in the sports club in question.

Your employer (the sports club) must therefore obtain a statement from the relevant association in advance by asking the association to complete SIRI's form.

The form must be attached to your application together with your contract.

When you apply, you must attach a copy of your employment contract or job offer. All terms of employment must be stated in the contract or the job offer. It must also state what holiday entitlements you have, e.g. whether you will be paid during your holiday.

Several clubs cannot ‘join forces’ to employ you and share the wage costs.

Working as an athlete or coach must be your main occupation and not a sideline employment. This means that you must normally be offered full-time work for 37 hours per week.

If it is customary within your sport, permission may be granted for employment of as little as 20 hours per week with the same employer.

Your salary and terms of employment must correspond to Danish standards. This means that your salary, holiday entitlements and terms of notice etc. must not be inferior to the standards in the professional field where you are going to work.

In addition to your offered salary corresponding to Danish standards, your salary must at least be on a par with the rates for cash benefits (kontanthjælp) in Denmark. If you are in Denmark without any family: DKK 7,095 (2026 level) per month before taxes. If your spouse/partner is living with you in Denmark: DKK 14,190 (2026 level) per month before taxes.

Your salary must be paid into a Danish bank account in your own name, and the bank has to be operating legally in Denmark.

After you have been granted a residence and work permit, you must open your Danish bank account within 180 days. During your first 180 days in Denmark, you salary can be paid into a foreign account.

A residence and work permit allows you to stay in Denmark for the period of time your permit is valid. In addition, a permit allows you to stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days within the latest 180-day period. The permit, however, does not allow you to work in other Schengen countries.

engage in sideline employment if the sideline employment offered is naturally related to your professional sports activities (e.g. if you teach your sport at a school or similar institution).

engage in sideline employment with one of your main employer's sponsors, regardless of the nature of the work. Please note that this only applies to work for one of your main employer's sponsors and does not include your main employer's partners.

As an athlete, you can be loaned to another sports club in Denmark, either part-time or full-time. Therefore, you do not need to apply for a work permit if you are offered work in the situations described above. You are also entitled to perform unpaid voluntary work.

If you are offered a new job, you must apply for a new residence and work permit. This also applies if you are offered a new position in the same company.

A residence and work permit based on a job in Denmark allows your family to come with you to Denmark. A permit can be granted to your spouse, registered or cohabiting partner as well as children under the age of 18 living at home.

You can be granted a residence and work permit that is valid for 1 year at a time during the first 2 years of your stay – however, the validity cannot exceed the length of your job contract. Hereafter, you can be granted a permit valid for a maximum of 2 years, and after 4 years, valid for a maximum of 3 years at a time.

If your employment contract is extended, you must apply for an extension of your residence and work permit. It is very important that you apply for an extension before your permit expires. If you submit your extension application on time, you can stay in Denmark and continue your work while you await our decision, even though your residence and work permit expires.

If you find a new job, you must submit a new application based on the new job – it can once again be based on your special individual qualifications or it can be based on another of our work schemes. When you have submitted your application based on the new job, you do not have to wait for your permit before you start working. You can start your new job on the day you submit the new application.

You must not give up your Danish address or stay abroad for longer than 6 successive months. A violation will result in the lapse of your permit.

If you need to stay abroad for an extended period of time, e.g. if you are stationed abroad for a period of time by your employer, you can apply for a dispensation to prevent your permit from lapsing.