Work permit Denmark: hiring non-EU staff without a Blue Card
Denmark sits outside the EU Blue Card. Its own schemes turn mostly on salary, and the threshold for 2026 is DKK 552,000.
The figures that decide the route
With no EU Blue Card in Denmark, a work permit for a non-EU hire comes through a national scheme run by SIRI. For most skilled roles the route is the Pay Limit Scheme, whose 2026 threshold is DKK 552,000 of annual salary; lower-paid roles may use the Supplementary Pay Limit Scheme, and certified companies with 10 or more staff can use Fast-Track.
No EU Blue Card: Denmark uses its own schemes
The EU Blue Card is not used in Denmark. A non-EU hire needs a Danish work and residence permit under one of the national schemes in the Aliens Act. Recruiters who have used the Blue Card elsewhere in the EU should drop that route from the plan; there is no Danish version of it and no Blue Card salary threshold to aim for.
Citizens of EU and EEA countries can work without a permit; what they do need is an EU residence document, followed by a CPR number. Everyone else applies to SIRI (Styrelsen for International Rekruttering og Integration), the agency that handles international recruitment, through its portal nyidanmark.dk. SIRI decides; neither the employer nor any service provider can promise a permit or a date.
For skilled hires, four routes cover most cases: the Pay Limit Scheme, the Supplementary Pay Limit Scheme, the Fast-Track Scheme for certified companies, and the Positive List for shortage occupations. Which one fits depends mainly on salary and on the size of the employing company.
British citizens fall on the permit side of the line since Brexit, unless they already hold Danish residence rights, and so do candidates from the US and every other country outside the EU and EEA. For a UK employer moving staff across, UK companies hiring in Denmark covers the payroll and holiday side as well.
The Pay Limit Scheme: DKK 552,000 in 2026
The Pay Limit Scheme (beløbsordningen) is the main route for well-paid roles. In 2026 the job must pay DKK 552,000 a year or more, which is DKK 46,000 a month. The amount is adjusted every 1 January; it was DKK 514,000 in 2025 and DKK 487,000 in 2024. Applicants are not asked for a degree, and any field qualifies.
What counts towards the threshold is defined closely:
- Guaranteed cash salary.
- Labour-market pension contributions, both the employer’s and the employee’s.
- Paid holiday allowance and the 1% holiday supplement.
- Not benefits such as a company car, phone, canteen or housing, and not bonuses that are uncertain.
SIRI also checks that pay and terms are in line with Danish standards in the field, and wages must be paid to a Danish bank account in the hire’s own name within 180 days of the permit or entry. A permit is issued for up to 4 years at a time and is tied to the employer; the job content may change within the same company. If the application is made from abroad, the permit can start 1 month before work begins, and family members may accompany the employee.
SIRI’s stated normal processing time is 1 month, and it can take up to 3. The fee is DKK 6,810. On extension in the same job, the threshold that applied at the first application may continue to apply.
Because pension counts, the structure of the offer matters as much as the headline. A monthly salary of DKK 44,000 with a labour-market pension contribution of DKK 2,500 a month reaches the DKK 46,000 level, while the same salary with a company car and a phone does not. Put the guaranteed elements in the contract in kroner, so SIRI can see the total without interpretation.
The Supplementary Pay Limit Scheme: DKK 446,000
For roles paying less than the main threshold, the Supplementary Pay Limit Scheme (supplerende beløbsordning) sets a lower floor: DKK 446,000 a year in 2026, or DKK 37,166.67 a month. In 2025 it was DKK 415,000.
It comes with conditions the main scheme does not have. The job must have been advertised on Jobnet and on EURES for at least 2 weeks, and no more than 6 months, before the application is made. The scheme is also available only while national unemployment stays below a level set by the minister, so check that it is open at the time you apply.
Processing normally takes 2 months and can take up to 5, with the same DKK 6,810 fee. For an employer, the practical cost is time: two weeks of advertising plus up to five months of processing pushes a start date well into the following quarter.
A worked timeline makes the point. Advertise on 1 March, apply on 15 March, and a decision at the normal 2 months lands in mid-May; at the 5-month outer limit it lands in mid-August. Add the move, CPR registration and a tax card, and a September start is realistic for a supplementary-scheme hire offered in February.
Fast-Track: quicker, but only for certified companies
The Fast-Track Scheme is open only to companies that SIRI has certified, and for certification the company needs a headcount of 10 or more permanent full-time employees, with neither temporary nor part-time staff counted. The company must also attend a SIRI guidance meeting, have no serious breaches of the Aliens Act in the past year, no labour dispute and no unmet orders from Arbejdstilsynet. Certification itself normally takes 2 months (up to 3) and costs DKK 6,810.
Once certified, the company can hire through five tracks: pay limit (at the DKK 552,000 level), supplementary pay limit, short-term (up to 3 months), researcher and educational. SIRI states a normal processing time of 1 month, and normally 10 days with a quick job start. The employer applies online with form AR6 under a power of attorney, and the employee may work alternately in Denmark and abroad.
The 10-employee condition rules out most new entrants. A company forming its first Danish ApS to employ one or two people cannot use Fast-Track at the start, so plan on the Pay Limit Scheme’s ordinary processing time instead.
Certification becomes worth a look later, once a Danish company has grown past 10 permanent full-time staff and expects to recruit from outside the EU every year. At that point the DKK 6,810 certification fee and the guidance meeting buy shorter processing on every later case, and the option for staff to split their time between Denmark and another country.
Other routes: the Positive List and beyond
The Positive List (positivlisten) covers occupations in short supply, both for people with higher education and for skilled workers, and is worth checking for roles that fall below the pay thresholds. The Aliens Act also has schemes for researchers, trainees, people with special individual qualifications and start-up founders, the last with a quota of 75 a year.
Where it is unclear whether pay and terms meet Danish standards, regional employment councils may be asked for an opinion. SIRI normally treats a job covered by an overenskomst as meeting the standard, which is one practical reason to know whether an overenskomst applies before you set the salary. Our article on pay floors in Denmark explains how agreements set those levels.
A permit holder who is dismissed without being at fault has up to 6 months to find another job. That protects the employee, but it also means a change of employer needs a new permit, because the permit is tied to the job.
After arrival: CPR, NemKonto and a tax card
A permit is the start of the paperwork, not the end. A person staying more than 3 months registers for a CPR number at the municipal Citizen Service, which needs a permanent Danish address and brings the health insurance card with it. For shorter stays, a personal tax number does the same job for tax purposes, using the same digits for life.
Next comes a NemKonto, which public bodies use for every payment they make, and MitID, the digital ID for banks and public self-service. With a CPR number in place, the employee can get a tax card; in Skattestyrelsen’s guidance, a complete application produces a preliminary income assessment in about two weeks. Until the tax card exists, the employer has to withhold 55% of pay, so line up the first payroll after the card.
For a small number of senior people, the researcher tax scheme changes the net-pay picture: a flat 27% plus AM-bidrag, available for up to 84 months, for those paid DKK 65,400 or more a month in 2026 who have had no Danish tax liability for 10 years. Check it case by case; most relocating staff will not qualify.
The bank account rule from the Pay Limit Scheme connects here. Salary must be paid into a Danish account registered to the employee personally, and that account usually doubles as the NemKonto. Ask the new arrival to open it early, because the first salary cannot go to an account abroad.
Putting a non-EU hire through an EOR
A permit names the employer and the job, and as a general rule SIRI expects the job to be with a Danish-registered company. With an employer of record, the Danish contract is ours, and the permit application has to reflect that. Ask any EOR you consider how it handles the employer’s side of a SIRI application, who signs which form, and how changes in the role are reported; these questions also appear in our checklist for choosing an EOR in Denmark.
Salary is the lever you control. On this site’s 2026 Copenhagen example, a base of DKK 660,000 (DKK 55,000 a month) plus the 1% holiday supplement clears the DKK 552,000 threshold with room to spare, with an employer cost of roughly DKK 674,802 for the year. Pitch the offer below DKK 46,000 a month and the main scheme is closed; the supplementary scheme then adds advertising and longer processing.
Contract, tax card and first pay run follow the order described in the EOR process in Denmark, and US companies relocating staff will find more in US companies hiring in Denmark. To check a specific candidate’s salary against the thresholds, contact Employer of Record Denmark.
Set expectations honestly with the candidate. A realistic plan for a Pay Limit hire allows a month for the application, often more, then time to move, register and receive a tax card before the first full payslip. Offer letters that name a fixed start date without that margin tend to be rewritten, so give a target date and the conditions it depends on.
Frequently asked
Q01Can I use the EU Blue Card to hire in Denmark?
Q02What salary does the Danish Pay Limit Scheme require in 2026?
Q03How long does a Danish work permit take?
Q04Can a small company use the Fast-Track Scheme?
Q05Does the permit holder need a Danish bank account?
Check the salary against the thresholds
Share the role, the proposed salary and the candidate’s nationality. We will show which permit routes the offer fits, what the employment would cost, and what has to happen before the first payslip.