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DENMARK: Stricter Permanent Residence Requirements and New Salary Rules for Pay Limit Scheme
June 9, 2017
The Danish Parliament has recently passed two pieces of legislation affecting immigration: one act imposing stricter eligibility criteria for permanent residence, and another act defining salary requirements for work permits under the Pay-Limit Scheme, which also affects the Fast-track Scheme.
Permanent Residence
On 4th May 2017, the Danish Parliament passed a bill further restricting the requirements for permanent residence. The changes apply retroactively to applications submitted after 15th March 2017.
The changes for non-EU nationals applying for permanent residence are as follows:
- Applicants must now have resided legally in Denmark for at least ‘’’eight years’’’ (rather than six years as previously) unless they have fulfilled the supplementary requirements (see below)
- Applicants must not have received any public benefits in Denmark for the last ‘’’four years’’’
- Applicants must have been in regular, full-time employment for ‘’’three and a half years’’’ (up from two and a half years) in the last four years
- Applicants must have fulfilled ‘’’all four’’’ of the below supplementary requirements (rather than two out of the four, as previously) to qualify for permanent residence after a stay of only four years
The four supplementary requirements are:
- Passing the active citizenship exam or demonstrating active citizenship in Denmark for at least one year
- Regular full-time employment for at least four years in the previous four and a half years
- A minimum annual taxable income of DKK 275,400 for the last two years
- Passing the Dansk Prøve 3 language test
Pay Limit Scheme Salary Rules
The bill amending the salary requirements for the Pay-Limit scheme was passed on 2nd June 2017 and is applicable to all applications submitted on or after 1st July 2017.
The yearly gross salary of at least DKK 408,800 (DKK 34,067 per month) must no longer include employer-paid benefits.
This means that per diems, transportation, accommodation or other paid employer part can no longer be counted as being part of the salary requirement.
Note: It is still possible to pay the assignee a fixed salary of at least DKK 34,067 and make the assignee responsible for covering the above costs.
The salary must be paid to a Danish bank Account.
Our advice
Employers should ensure that salaries for employees with work permits under the Pay-Limit scheme meet the new requirements.
Employees should be made aware of the new stricter requirements for permanent residence.
For advice and information on Danish immigration, please email us at [email protected].
