Moving to Denmark 2026: Visas, CPR Number and First Steps

How you move to Denmark depends on your passport. Nordic citizens are free to live, study and work there. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens register for an EU residence document, which has no fee. Citizens of other countries, including the United States, must apply for a residence permit to stay. Whichever group you are in, the official arrival guide then takes you through the same list: a Danish address, a CPR number, a health insurance card, a tax card, a bank account and MitID. This guide sets out each step as published by the Danish authorities on 14 October 2026.

Which rules apply to you

New to Denmark (nyidanmark.dk) is the official portal for foreign nationals who wish to visit, live or work in Denmark. The work, study and EU residence pages quoted in this guide are published there by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

Moving to Denmark as an American

The United States is on Denmark's list of visa-free countries, so moving to Denmark as a US citizen does not start with a visa to enter. Visa-free entry covers a visit. To stay, a citizen of a country outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland must apply for a residence permit.

What visa-free entry gives a US citizen

• Up to 3 months, reckoned from the date of your first entry into Denmark. Time you have stayed in Denmark within the 6 months before that entry is deducted.
• Separate from other Schengen stays: the Danish Immigration Service states that US citizens can stay for this period regardless of whether they stayed in another Schengen country before entering Denmark.
• Passport: it must be valid for three months past your intended date of departure from the Schengen area, and must have been issued within the past 10 years.
• Funds: as a general rule you must have approx. DKK 350 per day at your disposal, or approx. DKK 500 per day if you are staying at a hotel.

What you need to live and work there

If you are coming to work, the Danish authorities say it is important that you apply for a residence and work permit before you begin working, and that voluntary or unpaid work may also require a work permit. The routes covered in this guide are the work schemes in the next section, a study permit, and a permit as an accompanying family member. Our guide to moving to Denmark from the USA covers the American case on its own.

Work routes for citizens outside the EU and EEA

Each of these applications carries a processing fee of DKK 6,810. Processing can take longer if SIRI needs further information. The conditions for each scheme are in our Denmark work visa guide, and students should read the Denmark student visa guide.

• Regulated professions: if your profession is regulated, as healthcare professions are, you need an authorisation or similar recognition from the competent public authority.
• Your qualifications: the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education offers a written assessment of what foreign qualifications correspond to in Denmark. It is free of charge and takes 1 to 2 months.
• Entrepreneurs: a non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizen can apply under the Start-up Denmark scheme for a residence and work permit to establish and run an innovative growth company.
• Job search: the public service Workindenmark lists approximately 1,500 vacancies that do not require command of Danish.

Moving to Denmark as an EU citizen

SIRI states that as an EU citizen you have the right to reside and work in Denmark with or without an EU residence document. You may freely enter Denmark, you may begin to work on arrival, and you do not need a permit to work. The EU residence document still matters, because you must show it to your municipality to get a CPR number.

1. Choose your grounds for residence. The application pages cover workers, students, self-employed persons, persons with sufficient funds and family members.
2. Complete the online application on newtodenmark.dk.
3. Appear in person within 30 days of completing it, at one of SIRI's branch offices or at an International Citizen Service centre. You can only book an appointment once the application is completed.

The conditions by ground

• Worker: you have paid work in Denmark and an employment contract or a declaration from your employer. You must normally work at least 10-12 hours a week, and the employment must normally be for at least 10-12 weeks. Normal processing time is 0 days.
• Sufficient funds: your funds are always sufficient if they equal the relevant cash benefit rate. For a person without children under 18 that is DKK 7,095 per month before taxes at the 2026 level. You document that you can support yourself for at least the first 12 months.
• Family member of an EU citizen: the spouse, cohabiting partner or child under 21 of an EU citizen residing in Denmark under EU regulations. The family member can be a citizen of a country outside the EU. Normal processing time is 3 months.

Your first weeks: registration step by step

1. Find a home and get a permanent address. You cannot apply for a CPR number before you have found a place to live and actually live there. The minimum residing period needed for a permanent address varies between municipalities, but is usually 1 to 3 months.
2. Apply for a CPR number in person at a Citizen Service centre or an International Citizen Service centre. You must notify the Civil Registration Office if you intend to stay for 3 months or more. The official guide gives 6 months in place of 3 “if within EU/EEA or Nordic countries”.
3. Receive your health insurance card. The yellow card is sent to your Danish address approximately 2 to 3 weeks after you register for your CPR number.
4. Get a tax card. Your employer needs it to know how much tax to deduct from your salary. It is electronic, and you need a CPR number or a tax number to get one. If you work in Denmark for 3 months or less, you get a tax number instead of a CPR number.
5. Open a bank account. Bring photo ID and address information. The official guide says you can only open an account with a Danish bank once you have your tax card. You then assign an account as your NemKonto, which public authorities use for payments to you.
6. Get MitID, the national digital ID. You can obtain it when you have a CPR number, have reached the age of 15 and can meet the ID requirements, either by scanning your passport in the MitID app or at your local Citizen Service.
7. Read your Digital Post. Once you have a CPR number you automatically receive most letters from public authorities digitally.

Documents for the CPR appointment

• Your residence and work permit, or your EU residence document.
• Passport or personal ID.
• Proof of your address in Denmark, for instance a rental contract.
• If they apply to you: a marriage certificate, birth certificates for your children, documents on legal custody and documentation for changes of name.
• If you move from another Nordic country: your social security number from that country.

International Citizen Service centres, where the public authorities newcomers typically need are represented in one place, are in Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Aalborg, Odense, Sønderborg and Aarhus. Our CPR number guide covers the first month in more detail.

Housing

• Rents vary widely with location, size and condition. The official guide says rented accommodation at a reasonable price is usually easy to find in small towns and the countryside, and that affordable accommodation can be somewhat harder to find in Copenhagen and Aarhus.
• Who you rent from: a private landlord or a housing association.
• Buying as an EU or EEA national: you may buy real estate without applying for permission if the property is to be your all-year dwelling.
• Buying as a national of another country: you must apply to the Ministry of Justice for permission. Once it has all the information, the expected processing time is usually about 4 weeks.

Healthcare

• Family doctor: once you are registered in the CPR system you choose a GP. Contacting and seeing your GP is free of charge.
• Hospital: you need a referral from your GP, a specialist doctor or the out-of-hours medical service. Hospital treatment is free of charge.
• Not entirely free: physiotherapy, chiropractic treatment and prescribed medicine.
• Dental care: adults pay for check-ups and treatment, with part of the bill government funded. Children and young people under 18 are entitled to free dental treatment.

Tax and prices

Everybody living in Denmark must pay tax if they have an income, including on income from abroad. The official guide describes the system as progressive: the higher your income, the more tax you pay. Tax is paid to the state and to your municipality, and each municipality sets its own percentage, so your total depends on where you live. Members of the Danish National Evangelical Lutheran Church also pay church tax.

On prices, Statistics Denmark reports inflation of 2.2 % in September 2026 compared with the same month the year before, and core inflation of 1.9 %. For a move budget, see our cost of moving to Denmark.

Family, childcare and school

• Family: your spouse, cohabiting partner or child can apply for a residence permit as an accompanying family member. Special EU regulations apply to the family of an EU citizen.
• Childcare: children of parents with legal residence in Denmark have guaranteed childcare.
• School: children receive 10 years of compulsory education, starting in August of the year in which the child turns 6. Municipal primary and lower secondary school is free of charge.

Belongings, pets and your car

• Belongings: if you move to Denmark, your personal belongings may be introduced duty-free, and you are not liable to pay VAT if you meet the conditions that apply. The customs rules are published at skat.dk.
• Pets: the requirements depend on the species and on where you move from.
• Car: a car with foreign number plates must be registered in Denmark no later than 30 days after you have moved to the country.
• Driving licence: in some cases you will need to exchange a foreign licence for a Danish one.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• lifeindenmark.dk — Before moving
• lifeindenmark.dk — When you arrive
• lifeindenmark.dk — Residence in Denmark for EU/EEA/Swiss citizens
• New to Denmark (Danish Immigration Service) — Visa-free travel
• New to Denmark (SIRI) — Pay Limit Scheme
• New to Denmark (SIRI) — EU residence as a worker
• New to Denmark (SIRI) — EU residence as a person with sufficient funds
• lifeindenmark.dk — Tax matters and what taxes are spent on
• Statistics Denmark — Consumer price index

All amounts, fees and rules verified against the official sources above on 14 October 2026. Amounts are at the 2026 level. Information, not legal advice.