Denmark Working Holiday Visa

Denmark is south of Norway and Sweden and north of Germany. Denmark is home to the world’s oldest monarchy and is a great country to explore historical castles and many historical Viking sites.

Denmark has a long coastline which is a great place for water activities, and beach holidays are a popular activity. The county offers a cultural hotspot with Danish design, architecture, green energy solutions and food being areas of focus. Denmark enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world and a stable economy thanks to the renewable energy sector, an advanced agricultural sector and maritime shipping.

Danish is the official language of Denmark but many Danes are exceptionally fluent in English.

The Denmark Working Holiday Scheme provides an opportunity for young adults to visit Denmark for a period of up to 12 months with the objective of combining a holiday with work experience.

The Working Holiday agreements have been made to give young citizens from participating countries the opportunity to learn about each other’s cultures and ways of living. The aim is to further mutual understanding between the countries. They are also a good way to get a head start on working visas if, after your year abroad, you decide to make the permanent move to the country.

Denmark’s partner countries are:

Argentina
Australia
Canada
Chile
Japan
New Zealand
South Korea

The purpose of the stay in Denmark must primarily be to be on holiday for an extended period of time and secondarily to work for the purpose of supplementing your travel funds.

The agreements are reciprocal. This means that young Danes can be granted a permit to stay in the partner countries in accordance with the rules that apply in the respective countries.

If you are a Danish national and want a working holiday stay in one of the partner countries, you can check our blog post for a Working Holiday Visa in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or other countries, or you can contact the embassy of the country in question.

You can submit your application in your home country or in a country where you are staying legally. The visa processing time is usually 3 months.

What You Can Do With the Danish Working Holiday Permit

With a residence permit in Denmark, you are entitled to partly-paid Danish lessons. However, you must have turned 18 years and have your Danish address registered in the Danish National Register.

Your municipality of residence is obliged to offer you Danish lessons and refer you to a language center. If you have not been offered Danish lessons within a month after registering your address in Denmark, you can contact your municipality. You will be taught together with other foreign nationals who have arrived in Denmark recently.

To be granted this Working Holiday visa, you are expected to be able to support yourself during your stay. Therefore, you are not allowed to receive benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act, study grants, or housing benefits.

If you receive such benefits during your stay, your permit can be revoked – and you will lose the right to stay in Denmark.

Conditions That Will Limit Your One-Year Stay

A Working Holiday permit to stay in Denmark is valid up to a year and cannot be extended. There are some factors that may affect your application:

Passport Validity – A residence permit can only be valid until 3 months before the expiry date of your passport.

If your passport has a shorter validity than the otherwise possible period of stay, your residence permit will be shortened. This means that the validity of your residence permit will be shorter than it could be.
Insurance Validity – The permit can only be granted until the date to which your insurance is valid.

If your insurance does not cover you for a full year from the approval date of your permit, your permit will be shortened. This means that the validity of your residence permit will be shorter than it could be. You can apply for an extension of your residence permit when you have taken out a new insurance.
Return Ticket – If you have submitted a return ticket with a departure date sooner than 1 year from the validity date of your permit, your permit will be shortened.

An application for a Working Holiday residence permit is processed by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI). If you are in Denmark when submitting your application, you must be in Denmark legally.

You must submit your application no earlier than 6 months before your intended departure to Denmark otherwise your application will be refused.

Participating Countries

Argentina

Qualified Argentinians must be at least 18 years old but must not have turned 31 at the time the application is submitted. You must have sufficient funds (DKK 15,000) to support yourself during the initial part of your stay. You must be able to pay for your trip home. This means that you must have a return ticket or sufficient funds to buy a return ticket (an amount equivalent to DKK 5,000).

Under the Working Holiday visa, you are allowed to work for up to 9 months but you must not take regular employment. This means that your employment must be limited and not exceed the 9 months you are allowed to work during your working holiday. You are also allowed to attend courses or enroll in an educational programme for up to 6 months of your stay in Denmark.

Australia

Qualified Australians must be at least 18 years old but must not have turned 31 at the time you submit the application. You must have sufficient funds to pay for food and accommodation during the first 2 months of your stay (DKK 18,000).

You must also be able to prove that you can pay for your journey home. This means that you must have a return ticket or have sufficient funds to buy a return ticket (an amount equivalent to DKK 5,000).

Once the visa is granted, you are allowed to work for up to 6 months, but you must not work for the same employer for more than 3 months or take a regular job. This means that your employment must be limited and not exceed the 3 months you are allowed to work for the same employer during your working holiday.

You are also allowed to attend courses or enroll in an educational programme for up to 3 months of your stay in Denmark.

Canada

Qualified Canadians must be at least 18 years but must not have turned 36 at the time that the application was submitted.

You must have sufficient funds to support yourself during the first part of your stay (DKK 15,000). You must be able to show proof that you are able to pay for your journey home. This means you must have a return ticket or have sufficient funds to buy a return ticket (an amount equivalent to DKK 5,000).

Under the agreement, Canadians are allowed to work for up to 6 months, but you must not take a regular job. This means that your employment must be limited and not exceed the 6 months you are allowed to work during your working holiday.

You are also allowed to attend courses or enroll in an educational programme for up to 6 months of your stay in Denmark.

Chile

To qualify for this visa, nationals of Chile must be at least 18 years old but must not have turned 31 at the time the application is submitted.

You must have sufficient funds to pay for food and accommodation during the first part of your stay (DKK 15,000). You must be able to prove that you are able to pay for your journey home. This means you must have a return ticket or have sufficient funds to buy a return ticket (an amount equivalent to DKK 5,000 DKK).

Under the agreement,, you are allowed to work for up to 6 months, but you must not take a regular job. This means that you must take limited employment and not exceed the 6 months you are allowed to work during your working holiday.

You are also allowed to attend courses or enroll in an educational programme for up to 6 months of your stay in Denmark.

Japan

Qualified Japanese must be at least 18 years old but must not have turned 31 at the time the application was submitted.

You must have sufficient funds to pay for food and accommodation during the first part of your stay (DKK 15,000). You must be able to prove that you can pay for your journey home. This means you must have a return ticket or have sufficient funds to buy a return ticket, equivalent to DKK 5,000.

Once the visa is granted, you are allowed to work up to 6 months, but you must not take a regular job. This means that your employment must be limited and not exceed the 6 months you are allowed to work during your working holiday stay.

You are also allowed to attend language courses etc. for the purpose of learning about Danish language and culture.

New Zealand

New Zealand nationals must be at least 18 years old but must not have turned 31 at the time the application was submitted to qualify for this visa.

You must have sufficient funds to support yourself during your stay (DKK 24,000). You also need to show proof that you are able to pay for your journey home. This means you must have a return ticket or have sufficient funds to buy a return ticket (an amount equivalent to DKK 5,000).

You are also allowed to attend courses or enroll in an educational programme for up to 6 months of your stay in Denmark.

South Korea

South Koreans must be at least 18 years old but must not have turned 31 at the time the application is submitted to qualify for the visa.

You must have sufficient funds to pay for food and accommodation during the first part of your stay (DKK 15,000). You must also be able to prove that you can pay for your journey home. This means you must have a return ticket or have sufficient funds to buy a return ticket (an amount equivalent to DKK 5,000).

Under the agreement, you are allowed to work for up to 9 months, but you must not take a regular job. This means that your employment must be limited and not exceed the 9 months you are allowed to work during your working holiday stay.

You are also allowed to attend courses or enroll in an educational programme for up to 6 months of your stay in Denmark.

Documents Required for a Denmark Working Holiday Visa

It is a good idea to gather the necessary documents before you start to complete the application form.

If you submit documents not written in English, German, Norwegian, Swedish or Danish, you must also submit certified translations into Danish or English.

You must prepare the following:

Copy of all pages of your passport – including all empty pages and the passport’s front and back cover
Documentation that you have a return ticket or sufficient funds to buy a return ticket
Documentation that you can support yourself during your stay in Denmark to the extent the agreement between your home country and Denmark requires it
Documentation that you have taken out insurance covering you during your entire stay in Denmark to the extent the agreement between your home country and Denmark requires it

There are two ways to submit your application, online and at the Danish diplomatic mission in your country.

You can submit your application online by following the steps outlined at the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI). All applicants are required to pay the processing fee of DKK 2,000 except for Japanese nationals.

You can also submit the application in your home country at any Danish diplomatic mission or an application centre in the country where you are residing. If you are legally staying in Denmark and want to apply for this visa, you can submit your application at any SIRI branch.

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