Denmark is banning work permits and family visas for some foreign nationals, including international students. The new residence permit rules restrict foreign students from participating in non-state-approved higher educational programmes from getting work permits, job search stays, and the right to bring an accompanying family.
Denmark has issued an Executive Order on study programmes of international students, already in place since May 2, 2025.
You can be granted a residence permit to follow a higher educational programme or a PhD programme. In order to be granted a residence permit, you must be admitted to a publicly accredited educational institution.
In addition, it is required that the educational programme itself must be approved by a state authority, or that the Danish Evaluation Institute has assessed that a residence permit can be granted to students who will be studying at the educational programme in Denmark.
On April 30, 2025, the Ministry of Immigration and Integration published an amendment to the ‘Executive Order on the granting of residence and work permits to foreign students.
The amendment means that international students in non-state-approved higher educational programmes will no longer be granted limited work permits, 6-month job search stays, and the right to bring an accompanying family.
The changes will apply from May 2, 2025, and only apply to applications for a residence permit as a student or accompanying family submitted from 2 May 2025.
The purpose of the changes is to ensure that residence permits are only granted to international students whose real intention is to study in Denmark.
The changes do not apply to foreign nationals who have applied for or been granted a residence permit as a student in a non-state-approved higher educational programme before 2 May 2025.
These students will continue to have the right to a limited work permit, a 6-month job search stay, and the right to bring their accompanying family to Denmark. These students will continue with the same rights if they apply for an extension of their residence permit from 2 May 2025.
The changes will also not apply to foreign nationals who have applied for or been granted a residence permit as an accompanying family member of a student in a non-state-approved higher educational programme before 2 May 2025. These accompanying family members will continue with the same rights if they apply for an extension of their residence permit from 2 May 2025.
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