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The Pay Limit Scheme

Route status

Active as of 2026-06-26[2]

Open to new applications under the rules recorded below.

Residency route facts

Identity

Identity
Official name (local)Beløbsordningen as of 2026-08-22[2]
Heading of the Danish-language edition of this route's own page on nyidanmark.dk, transcribed as published. The Aliens Act enumerates the grounds by section number and gives the permits no names of their own, so the authority's published Danish heading is the local name.
Official name (English)The Pay Limit Scheme as of 2026-06-26[2]
Legal basisUdlaendingeloven (Aliens Act), LBK nr 1183 of 25 September 2025, section 9 a(2)(3); minimum weekly hours section 9 a(10); indexation of the amount section 9 a(29); extension condition section 9 a(14); job-seeking permit section 9 a(12) as of 2026-06-26[2][3]
SIRI's scheme page cites no statutory section anywhere in its text. The identification is made from the consolidated Aliens Act's own wording: section 9 a(2) enumerates the employment and self-employment grounds as numbered items, and item 3 is a job in a field where the annual pay is at least DKK 400,000 – which is this scheme's distinguishing condition as SIRI states it. Both sources are Tier-1 and describe the same rule; nothing is inferred from silence. Section 9 a(10) requires at least 30 hours a week for permits under item 3 and for no other item, which matches SIRI's own 30-hour condition on this scheme alone.
Instrument typeresidence permit as of 2026-06-26[2]
SIRI issues a combined residence and work permit.

Permit terms

Permit terms
Initial durationup to 4 years as of 2026-06-26[2]
Employment of 4 years or more is normally granted 4 years; shorter employment is granted the length of the employment. A permit applied for from abroad additionally runs from 1 month before work starts where the applicant declares self-support, or 14 days if not. The permit is shortened to expire 3 months before the passport does.
RenewableYes as of 2026-06-26[2]
Renewal durationNot established from a qualifying source[2]
Work rightsown activity only as of 2026-06-26[2]
The permit is tied to the job. Uniquely among the employer-tied schemes, job content may change within the same company or university – a promotion or a change of workplace – without a new work permit, provided salary and terms still meet Danish standards and the salary still clears the pay limit. A new employer needs a new permit, though under the job-change rule work may begin on the day the new application is submitted. A sideline job needs a separate permit. Unpaid voluntary work is allowed. The permit gives no right to work in other Schengen states.

Permanent residence and citizenship

Permanent residence and citizenship
Counts toward permanent residenceYes as of 2026-07-07[2][3][4]
Permanent residence requires eight years' uninterrupted legal residence held throughout on a permit under Aliens Act sections 7-9 f, 9 i-9 n, 9 p or 9 q (1) or (2), which the Immigration Service enumerates on its permanent-residence page. This route's permit is granted under section 9 a, which falls inside that range, so time on it counts. Whether the holder also meets the separate employment and supplementary conditions is a question about the individual, not about the route.

Requirements

Requirements
Job offer requiredYes as of 2026-06-26[2]
Salary threshold
    • Measured against: set by decree or programme rules
    • Amount: DKK 552,000 per year as of 2026-06-26[2][3]
      DKK 552,000 is the figure SIRI applies for 2026; the Aliens Act's own text at section 9 a(2)(3) states DKK 400,000, indexed annually under section 9 a(29). The threshold is regulated every 1 January. The Aliens Act states the base figure and section 9 a(29) provides for its annual indexation, so the statutory number and the figure actually applied in a given year differ by construction. SIRI publishes the applied figure. Basis is recorded 'administratively_fixed' because the amount is a bare statutory figure carried forward by indexation – it is not derived from a minimum wage, a collective agreement or a wage statistic, and the vocabulary's other four values all assert such a derivation. A second, non-numeric salary test applies alongside: the salary and terms of employment offered must not be inferior to the standards of the professional field, and SIRI can refer the assessment to the regional labour market councils. Only liquid salary, labour-market pension contributions and paid holiday allowance count towards either test; paid canteen, car, phone, internet and housing do not.
Labour-market testNo as of 2026-06-26[2][3]
Recorded false on the statute rather than on the page's silence: section 9 a(2)(3) conditions the permit on the pay figure alone, while the adjacent ground at item 13 expressly conditions its permit on prior advertising on Jobnet and EURES. The contrast is the evidence.
Qualification requirementnone as of 2026-06-26[2]
SIRI states in terms that no specific educational background and no specific professional field is required. A Danish authorisation is separately required for regulated professions, which is a condition on the job rather than on the applicant's qualifications.
Employer sponsorshipYes as of 2026-06-26[2]
The employer completes the first part of application AR1, or the whole of AR6 under a power of attorney from the applicant.
Job-search routeNo as of 2026-06-26[2]
Not itself a job-search route. It does carry a job-search entitlement: a permit issued for less than 4 years is granted an automatic 6-month job-seeking permit, and a holder who becomes unemployed through no fault of their own may apply for a further 6 months if they do so no later than two days after the employment ends. No work is allowed during a job-seeking period.

Process

Process
Where to apply fromeither as of 2026-06-26[2][3]
Aliens Act section 9 a(5) allows an in-country application only on a lawful stay of a listed kind; otherwise the application is lodged from abroad, with biometrics recorded at a Danish diplomatic mission or application centre within 14 days of submission.
Observed processing time1 to 3 months as of 2026-06-26[2]
SIRI publishes a normal case-processing time of 1 month, rising to up to 3 months where further information is needed. This is SIRI's own service expectation, not a statutory clock.
Fees
    • Kind: application
    • Amount: DKK 6,810 as of 2026-06-26[2]
    • Charged per: application
    • Paid by: applicant
    • Condition: Sole Tier-1 publisher: SIRI administers the scheme and publishes the fee on the scheme page. A commuter who will not reside in Denmark and applies for a work permit only pays no fee.

Physical presence

Physical presence
maximum consecutive absence6 months · to keep the permit as of 2026-06-26[2]
SIRI states the standard Danish lapse rule for this permit: the holder must not give up their Danish address or stay abroad for more than 6 successive months, and a breach makes the permit lapse. A dispensation can be applied for in advance.

Family inclusion

Family inclusion
Family members may be includedYes as of 2026-07-23[1][2]
Eligible relationsspouse, registered partner, unmarried partner, minor child as of 2026-07-23[1][2]
Spouse, registered or cohabiting partner, and children under 18 living at home. SIRI's accompanying-family page adds the conditions the scheme page does not state: the family member must live at the same address as the sponsor, a cohabiting partner needs 1.5-2 years of documented cohabitation, and one case order ID, one fee and one application form are required per family member.
Family members' work rightsfull as of 2026-07-23[1]

Your next step

Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.

The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.

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Verification

Verification
Sources cited4
of which official (tier 1)4
Oldest as-of date2026-06-26
Newest as-of date2026-08-22
Reviewed on2026-08-22
Schema version1.1

Sources

  1. [1] Accompanying family member to an employee
    Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-07-23 · Accessed 2026-08-20 · Archived copy
  2. [2] The Pay Limit Scheme
    Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-26 · Accessed 2026-08-20 · Archived copy
  3. [3] Bekendtgoerelse af udlaendingeloven (Aliens Act, consolidated), LBK nr 1183 af 25/09/2025
    Udlaendinge- og Integrationsministeriet / Retsinformation · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2025-09-25 · Accessed 2026-08-22
  4. [4] Apply for a permanent residence permit
    The Danish Immigration Service · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-07-07 · Accessed 2026-08-19

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