Self-employment (residence permit issued under the rules in force before 1 January 2015)
Route status
Closed as of 2026-06-29[1][2]
Closed to new applicants. SIRI states that an application on the basis of a new business has to be submitted via the Start-up Denmark scheme, and its fee schedule lists only extensions of 'permits for self-employment granted before January 1 2015'. Existing holders can still extend indefinitely if they still run the same business, it stays persistently active, they play an active part in running it, and there continue to be significant Danish commercial interests in its operation – documented by commercial progress such as cooperation or sale agreements and project plans.
Closed to new applications; what happens to existing holders is recorded in the status details.
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Selvstændig erhvervsdrivende – forlængelse (oprindelig tilladelse givet før 1/1-2015) 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) | Self-employment (residence permit issued under the rules in force before 1 January 2015) as of 2026-06-29[2] SIRI has no first-application page for this route; the only page is the extension page, whose own title carries the qualifier. |
| Legal basis | Udlaendingeloven (Aliens Act), LBK nr 1021 of 19 September 2014, section 9 a(1) – the enumerated ground in section 9 a(2) is not stated by any source read as of 2026-08-22[3][4] Before 2015, section 9 a(1) expressly granted permits on the basis of employment or self-employment (selvstaendig erhvervsvirksomhed), with the grounds enumerated in subsection 2. The current section 9 a(1) no longer carries the self-employment limb at all; self-employment survives only as the innovative-business-plan ground in section 9 a(2)(10), which is Start-up Denmark. That contrast is the closest thing to a statutory statement of what was abolished. What is identified here is the subsection, not the enumerated ground: the 2014 subsection 2 lists six grounds and none of them is a self-employment ground by name, the residual limb in nr. 6 is the candidate, and the reform Act's commencement provision identifies the repealed items by amendment number rather than by subsection. SIRI's Danish extension page cites no section. A qualified Danish reader with access to the 2014 bill can close the point. Danish text: “§ 9 a. Der kan gives opholdstilladelse til en udlænding på grundlag af beskæftigelse eller selvstændig erhvervsvirksomhed, jf. stk. 2.” |
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
| Sources cited | 4 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 4 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2026-06-29 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-22 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-22 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Fee – overview of fee rates
The Danish Immigration Service and SIRI · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Published 2026-01-01 · Accessed 2026-08-19 - [2] Self-employment – extension (original permit issued before 1 January 2015)
Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-29 · Accessed 2026-08-19 - [3] Bekendtgoerelse af udlaendingeloven (Aliens Act, consolidated), LBK nr 1021 af 19/09/2014 – superseded
Justitsministeriet / Retsinformation · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2014-09-19 · Accessed 2026-08-22 · Superseded by dk-udlaendingeloven - [4] 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