Basic and youth study programmes
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Grund- og ungdomsuddannelser as of 2026-08-22[1] 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. |
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| Official name (English) | Basic and youth study programmes as of 2026-06-30[1] |
| Legal basis | Udlaendingeloven (Aliens Act), LBK nr 1183 of 25 September 2025, section 9 i(1), first sentence, with the category confirmed by section 9 i(15)(2) as of 2026-08-22[1][2] Section 9 i(1) is the general education permit: admission to a programme or course at an educational institution in Denmark. Section 9 i(15)(2) then places basic and youth programmes (grund- og ungdomsuddannelser) inside subsection 1, because it prescribes the Danish Evaluation Institute's opinion procedure for subsection 1 decisions about them. Danish text: “§ 9 i. Der kan efter ansøgning gives opholdstilladelse til en udlænding med henblik på uddannelse, hvis den pågældende er optaget på en uddannelse eller et kursus ved en uddannelsesinstitution her i landet.” and “Stk. 15. … afgiver Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut efter anmodning fra uddannelsesinstitutionen en vejledende udtalelse om indhold og kvalitet i følgende uddannelser: … 2) Uddannelser og kurser inden for grund- og ungdomsuddannelser, der uden godkendelse fra en statslig myndighed udbydes på en statsligt godkendt uddannelsesinstitution, der er under statsligt tilsyn.” |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-06-30[1] |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | up to 1 year as of 2026-06-30[1] No more than 1 year, and SIRI states in terms that a permit cannot be granted to complete a full high school programme. |
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| Renewable | Not established from a qualifying source[1] |
| Work rights | authorisation required as of 2026-06-30[1] As a rule the holder must not work. In special cases and on application a work permit can be granted – SIRI's example is vocational experience forming part of a basic study programme. Unpaid voluntary work is permitted without a work permit. No hours cap exists because there is no standing right to cap. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Yes as of 2026-07-07[1][3] The Immigration Service's permanent-residence page counts 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), and this permit is granted under section 9 i, inside that range – so the residence counts. Two qualifications the same page states: education, including internships and other work forming part of a programme, is expressly excluded from both the regular-employment and the employed limbs of the separate employment requirements; and no source retrieved states whether study time counts in full, in part or not at all towards the naturalisation clock, which the Ministry of Immigration and Integration administers separately. citizenship_counting_factor is therefore omitted rather than guessed. Recorded on the same reasoning as the other study routes, with the caveat that this route's own provision could not be identified, so its place inside the enumerated range rests on it being a study permit rather than on a read section number. |
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Requirements
| Enrolment status required | admitted as of 2026-06-30[1] Admission to an approved basic or youth study programme. The programme must be approved by a state authority, or the institution approved and the programme covered by a valid statement from the Danish Evaluation Institute. SIRI states the floor and two carve-outs. Floor: after regular practice a permit is not granted to follow a lower grade level than the 9th grade. High school: a permit is granted for 1 year only, and only where the stay is arranged by a student exchange organisation, or the applicant started the programme in their home country and wants one year of it in Denmark, or they will start in Denmark and can document that they will continue in their home country. Vocational: no permit for a basic programme at a vocational education institution, except where the stay is part of an international collaboration or exchange agreement. |
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| Means requirement | DKK 7,426 per month measured over 12 months as of 2026-06-30[1] DKK 7,426 (2026 level) per month, for a maximum of 12 months. This is the page that states what the figure is: SIRI writes that the monthly amount corresponds to the monthly State Educational Grant (SU) for students not living at home with their parents, and that the grant is adjusted every year. Where a fee is payable for the programme and it covers tuition, food and accommodation, no funds documentation is required. |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-06-30[1] Application ST1, in two parts. Where the applicant is under 18 both parents sign a declaration of consent, and where an exchange organisation is used the applicant and both parents sign a power of attorney. |
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| Observed processing time | 2 to 3 months as of 2026-06-30[1] |
| Fees |
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Physical presence
| maximum consecutive absence | 6 months · to keep the permit as of 2026-06-30[1] 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. |
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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 | 3 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 3 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2026-06-30 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-22 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-22 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Basic and youth study programmes
Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-30 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [2] 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 - [3] Apply for a permanent residence permit
The Danish Immigration Service · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-07-07 · Accessed 2026-08-19