Higher educational programmes
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Videregående uddannelse as of 2026-08-22[3] 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) | Higher educational programmes as of 2026-06-30[3] |
| Legal basis | Udlaendingeloven (Aliens Act), LBK nr 1183 of 25 September 2025, section 9 i(1) or (3) as of 2026-06-30[3][4] |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-06-30[3] |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | Not applicable[3] The permit runs for the standard (nominal) duration of the programme, provided the holder participates actively in it. There is no number to record: the term is the programme's, and it differs by programme. |
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| How the initial term is set | length of the programme |
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-06-30[3] |
| Renewal duration | up to 1 year as of 2026-06-30[3] A maximum of 1 year, and as a rule no further extension where the studies are prolonged by more than a year. Pregnancy or parental leave allows a further year, to a maximum of 2 in total. Apply no earlier than 4 months before expiry and no later than the day it expires. Changing programme requires a new permit rather than an extension, though the new programme may be started while the application is pending. |
| Work rights | hours capped as of 2026-06-30[3] 90 hours per calendar month during the normal period of study from September to May, and full time in June, July and August. Unpaid voluntary work is unlimited and does not count against the cap. Where the programme includes a mandatory internship, a full-time work permit is granted automatically for its duration. A hard restriction dated 2 May 2025: a student in a higher educational programme that is not state-approved but carries only an advisory statement from the Danish Evaluation Institute (EVA) gets a limited work permit only if the residence permit was granted or applied for before that date; an application on or after it carries no right to work at all. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Yes as of 2026-07-07[3][5] 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. |
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Requirements
| Enrolment status required | admitted as of 2026-06-30[3] Admission to a higher educational programme in Denmark and full-time study. SIRI states that a permit cannot be granted to study part time. The institution must be publicly accredited, or at least one of its board members appointed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science; and the programme must be approved by a state authority, or else carry an advisory statement from the Danish Evaluation Institute (EVA) – a distinction that now decides work rights, family rights and job-search rights, not merely admissibility. Guest and exchange students use this same permit and must document enrolment at an institution in their home country. |
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| Means requirement | DKK 7,426 per month measured over 12 months as of 2026-06-30[3] DKK 7,426 (2026 level) per month of study, multiplied by the months applied for, and capped at 12 months' worth – a maximum of DKK 89,112 (2026 level) for a programme longer than a year. SIRI labels both figures '(2026 level)', in contrast to the '(2025 level)' labels the same site carries on the Start-up Denmark and guest-researcher figures. A bank statement no more than 30 days old is required; a scholarship or student loan is accepted at the same amounts; a third party's statement, including a parent's, is not accepted, and restricted stocks, bonds and investment portfolios do not count. Where a tuition fee is payable and the first semester has already been paid, that payment is accepted instead of the funds documentation. |
| Work-hours cap | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value[3] |
| Post-study route exists | Yes as of 2026-06-30[2][3] |
| Post-study permit duration | up to 3 years as of 2026-06-30[2][3] Up to 3 years for a state-approved professional bachelor's, bachelor's, master's or PhD programme; 6 months otherwise. |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-06-30[3] Application ST1, online or printable, completed in two parts by the educational institution and then the applicant. Biometrics within 14 days of submission. Where the applicant is under 18, both parents sign a declaration of consent and the school declares that residence and study conditions are proper. |
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| Observed processing time | 2 to 3 months as of 2026-06-30[3] |
| Fees |
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Physical presence
| maximum consecutive absence | 6 months · to keep the permit as of 2026-06-30[3] 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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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2026-06-30[1][3] But only for a state-approved higher educational programme. SIRI states that from 2 May 2025 a student who applied for a residence permit in a non-state-approved programme on or after that date cannot obtain a permit for any accompanying family member. |
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| Eligible relations | spouse, registered partner, unmarried partner, minor child as of 2026-06-30[1][3] Spouse, registered or cohabiting partner – the accompanying-family page requires 1.5 to 2 years of prior cohabitation for a partner – and children under 18 living at home. |
| Family may apply at the same time | Yes as of 2026-06-29[1] Where the family applies from abroad at the same time as the student, the family permit can be granted for 1 month before the student starts studying, on the student's declaration of self-support for that month. |
| Family members' work rights | full as of 2026-06-29[1] |
| Additional means per family member |
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 | 5 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 5 |
| 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] Accompanying family members to students, PhDs and persons having or applying for a residence permit to obtain a Danish authorisation
Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-29 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [2] Job seeking residence permit for 3 years after a completed educational programme
Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-26 · Accessed 2026-08-20 - [3] Higher educational programmes
Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-30 · Accessed 2026-08-20 · Archived copy - [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 - [5] Apply for a permanent residence permit
The Danish Immigration Service · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-07-07 · Accessed 2026-08-19