Profile

Internship

Route status

Active as of 2026-08-10[1]

Open to new applications under the rules recorded below.

Residency route facts

Identity

Identity
Official name (local)Praktikanter 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.
Official name (English)Internship as of 2026-08-10[1]
SIRI's own scheme-overview table calls the same scheme 'Trainee'. The route id follows the statutory and overview naming; the name field follows the scheme page's own title.
Legal basisUdlaendingeloven (Aliens Act), LBK nr 1183 of 25 September 2025, section 9 a(2)(6) as of 2026-08-10[1][4]
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 6 is employment for a training programme at a Danish company, with the competences acquired to be used abroad afterwards – 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. The page separately cites, verbatim, the executive order governing internships – bekendtgoerelse nr. 1039 af 20. juni 2022 – but only for the annex listing the accepted language tests, not as the permit's own basis.
Instrument typeresidence permit as of 2026-08-10[1]

Who can apply

Who can apply
Nationals not served by this routeEU, EEA as of 2026-08-10[1]
SIRI states that EU, EEA and Swiss citizens use an EU residence document instead of applying under this scheme. Swiss nationals are covered by the same sentence but by no bloc in the vocabulary.
Minimum age18 as of 2026-08-10[1]

Permit terms

Permit terms
Initial durationup to 18 months as of 2026-08-10[1][3]
Up to 18 months and never longer than the internship, in every field. In the green sector a stay of 6-8 months at a Danish agricultural or technical school takes the ceiling to 24 months in total. The permit runs from the day work starts, and is also shortened to the expiry of the place of internship's approval.
RenewableYes as of 2026-01-06[3]
SIRI's scheme-overview table records '1 year + can be extended (for up to 24 months in total)'. The scheme page states the ceiling rather than the extension mechanism.
Maximum total durationup to 18 months as of 2026-08-10[1]
Consecutive internship stays may not exceed 18 months in total, and time already spent as an intern is deducted from a new permit whether or not the applicant actually started the internship with the new host. The green-sector school variant is the stated exception at 24 months.
Work rightsown activity only as of 2026-08-10[1]
Only the named position at the named place of internship; a new position at the same workplace needs a new permit, and – unlike the work schemes – the holder may not begin working before the new permit is granted. There is no job-change grace period here.

Permanent residence and citizenship

Permanent residence and citizenship
Counts toward permanent residenceYes as of 2026-08-10[1][4][5]
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 2026-08-10[1]
An internship agreement with an approved place of internship, which completes its own part of application PR1 first.
Salary threshold
    • Measured against: collective agreement
    • Amount: DKK 7,426 per month as of 2026-08-10[1]
      Two different roles for the same figure. A paid architecture internship must pay at least DKK 7,426 (2026 level) per month under the standard contract. Otherwise the salary and terms must correspond to the current Danish collective agreements for interns, including overtime pay and promotion to a higher salary level after six months, and no figure is published for that test. Basis 'collective_agreement' records the governing test; the amount records the one published floor.
Labour-market testYes as of 2026-08-10[1]
In a narrow, sector-triggered form. Where there is a general lack of apprenticeship places in the field – which SIRI states is currently horticulture and forestry – the host must declare either that it employs an apprentice from a Danish vocational school, or that it tried to for the three months before submission by advertising on laerepladsen.dk. SIRI defines the trigger: more than 5 per cent of students in the vocational education do not have an apprenticeship or are in schooling after the second basic course.
Qualification requirementRecorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value[1]
Employer sponsorshipYes as of 2026-08-10[1]
And unusually heavy: the host must be approved to receive interns, must name a responsible person who declares in writing that hosting is professionally sound and who supervises the work, and must describe the training programme. Architecture internships must use the standard contract issued by Dansk Industri and the Danish Union of Architects and Designers.
Own means requirementDKK 7,426 per month as of 2026-08-10[1]
Where the internship is unpaid – possible in healthcare, architecture and other fields – the applicant must document DKK 7,426 (2026 level) for each month of the stay, held in their own name. The figure is the same as the study self-support rate.
Job-search routeNo as of 2026-08-10[1][2]
Not a job-search route; no job-seeking entitlement.

Process

Process
Where to apply fromeither as of 2026-08-10[1][4]
Aliens Act section 9 a(5). SIRI warns on the page that applying from inside Denmark on a visiting visa can bar further visiting visas for five years if the application is refused.
Observed processing time3 to 4 months as of 2026-08-10[1]
Fees
    • Kind: application
    • Amount: DKK 4,305 as of 2026-08-10[1]
    • Charged per: application
    • Paid by: applicant
    • Condition: Sole Tier-1 publisher (SIRI). Turkish citizens applying as interns and receiving a salary from the place of internship are exempt from the fee; a case order ID is still required.

Physical presence

Physical presence
maximum consecutive absence6 months · to keep the permit as of 2026-08-10[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. On this scheme SIRI states that a dispensation can be granted only in exceptional cases, giving critical illness in the nearest family as its example.

Family inclusion

Family inclusion
Family members may be includedNo as of 2026-08-10[1]
SIRI states that an intern is normally not allowed to bring family to Denmark. One of only three routes in this record where family inclusion is refused – the other two are the basic and youth study programmes and the folk high schools.
Eligible relationsNot established from a qualifying source as of 2026-08-10[1]
None.

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 cited5
of which official (tier 1)5
Oldest as-of date2026-01-06
Newest as-of date2026-08-22
Reviewed on2026-08-22
Schema version1.1

Sources

  1. [1] Internship
    Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-08-10 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  2. [2] Job seeking permit
    Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-18 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  3. [3] Work schemes in SIRI – an overview
    Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2026-01-06 · Accessed 2026-08-20
  4. [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. [5] 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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