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WORK PERMITS

Danish authority confirms new wage data for work permit applications

New wage statistics will be used from April 1st for assessment of work permit applications by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

Published: 19 March 2024 14:58 CET
Danish authority confirms new wage data for work permit applications
Denmark updates wage data used for processing work permit applications on a quarterly basis. Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash

When assessing applications for work permits under programmes including the Pay Limit Scheme, the Fast Track Scheme and the Positive List, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI), which is responsible for processing work permits, uses income statistics to decide whether a job that has been offered is within the Danish standards for salary.

The statistics, which are provided by the Confederation of Danish Employers (Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DA) will be updated on April 1st, SIRI said in a statement on Monday.

The statistics base used by the agency is updated regularly.

READ ALSO: Denmark allows some foreigners to work ‘for short periods’ without permits 

The new income statistics contains information from fourth quarter of 2023. A further quarterly update is due to take effect from July 1st, SIRI said in the statement.

For people who have applied or are applying for a Danish work permit, this means that applications submitted from April 1st onwards will be assessed based on income statistics for the fourth quarter of 2023. Applications submitted between January 1st and March 31st will be assessed based on income statistics from the third quarter of 2023.

Danish work permit rules require salary and other employment conditions offered to the foreign employee to be equivalent to those on the Danish labour market. This applies for first-time applications as well as for extensions.

For example, the Pay Limit scheme allows work permits to be granted to applicants who have been offered a salary by a Danish employer which is at or above the government-set minimum amount.

However, when assessing applications, SIRI must also assess whether the salary offered is “realistic” for the role being offered, to comply with rules intended to guard against abuse of the work permit system.

READ ALSO: Restaurant manager refused Danish work permit as salary deemed too high to be believable

According to SIRI’s website, the agency will normally deem the salary to be within normal Danish standards if the employer, or the employment contract, is covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

In other cases, it may more closely assess the salary that has been offered.

If SIRI finds that the salary does not appear to be at a usual level for the given role, it may ask the employer about the salary based on DA’s statistics.

It may also ask another body, the Regional Labour Market Councils (De Regionale Arbejdsmarkedsråd) for a second opinion.

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WORK PERMITS

EXPLAINED: How to apply for a work permit in Denmark as an intern

Want to intern at the elite restaurant Noma, at the architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group, as a vet or as a nurse? Here's what you need to know.

Published: 28 March 2024 14:51 CET
EXPLAINED: How to apply for a work permit in Denmark as an intern

Denmark has a special scheme for foreigners offered work in the country as interns, with different rules for those employed in architecture, healthcare, farming or veterinary jobs, or other sectors such as the natural sciences, technical fields, the pharmaceutical sector, or culture.

As an intern, you can get a permit to work in Denmark and a residency permit without having to earn any salary whatsoever, let alone secure the generous pay levels required to qualify for the Pay Limit Scheme. 

But you do have to meet the conditions put in place, to prevent unscrupulous employers using the internship permit to bring low cost labour to the country. 

You can find an English language guide to internships on the website of the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (Siri). 

READ ALSO: Danish work permit agency changes practice for hotel and restaurant interns

Who is eligible to get a work permit as an intern? 

You need to be between the ages of 18 and 35 (or 18 and 30 for some sectors), and you normally need to be studying a relevant subject in your home country or current country of residence .

In some cases you can already have recently graduated and in some cases you can be studying a subject not related to the internship, but if this is the case you need to show that you have passed a semester’s worth of courses in a relevant subject. 

If your internship is unpaid, you normally need to show that you have at least 6,820 kroner a month to support yourself over the period.

If your internship is paid, your salary must be at least 6,820 kroner per month, which has to be stated in the standard contract, and paid into a Danish bank account in a bank operating legally in Denmark.

Be aware that opening a Danish bank account can be difficult, with applicants normally needing to have a Danish address and CPR personal number. If you are having trouble you can apply for a basic payments account.

What qualifications do I need to show or paperwork do I need to provide? 

The rules are different depending on which sector you intend to carry out your internship in. 

Agricultural, horticulture, forestry or veterinary 

If you plan to intern in the agricultural, horticulture, forestry or veterinary sectors, you need to show that you have passed a language test in English, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian or German at the A2 level or higher, in Common European Framework of Reference for Languages scale.

This is a very basic level, described in the CEFR as enough to communicate “very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment”. 

For English language tests offered by IELTS, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) accepts test scores from 3.0, and for English tests from TOEFL, scores at Studieprøven level (C1 CEFR level). You will need to send the results certificate along with your application. 

To qualify for an internship in these sectors you also need to be studying a relevant subject in your home country, or the country where you have residency, and the internship also needs to be timed to coincide with where you are in the course, for instance as a practical element following more theoretical ones. 

“We compare the content of your educational programme with the job tasks which you will be carrying out during the internship,” Siri writes in its guide to internships. 

You cannot be more than 30 years old for an internship in these sectors. 

Interns in these sectors do not need to provide proof that they can support themselves. 

Healthcare 

There are no language requirements for an internship in the healthcare sector, and for medical interns there is no upper age limit (although an age limit of 35 applies for other healthcare interns). 

The internship must be related to the educational programme you are studying in your home or another country, and you need to submit an authorised translation of the list of courses you have studied, along with your application. 

You can receive an internship in healthcare even if your studies have recently been completed, but you must show that the internship is a continuation of your studies and relevant to the future role you intend to take on. 

If you have completed your studies, you should include documentation of any work experience you have had since completing your studies. 

If your internship is unpaid, you need to show that you have at least 6,820 kroner a month to support yourself over the period, which you can document with a bank statement or a copy of a scholarship certificate. It is not enough for someone else, such as a parent, to say they will support you. 

Architecture 

To be eligible for a work permit in the architecture sector, you cannot have completed your education and cannot be more than 35 years old. 

The internship must be related to the educational programme you are studying in your home or another country, and you need to submit an authorised translation of the list of courses you have studied, along with your application. 

If your internship is unpaid, you also need to show that you have at least 6,820 kroner a month to support yourself, which you can document with a bank statement or a copy of a scholarship certificate. It is not enough for someone else, such as a parent, to say they will support you. 

Which employers are eligible to take interns?

Employers need to be approved to take interns, either through a prior praktikpladsgodkendelse, or “place of internship approval”, or through sending detailed documentation to Siri on what the internship will consist of, including details of who will be supervising the intern, and prior experience the firm has with taking on interns or trainees. 

All public hospitals in Denmark are approved as places of internship.

If you are planning on interning at a Danish architecture firm, the firm must use the standard “Internship Agreement and Guidelines” issued by DANSKE ARK, the Danish association of Architectural Firms, and the Danish Union of Architects and Designers.

Architecture firms do not need to receive a separate praktikpladsgodkendelse but when filling in the standard contract, need to state the number of fully-trained architects and number of interns working at the firm. 

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