Hiring foreign workers in Denmark — employer guide

01

Overview

Most Danish non-EU work permits are employer-backed, and the sponsor-side decision is mainly about whether the hire fits an ordinary route such as Pay Limit or a Positive List, whether the company can use Fast-Track certification, and whether the role is a genuine researcher appointment. Sponsors should expect SIRI scrutiny on Danish-standard salary and terms, route-specific evidence, and timely reporting when employment conditions change. 1 3 4 5 6 7

The supplementary pay-limit route depends on a live unemployment threshold and related route conditions, so sponsor playbooks should verify the current published figures and route page before each filing batch. 2 10

02

Sponsor-backed routes

Pay Limit and Supplementary Pay Limit schemes

Danish employer

The employer provides the qualifying offer, contract, and route evidence. The standard Pay Limit Scheme is simpler, while the supplementary version adds posting, unemployment, and declaration requirements that sponsors need to manage explicitly.

Issue a contract or job offer that meets Danish standards and the relevant salary threshold.
Support the correct route choice between the standard and supplementary pay-limit schemes.
Provide any supplementary-route evidence such as Jobnet and EURES posting documentation.

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Positive List routes

Danish employer hiring into a shortage occupation

The employer's main job is to make sure the offered role genuinely matches a live Positive List occupation and that the contract, location, working hours, and route-specific compliance record are all clean enough for SIRI review.

Confirm that the role is still on the live Positive List when the application is filed.
Issue a contract showing Danish-standard salary and terms for the specific occupation.
Coordinate any authorisation or recognition issues for regulated positions before filing.

3 4 8

Fast-Track Scheme

SIRI-certified company or university

Fast-Track shifts more of the filing burden to the sponsor. The certified employer normally files online under power of attorney, can request quick job start, and must keep its certification status clean enough for future new hires and extensions.

Hold or obtain SIRI certification before using the Fast-Track route.
Submit the online application, usually under employee power of attorney.
Monitor ongoing certification conditions and report if the company stops meeting them.

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Researchers

Research institution, university, or research-active company

Research sponsors need to show that the position is genuinely research-led and that the employment terms are Danish-standard. If the institution is Fast-Track certified, it can instead use the researcher track in that framework.

Issue a research contract or job offer that shows the appointment is research-driven.
Document salary and terms that meet Danish standards even if the role is not full time.
Decide whether the standard researcher route or Fast-Track researcher track is the cleaner filing path.

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03

Employer requirements

01

Sponsors need a concrete Danish employment relationship or another route-recognised setup, because SIRI's work schemes are built around a named employer and job rather than a speculative search stay.

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02

Across the main work routes, salary and employment terms must correspond to Danish standards, and SIRI can ask labour-market experts to assess the contract if there is doubt.

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03

Fast-Track sponsors must meet certification conditions such as company size, a SIRI guidance meeting, Danish-standards compliance, no unresolved Working Environment Authority notices, and no disqualifying Aliens Act history.

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04

Supplementary pay-limit sponsors also need the role to have been posted on Jobnet and EURES for at least two weeks and must be prepared for route-specific declarations and compliance checks.

2

04

Documents

Employment contract or job offer

The sponsor-side core document is the employment contract or job offer stating the salary, terms, and role details SIRI uses to assess route fit.

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Fast-Track certification evidence and power of attorney

Fast-Track employers need the certification process documents, and the filing is normally handled by the employer under power of attorney from the employee.

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Supplementary pay-limit labour-market evidence

This route requires employer-side proof that the vacancy was posted on Jobnet and the EURES portal for the required period before application.

2

Qualification, authorisation, or research-role evidence

Positive List and researcher cases often turn on whether the employee's education, authorisation, or research basis can be documented clearly enough for SIRI's route test.

3 4 7

05

Process

1

Choose the correct sponsor route before drafting the filing

The sponsor should first decide whether the hire belongs in an ordinary Pay Limit or Positive List route, a Fast-Track filing through a certified company, or the dedicated researcher route, because the evidence package changes immediately after that choice.

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2

Prepare the contract and route-specific company evidence

Draft the contract to Danish-standard terms, gather any list, posting, certification, or research-role evidence, and make sure the company-side compliance record does not undercut the filing.

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3

Create the case order ID, pay the fee, and submit the application

Once the sponsor package is ready, the case order ID and SIRI fee are created and paid, and the application is submitted under the correct filing flow, with Fast-Track sponsors normally leading the process online.

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4

Support biometrics, onboarding, and change reporting

After submission, sponsors should help the employee complete biometrics and then keep SIRI-informed discipline once the worker starts, especially where salary, role content, certification status, or continued route eligibility changes.

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06

Warnings

Warning

Fast-Track certification problems spill into future hiring

If certification is revoked, existing employees do not lose status immediately, but they cannot extend on Fast-Track and future hires must use another scheme until the company is eligible again.

6

Warning

Positive List route planning can break if the list changes before filing

SIRI adjusted the 2026 Positive Lists after publication, so sponsors should recheck the live list immediately before submission instead of relying on an earlier internal screening memo.

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