Work permits

Yes, in many cases. Moving from a student residence permit to a work permit is possible provided you meet the conditions for a new residence permit based on employment.

In practice that means a job offer from a Danish employer, in a position that satisfies one of the schemes, commonly the Supplementary Pay Limit Scheme.

The reason this question comes up so often is that the answer depends on details: the type of job, the salary on offer, and the residence status you currently hold. Those three between them decide which scheme applies and whether the switch works at all, which is worth establishing before you hand in a notice or sign anything.

Both are Danish work permit schemes that let a foreign national work in Denmark on the strength of a job offer at a certain salary level. The minimum monthly salary is currently around DKK 37,300.

Between them they are the most used route to a Danish work permit, which is also why the documentation requirements are heavy. An application has to account for the terms of employment, your work experience, the salary and the working conditions, and it has to do so consistently.

Which of the two schemes fits depends on the specifics of the job and the offer. Establishing that first, before the application is built, is what keeps a case out of the refusal and delay categories.

It means SIRI is not satisfied that the job is real and offered on ordinary Danish terms.

The doubt usually comes from one of a familiar set of patterns. A salary that looks high for the nature of the position, and so does not read as customary by Danish standards. Qualifications and experience that do not obviously match what is being paid. A close relationship between applicant and employer, whether family or personal. Errors, inconsistencies or gaps in the employment contract and the supporting papers.

An application history can also count against you: moving between different positions or employers in successive applications, or changing explanations, job titles or job descriptions along the way so that they fit a salary threshold. Earlier unlawful stay in Denmark, or an application submitted just before an existing permit expires, feed into the same overall assessment.

A refusal on this ground needs to be dealt with quickly and in detail, because the answer has to be legal argument backed by documents rather than assertion. The work is reading the employment contract, the supporting material and the case history together, finding what produced the doubt, and then deciding whether an appeal or a fresh application is the better way to put it right.

A partshøring means SIRI has doubts about part of your application and is giving you the chance to answer before it decides. It is not a refusal, but it is usually the point at which the case is decided.

Start on it immediately. Fourteen days goes quickly once you are gathering documents or waiting on your employer. If you genuinely cannot make the deadline you can normally ask for an extension, but the request has to come in good time and with a reason behind it.

Then work out what SIRI is actually asking about. The letter will usually be circling one of a few things: the salary level, whether your qualifications match it, whether the employment is genuine, or your relationship with the employer. Bear in mind that SIRI often sends your employer a letter at the same time, so whatever the two of you submit has to line up.

Do not change your account. Explanations that shift from what the application originally said, even where the change feels like a clarification, damage your credibility and make a refusal more likely.

Where the concern is about qualifications against salary, answer it plainly and professionally rather than defensively. What is wanted is the connection between your experience, the work you will actually be doing, and what that is worth under Danish employment standards.

These letters carry a great deal of weight in the outcome, and a focused reply that meets SIRI's specific concern is worth considerably more than a long one that does not.