Step-by-step plan · No visa required

The step-by-step plan for Denmark

From "we want this" to being settled, in 37 steps. Read phase 1 in full here. Test your departure date along the way. Then you'll know whether you want the rest.

37 steps5 phases87 official sources8 only for your situationchecked on 9 September 2026

Phase 1 starts below ↓The whole plan: € 199 one-off, no subscription.

What it looks like

Not a PDF, not a checklist. A plan that knows what needs to happen now.

Every step sits in its place in the order, with the lead time, the counter and the official source. You tick off, your partner ticks along, and the plan counts back from your departure date: what has to start when, and what is running now.

Below is phase 1, exactly as it appears in the plan.

The dashboard of the step-by-step plan for Denmark: the current phase, the open steps, the next step and the deadline bar.

The route

Orientation
5 steps
Open · You are here
Closing the Netherlands
15 steps
In your plan
The move
3 steps
In your plan
Registration in Denmark
6 steps
In your plan
Arrival
8 steps
In your plan

Phase 1 is the question "can we, and do we want to?". From phase 2 the arranging begins.

Phase 1 · Orientation

5 of 5 steps open

Denmark asks for no visa and no permit — you register a right you already have. But it is the most expensive EU entry on the site: the car can cost up to 150% tax and the home up to six months' rent in advance. Whoever does those two sums before departure arrives without surprises.

By the end of phase 1 you know how the registration process fits together, you've done the car sum and the housing sum, and the family stands behind the decision.

Step 1.1

Understand what you're going to do: register, not apply

Lead time:: reading step
Costs:: none

As a Dutch citizen you may live and work in Denmark from the day you arrive — that right already exists, and the papers only establish it. There are two registrations, in a fixed order. First the EU residence document at the immigration service SIRI: free, online, and for employees the decision period is literally zero days. Then the CPR number at the municipality, for which you need that document and a residential address.

That order is the whole journey. Almost everything that comes after — health card, tax card, bank, school — hangs on the CPR number, and that number hangs on a home. So the home is the bottleneck, not the government.

Checked against the official source

The official sources for this step

Seen

Step 1.2

Do the car sum before you decide anything else

Lead time:: an evening of calculating
Costs:: none

On import of your own car Denmark levies the full registreringsafgift over the Danish market value: 25% over the first bracket, 85% over the second and 150% over everything above that, plus a CO2 surcharge per gram. There is no exemption for removal goods — not for EU immigrants either. For an ordinary Dutch family car that runs into thousands to tens of thousands of euros.

Against that stands one thing: on export the Netherlands refunds the remaining BPM. That refund almost never covers the Danish levy, but it makes selling in the Netherlands extra attractive. So do this sum now, with your own number plate — for most households the outcome is: sell the car here, and buy (or lease) one there. Electric driving softens the sum: zero-emission cars pay only 40% of the calculated tax in 2026, with a hefty extra deduction.

Your car to Denmark: the tax that changes everything

Checked against the official source

The official sources for this step

Seen

Step 1.3

Get a picture of what it's going to cost

Lead time:: 1-2 hours with the calculator
Costs:: none

The paperwork is free here — residence document, CPR, health card: zero kroner. The money is in three other things: the home (up to three months' deposit plus three months' rent in advance), the car (see the sum in 1.2), and the first months at a price level above the Dutch one. Work it out with your own choices before you're committed to anything.

Your budget, worked out

Seen

Step 1.4

Take the decision together

Lead time:: no fixed one; take your time
Costs:: none

Denmark feels close — one day's drive, a culture that resembles ours — and that makes it easy to underestimate the differences. Discuss three explicitly. The language: reading Danish comes quickly, understanding spoken Danish is another story, and at work and school it's the norm. The money in the first months: up to six months' rent in advance, and as long as your tax card isn't sorted an employer withholds the emergency rate. And the welfare state that cuts just differently: the dentist is largely uninsured for adults, and unemployment insurance is voluntary — whoever doesn't take it out has no safety net on dismissal.

Seen

Step 1.6

Choose your target date

Lead time:: five minutes, below
Costs:: none

Choose below the date on which you want to be in Denmark. The step-by-step plan then works out whether that's feasible with what still has to happen — and says so honestly if it gets tight. A target date is yours: you can always move it, and moving it is a perfectly fine outcome.

When do you want to leave for Denmark?

Phase 1 read

You know what you're getting into. Now the arranging begins.

You've read phase 1 of the step-by-step plan for Denmark. The full plan has another 32 steps ready for you: Closing the Netherlands, The move, Registration in Denmark and Arrival.

The plan counts everything back from your departure date, watches your deadlines and documents, and shows only the steps that apply to you.

The step-by-step plan for Denmark

€ 199

one-off · no subscription · instant access

Continue with the full plan · € 199

Also included: deadlines watched · documents with expiry dates · only your steps · your partner ticks along · all cancellation letters · questions to Auke.

✎ Auke reads along

Stuck somewhere? Ask your question at the step. Auke reads it himself and answers within two working days.

Not ready yet? Send yourself your date and phase 1 →

Phase 2 · Closing the Netherlands0 of 15 steps open

Denmark is EU, so everything runs via the familiar routes — but without the windfalls of other routes: the Netherlands keeps taxing your pension, and the healthcare contribution via the CAK is exactly the Dutch level there. One clock is new here: whoever goes into employment has eight weeks after departure for the a-kasse.

2.1Arrange your healthcare: the basic insurance stops on moving daystart 3 months before departure; the CAK application takes about 4 weeks
2.2AOW and pension: everything comes along, the Netherlands keeps taxingan afternoon of research, apply in time
2.3The tax wind-up: M return and the protective assessmentthe return comes after the emigration year; preparing is possible now
2.4Stop allowances and child benefitan hour, online
2.5Going into employment? The a-kasse clock runs from your departurearranging can be done in an afternoon; the term is eight weeks
2.6Deregister with the municipalitypossible from 5 days before departure, up to and including departure day
2.7DigiD, bank and your vote: keep the lines to the Netherlandsan afternoon
2.8Documents: multilingual extracts, no apostille needed1-2 weeks for applying for extracts
2.9Partner comes along without a job of their ownonly if this applies to you
2.10Partly staying in the Netherlands: the eight-month ruleonly if this applies to you
2.11The house in the Netherlands: sell, let or keeponly if this applies to you
2.12Children staying in the Netherlands: DUO, healthcare and the houseonly if this applies to you
2.13Cancel what stops: job, rent, energy, subscriptions and schoolstart three months before departure; most notice periods are one month
2.14Stay reachable: DigiD, your phone number, your bank and your postarrange it before you leave; afterwards it takes weeks
2.15Student debt, remote work or your own business: what moves with youreport it before you leave; the consequences run for years

Open all steps · € 199

Phase 3 · The move0 of 3 steps open

Within the EU moving is administratively nothing: no customs, no declaration, no exemption to apply for. Everything that costs money and attention here you already decided in phase 1 — this is the phase in which you carry it out.

3.1Plan the move: one long day's drive, no paperworkquotes 2-4 weeks ahead; driving yourself is always possible
3.2The car: carrying out what you decided in phase 1only if this applies to you
3.3The pet: EU passport, and for dogs two Danish rulesonly if this applies to you

Phase 4 · Registration in Denmark0 of 6 steps open

The order is compelling: home → EU residence document → CPR number → everything else. Each step waits for the previous one, so the home sets the pace of your whole first month.

4.1Find your home: the registration waits for itcount on weeks to months, depending on the city
4.2The EU residence document at SIRIemployees almost immediately; self-employed about 2 months
4.3The CPR number at the Citizen Serviceonline application 2-3 weeks' processing, then the appointment
4.4MitID and Digital Post: compulsory, and immediately usefulat the CPR appointment or right after
4.5The yellow health card and your GPthe card comes 2-4 weeks after the CPR registration
4.6The tax card: arrange it before your first working dayapplying is possible up to a month before your first working day

Phase 5 · Arrival0 of 8 steps open

You now exist administratively — this phase is about the everyday system behind it: the money, the work, the school and the healthcare costs that cut just differently from home. And about one hard clock: the car has thirty days.

5.1The car on Danish plates: thirty daysonly if this applies to you
5.2Bank account and NemKonto1-2 weeks once you have CPR and tax card
5.3Work: finish the a-kasse, and know what you're building upan afternoon
5.4School and childcareonly if this applies to you
5.5Healthcare costs in practice: know where your own money goesreading step
5.6Tax: set your advance right, and understand the structurean evening with MitID
5.7Learn Danish: it's arranged for freesign up via the municipality; modules of months
5.8Your driving licence: nothing is required, exchanging is allowedreading step

8 of these 32 steps only appear when your answers call for them: a pet, a car, a partner without a job, children staying in the Netherlands. That is the difference between a step-by-step plan and a checklist.

Three questions

Can't I find all this for free?

Yes. Everything in the plan comes from official sources, and they're listed at every step. Phase 1 above is the proof. What you buy is the work around it: which of the 32 following steps apply to you, in which order, with which deadline, and a nudge when something needs doing.

Does this apply to my situation too?

The plan first asks who is coming along, what is coming along and how you're leaving the Netherlands. Steps that don't apply to you don't appear; steps that only apply to you do. Is your situation slightly different from what's written? Ask your question at the step; you'll get an answer within two working days.

What if the rules change after I buy?

Then your plan changes with them. Twice a month we check every source; whatever changes is in your plan the same week, with the date. Your access lasts for your whole departure.

Ready to begin?

The step-by-step plan for Denmark: 37 steps, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.

Start your step-by-step plan · € 199 Read more about Denmark first