CPR, MitID and Digital Post: the order that opens everything

Denmark is, together with Estonia, the most digitised country this site writes about. After arrival that's a blessing — and in the first weeks a chain in which every link waits for the previous one. Whoever knows the order is through it in a few weeks. Whoever doesn't stands at the wrong counter three times.

Link one: the EU residence document (free, and often on the spot)

As a Dutch citizen you need no permit to live and work in Denmark — you have that right as an EU citizen from day one. But the Danish administration does want to see it established, and that is the EU residence document (opholdsbevis) from the immigration service SIRI. You apply online and appear in person within thirty days at one of the seven SIRI offices. If you work, an employment contract or employer's statement no more than sixty days old is enough, and the decision period is officially zero days. If you live on your own means, in 2026 you show at least DKK 7,095 gross per month. The document is free and doesn't expire.

The formal rule: apply within three months of arrival. The practical rule: do it right away, because everything after this waits for it.

Link two: the CPR number (and so first a residential address)

The CPR number is the Danish BSN, but more important: without CPR no health card, no tax card, no Danish bank account, no school. You get it from the municipality — in the big cities via the International Citizen Service — and for that you need two things: the residence document from link one, and a residential address. The latter is the real bottleneck: a hotel or holiday address doesn't count, and municipalities want to see that you'll be living there for a while.

In Copenhagen you first submit the CPR application online (count on two to three weeks' processing) and then come by on invitation — the whole family, in person. Choose your GP at that same appointment; the yellow health card then follows by post automatically, and your cover already runs from the registration.

Link three: MitID — and the duty that comes with it

MitID is the Danish DigiD, and the difference with the Netherlands is how indispensable it is: tax matters, choosing a GP, change of address, applying for childcare — almost every government action is mandatory digital self-service. You can apply via the MitID app with a chip passport and a face scan, or at the counter during your CPR appointment.

And then there's something the Netherlands really doesn't know: Digital Post is legally mandatory. From your CPR registration you receive all government post digitally, and the law puts it bluntly: it is your duty to read it. A missed digital letter is legally simply delivered — even if you never opened the app. So put Digital Post on your phone in your first week, together with MitID.

The chain at a glance

Home → EU residence document (SIRI) → CPR number (municipality) → MitID and Digital Post → health card, tax card, bank. Every arrow is a waiting moment; together, with a quick housing find, it's two to four weeks. In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey: the same chain, but as tickable steps for your situation — including the two thirty-day clocks that run at the same time and fight for priority. See the whole journey to Denmark.