Your first weeks in Denmark: the order, the money and the pitfalls
Home, residence document, CPR, MitID, tax card: the Danish chain has a fixed order, and three money matters you want to know in advance. Up to six months' rent up front (deposit plus prepaid rent), the emergency rate of 8 plus 55 per cent if your tax card is not sorted, and the way out that your Dutch account can temporarily be your NemKonto.
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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
Your first weeks in Denmark revolve around one number, the CPR number (the Danish personal identification number), and around the address you need for it.
Life in Denmark, the Danish government site for newcomers, is honest about it:
- Finding a home is often difficult.
- You can only apply for a CPR number once you actually live there.
- The minimum period of residence a municipality asks for a permanent address varies, but is usually one to three months.
Meanwhile clocks are running that do not wait for the number, and there are three money matters your bank balance will feel. The trap is that you only discover those clocks once they have run out.
Which clocks are running?
| Clock | Deadline | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Applying for a tax card | from a month before your first working day | without a card your employer withholds 8 plus 55 per cent |
| EU residence document | within 3 months of arrival | at SIRI, then appear in person within 30 days |
| Defects in your rented home | within 14 days of moving in | otherwise you may pay for them yourself when leaving |
| Applying for boligstøtte | within 30 days of moving in | then you get it backdated |
| A-kasse, bringing your Dutch years | within 8 weeks of the end of your Dutch insurance | otherwise the build-up starts again |
| Car on Danish plates | 30 days | after that no more driving on Dutch plates |
| Health card | 2 to 3 weeks after your CPR registration | by post to your Danish address |
SIRI is the Danish immigration service, boligstøtte is the Danish housing benefit and an a-kasse is an unemployment fund.
The order of the registrations themselves, from residence document to MitID, is in CPR, MitID and Digital Post. Below are the three money matters.
How much money must I have ready for the home?
Under the Rent Act a Danish landlord may ask three months' rent as a deposit and in addition up to three months' rent in advance. For a flat of 12,000 kroner a month, up to 72,000 kroner may therefore have to be ready before you have the key. Life in Denmark calls one month's deposit for a room and three for a flat usual.
Three rules protect you:
- Sign a written contract.
- Never pay a deposit without a contract.
- Report defects within fourteen days.
What the Rent Act further arranges is in renting in Denmark.
Why does my first salary arrive halved?
Because without a tax card your employer is obliged to withhold 8 per cent labour market contribution and 55 per cent tax. That is not a fine; what was withheld in excess comes back at the settlement. But it falls precisely in the month when deposit and furnishings have already been paid.
The solution is simple. Skat, the Danish tax agency, lets you apply for a personal tax number and a tax card up to a month before your first working day. Do that as soon as your contract is signed.
The refund goes to your NemKonto, so arrange that first. Every resident should have a NemKonto, the account into which the government pays, and NemKonto advises assigning it before the first payment. Opening a Danish account takes time, but that need not wait: your Dutch IBAN may be your NemKonto. How that works, with the form and the two witnesses, is in banking and paying in Denmark.
What do newcomers forget most often?
- The a-kasse. Danish unemployment insurance is voluntary. Whoever wants their Dutch insurance years to count and has not been a Danish member in the last five years must, within eight weeks of the end of their Dutch insurance, live in Denmark, be a member of an a-kasse and be working. See working in Denmark.
- The car. Registration is only possible with a Danish address, and you have thirty days. If you have no answer within that time, you may no longer drive on Dutch plates.
- The housing benefit. If you apply for boligstøtte later than thirty days after moving in, you only get it from the month after your application.
- The dentist. The health card covers the GP, but adults pay the dentist largely themselves. Count it in your monthly budget.
Where can I go?
To an International Citizen Service, a service desk for international newcomers. Life in Denmark writes that all the authorities you usually need as a newcomer are there. That way, in most cases you sort out your paperwork in one visit.
For your CPR number you appear in person there or at Borgerservice, your municipality's citizen service desk. Bring:
- your residence document;
- proof of your address, such as your lease.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey: the same chain, but as tickable steps for your situation — in your order and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Denmark.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Life in Denmark — what to do when you have just arrived, CPR and health card — lifeindenmark.borger.dk
- Life in Denmark — renting a home — lifeindenmark.borger.dk
- Rent Act § 59 — at most three months' deposit and three months' rent in advance — retsinformation.dk
- Skat — the emergency rate of 8 and 55 per cent without a tax card — skat.dk
- Skat — your guide to working in Denmark, the tax card a month ahead — skat.dk
- NemKonto — assigning a foreign account — nemkonto.dk
- Borger.dk — applying for housing benefit, the thirty days — borger.dk
- Motorstyrelsen — importing a vehicle, thirty days — motorst.dk
- Life in Denmark — unemployment insurance and the eight weeks — lifeindenmark.borger.dk
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