Look inside
The plan for Denmark, from the inside
These are all 34 steps of the Denmark journey, exactly as they appear in your personal plan — with the lead time and the costs next to them. Not a brochure: this is the file that feeds the platform. Pick another country below if you're heading elsewhere.
For which country?
Every country has its own steps, its own order and its own clocks. Switch as often as you like.
- Steps
- 34
- Phases
- 5
- Official sources
- 70
- Only for your situation
- 8
Phase 1
5 steps
Orientation
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.
- 1.1
Understand what you're going to do: register, not apply
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
3 official sources
- 1.2
Do the car sum before you decide anything else
- Lead time
- an evening of calculating
- Costs
- none
3 official sources
- 1.3
Get a picture of what it's going to cost
- Lead time
- 1-2 hours with the calculator
- Costs
- none
- 1.4
Take the decision together
- Lead time
- no fixed one; take your time
- Costs
- none
- 1.6
Choose your target date
- Lead time
- five minutes, below
- Costs
- none
Phase 2
12 steps
Closing the Netherlands
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.
- 2.1
Arrange your healthcare: the basic insurance stops on moving day
- Lead time
- start 3 months before departure; the CAK application takes about 4 weeks
- Costs
- working people none; pensioners the CAK contribution
4 official sources
- 2.2
AOW and pension: everything comes along, the Netherlands keeps taxing
- Lead time
- an afternoon of research, apply in time
- Costs
- none
3 official sources
- 2.3
The tax wind-up: M return and the protective assessment
- Lead time
- the return comes after the emigration year; preparing is possible now
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.4
Stop allowances and child benefit
- Lead time
- an hour, online
- Costs
- none
3 official sources
- 2.5
Going into employment? The a-kasse clock runs from your departure
- Lead time
- arranging can be done in an afternoon; the term is eight weeks
- Costs
- membership per month, differs per a-kasse
2 official sources
- 2.6
Deregister with the municipality
- Lead time
- possible from 5 days before departure, up to and including departure day
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.7
DigiD, bank and your vote: keep the lines to the Netherlands
- Lead time
- an afternoon
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.8
Documents: multilingual extracts, no apostille needed
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks for applying for extracts
- Costs
- fees per extract
2 official sources
- 2.9
Partner comes along without a job of their own
- Lead time
- an evening together, then a few actions to arrange
- Costs
- none — the consequences are in the article
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.10
Partly staying in the Netherlands: the eight-month rule
- Lead time
- one decision, before you commit to anything else
- Costs
- none
4 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.11
The house in the Netherlands: sell, let or keep
- Lead time
- one conversation with the mortgage lender and one with a tax adviser
- Costs
- advisory hours; when letting possibly an interest surcharge from the bank
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.12
Children staying in the Netherlands: DUO, healthcare and the house
- Lead time
- an evening, and after that one notification a year
- Costs
- none
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
Phase 3
3 steps
The move
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.
- 3.1
Plan the move: one long day's drive, no paperwork
- Lead time
- quotes 2-4 weeks ahead; driving yourself is always possible
- Costs
- see the cost indication
1 official source
- 3.2
The car: carrying out what you decided in phase 1
- Lead time
- RDW export and sale 1-2 weeks
- Costs
- see the car sum of step 1.2
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.3
The pet: EU passport, and for dogs two Danish rules
- Lead time
- vet visit 2-3 weeks before departure
- Costs
- vet check; registration DKK 145
3 official sources
Only if this applies to you
Phase 4
6 steps
Registration in Denmark
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.
- 4.1
Find your home: the registration waits for it
- Lead time
- count on weeks to months, depending on the city
- Costs
- up to 3 months' deposit + 3 months' rent in advance
3 official sources
- 4.2
The EU residence document at SIRI
- Lead time
- employees almost immediately; self-employed about 2 months
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 4.3
The CPR number at the Citizen Service
- Lead time
- online application 2-3 weeks' processing, then the appointment
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 4.4
MitID and Digital Post: compulsory, and immediately useful
- Lead time
- at the CPR appointment or right after
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 4.5
The yellow health card and your GP
- Lead time
- the card comes 2-4 weeks after the CPR registration
- Costs
- first card free
2 official sources
- 4.6
The tax card: arrange it before your first working day
- Lead time
- applying is possible up to a month before your first working day
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
Phase 5
8 steps
Arrival
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.
- 5.1
The car on Danish plates: thirty days
- Lead time
- inspection and registration 1-2 weeks; the term is 30 days
- Costs
- the registreringsafgift from the sum of 1.2, plus inspection
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.2
Bank account and NemKonto
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks once you have CPR and tax card
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 5.3
Work: finish the a-kasse, and know what you're building up
- Lead time
- an afternoon
- Costs
- a-kasse contribution per month
2 official sources
- 5.4
School and childcare
- Lead time
- apply for childcare as soon as you have an address; guarantee after 3 months
- Costs
- childcare with a municipal cap; school free
3 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.5
Healthcare costs in practice: know where your own money goes
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- see the text
2 official sources
- 5.6
Tax: set your advance right, and understand the structure
- Lead time
- an evening with MitID
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 5.7
Learn Danish: it's arranged for free
- Lead time
- sign up via the municipality; modules of months
- Costs
- free; but a deposit of DKK 2,000 per module
1 official source
- 5.8
Your driving licence: nothing is required, exchanging is allowed
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- exchange DKK 520 (2026)
2 official sources
8 of these steps aren't always there. They appear only when your answers call them up — a pet, a car, children staying behind. That's the difference between a plan and a checklist in which you have to work out yourself what applies.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Denmark journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 1.2 of your plan
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.
This is step 1.2 of 34. The other 33 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
And what you don't see here
This page shows the content. What a page can't show is the work the platform does for you afterwards:
- The clocks that start running the moment you begin, and a nudge at the moment something is asked of you — not earlier.
- Your documents in one place, with their expiry dates watched, so nothing lapses while you wait for something else.
- The ticking off, together with your partner on the same journey.
- The steps that drop out or appear based on your answers, so your plan holds only what really applies to you.
Ready to start on Denmark?
All 34 steps, set to your situation and with the deadlines watched. € 199 once, no subscription.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Denmark: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in Denmark really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
Thirty-six journeys are fully ready — Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Canada, Panama, United States, Suriname, China, Dubai, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.