This is my personal experience of applying to Denmark under the Pay limit scheme and applying a dependent visa for my wife and 2 kids. I am a Sri Lankan who is working in Malaysia and I started my visa process from Malaysia. This is the general process as of the time of writing and applicable for almost all other nationalities who are applying from Malaysia. I made this guide assuming that your family will be moving with you, if it is not the case, after reading this, please check the last paragraph of this blog.
Residence permit for a primary applicant.
I got my job confirmation in the third week of September 2019, signed the contract last week of September 2019. My visa process started in the first week of October 2019. If you’re applying under the Pay-limit scheme, the application has 2 sections to complete. The company which offered the job must fill the first part of the application form. To start the process from the company, you have to submit the following documents.
- Copy of your passport bio information page
- Residential address
To start the process, the company representative, most probably the HR has to create a Case ID from here and pay the application fees. Please refer to the above link to check the fees.
When the company completed the first part of the form, you’ll receive a copy of it and a username and password with the link to the form to login and complete the second part of the application. The main applicant who applies under the pay-limit scheme should have the following documents scanned for a smoother process. If the documents are not ready, you can save the partially completed form, prepare the documents and continue from where you have stopped.
- Copy of the passport. All pages including the cover, first and last page
- Educational certificates
- Signed job contract
- Sworn declaration at the end of the application, which you have to print, sign, scan and attach at the next step
- Is there any other documents that required other than the above mentioned, scanned and keep them
Follow the instructions, just before the form submission, make sure all the details are correct and submit. You’ll receive a receipt to your email which you have to print and submit to the Embassy/VFS Visa application center when submitting the documents physically.
Residence permit for family.
The applicant should apply for the family’s visa. To start the process, you must create a unique Case IDs for each accompanying family member. You can create them here. Fill the necessary information and make the payment. There are several options to make the payment, but the Credit Card option is the fastest. Once the payment is successful, you’ll get an email from The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) for the newly created Case ID payment. Make sure to save the receipt for the payment for the final step.
After the successful payment, you can go to this link to complete the application. This form is accessible through Step 4 as well. You can change to English from the left side of the menu bar if you don’t understand Danish. To login, if you’re coming for the first time, you should select the second option which is to Start a new application without using the NemID. This will generate a username and password. Make sure to note this down somewhere to continue later.
You should have the following documents ready.
- Payment receipt for Case ID
- Marriage Certificate in English (For wife)
- Birth Certificate in English (For kids)
- Passport copy. All pages including the cover page, the first and the last pages of each accompanying family member.
- Sworn declaration. This will be available as the final step in the application form where you have to print, sign, scan and attach in the next step.
In each step, there are clear instructions that are self-explanatory to complete the application. Please note that when you complete the application form, you have to submit the documents to the embassy/VFS within 14 days. If you feel that you will not be able to submit the documents within during this time, before submitting the form online, you can save the form, and when you’re ready, you can submit. Alternatively, you can check the available dates online from the VFS appointment website to check which date and time will be suitable for you.
Power of Attorney
If it’s the main applicant who fills the application form, then for wife and kids, you can add your address and contact information. You don’t have to fill the Power of Attorney form. But if an agent is filling the application, you have to download the Power Of Attorney form which is available on 2nd step, sign and attach to the list of documents.
Regarding the document attestation
The SIRI did not ask for me to have the attested copy of the documents. Our original marriage certificate is in English, so we didn’t have any issues in this regard. But my kids’ birth certificates were not in English. I had a translated copy by a sworn translator from Sri Lanka. I submitted the translated version online. But after a week, the Danish embassy contacted me to send me a copy of the original birth certificate which is not in English to send to them, which I did. They accepted it as well. So if you don’t have the attested version, and only the translated version, my advice is to attach both the original if it’s not in English and the translated version.
Submit the documents to the embassy
When you submit the application, you’ll receive an email with the application form attached and the information about the documents that you have submitted in the application. You must print this email and submit this to the embassy. When I was applying for a residence permit to Denmark from Malaysia, the Denmark embassy in Malaysia has closed down their visa services. You can read more about it here. Click Malaysia and read about the instructions for the residence permit. As a Sri Lankan citizen living in Malaysia, I chose to apply from VFS Singapore. You can go to the VFS Singapore website for more information here.
You have to pay the Danish mission fee through the webshop and make the appointment at VFS Singapore to submit the document and biometric record. Remember to keep the receipt to submit to the VFS.
Appointment at VFS Singapore
Please note that the application submission time should be before 2 pm and if you arrive later than 2 pm you have to pay a premium fee, which may not be worth it, instead you can stay overnight in Singapore and submit the next day, which was exactly what we did. At the VFS Singapore, You have to pay a VFS service fee by cash only for each applicant.
You should submit the following documents
- Payment receipt for the application
- Payment receipt for the Danish mission
- Completed application form
- Bio page of your passport
- Marriage certificate for the wife
- Birth certificate for kid
Another important thing is that you can apply yours and the family’s visa at the same time. Once the documents are verified, you have to submit the biometric details by the instructions from the VFS officer, which they’ll take a photo of you and the fingers scan. So you don’t have to attach a passport photo to your application.
Collect the visa
When your visa is ready, the embassy will inform you. Mostly, you’ll receive the decision in 2 weeks, but the family’s visa process could take from 3 to 8 weeks. In our case, my kids got the visas in 3 weeks and my wife in 4 weeks. I went to the Danish embassy in Singapore when all of our visas were ready for collection, not the VFS Singapore. The Danish embassy in Singapore was very helpful regarding the visa status and get more information when needed. You’ll get a Multi-Entry Type D visa to Denmark valid from 1 month before your work starting date up to 6 months. You must enter Denmark within this period. If fails, you have to do the whole process again.
If you’re planning to move to Denmark first and then bring the family after 6 months, my suggestion is to apply for the accompanying family members’ visa maybe 3 months prior to their expected arrival date to Denmark.
Fees at a glance
This information is based on December 2019.
- Visa application charge for the main applicant, which most of the time the company pays: DKK 3025
- Visa application fee for each accompanying family member: DKK 1515
- Danish mission fee for each applicant: DKK 1455
- VFS service fee for each applicant: SG$ 15
Summary
For the main applicant
- You’ll start the application process once you receive the completed the first part of the application from the company.
- Log in with the username and password that you received
Following are the steps as a summary for a family application
- Start the process from the nyidanmark.dk.
- Create the Case ID
- Pay the application fee
The following steps are the same for both applicants
- Complete the application form
- Sign the solemn declarations
- Submit the application
- Pay the Danish mission fee from the webshop.
- Make the appointment within 14 days after submitting the application online
- Submit the documents to VFS
- Collect the visa when the SIRI made a decision about you
While your visa is processing, you can read how to find accommodation in Denmark here
