How to move to Denmark
Three things you must have to live in Denmark? Sundhedskortet, opholdskortet, and MitID.
I would add MobilePay as an unofficial fourth, too.
Fulbright Denmark is the Dream Team of relocation planning. Its staff sent an Arrival Guide to my fellow U.S. Fulbright Scholars and I, and this information was heaven-sent. I would like to share some of that knowledge and other tips I have picked up with anyone interested in moving here, but especially to future Fulbrighters.
To move to Denmark from a non-EU country, such as the United States, you need a residence permit. To obtain this permit, you need to do two things: (1) Submit an application and several documents to either the Danish Immigration Service or the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration, and (2) Schedule an appointment to have your biometrics recorded. These biometrics include your photograph, fingerprints, and signature. The photo and fingerprints will later be embedded into a pink and blue residence card called an opholdskort. I enclosed a copy of this card as a graphic. This card signifies that you have the right to live in Denmark.
Besides submitting these documents electronically to the aforementioned agency, be sure to bring hard copies of them to the biometrics appointment, too. Some of the required documents were specific to me being a Fulbright Scholar, but others apply to everyone moving to Denmark from the U.S. For my experience, I needed to have a residency application, power of attorney, photocopy of passport (e.g., one that is valid at least 90 days beyond intended departure date from Denmark), evidence that I paid the 1.725 DKK general consulate fee (about $241.20), evidence of being able to support myself financially (e.g., bank statement less than 30 days old), grant authorization from Fulbright, proof of marital status, evidence of address and phone number in the U.S., and evidence that I completed my doctorate. If you have dependents coming with you, it’s another 2.880 DKK per child (about $403). If your spouse won’t be with you the whole time, bring a signed Declaration of Consent, or samtykkeerklæring, on which your spouse gives permission for the children to be in Denmark.
Something important to note when scheduling the biometrics appointment is that it needs to take place within 14 days of submitting the residency application and the aforementioned documents. Do not submit your application and the roughly $240 fee until you’ve scheduled your biometrics appointment, and that you are going to this appointment within 14 days.
Within the U.S., there are five places where you can have this biometrics appointment: Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, or Houston. Anyone who is going to live in Denmark with you needs to have an appointment, too. This means, depending upon where you live, the amount of money you need to spend to travel to one of these locations and book a hotel and transportation can be expensive.
I recall it was at this stage that I wondered if living in Denmark would be worth it. I can emphatically say that yes, it was. I adore living and researching here. I value the relationships I've made. But a person's Fulbright grant isn't going to pay for all of those pre-departure expenses. And those expenses will vary depending upon where you live within the U.S. and whether you are going on your Fulbright alone.
When scheduling our families’ biometrics appointments, at least one other Fulbright Scholar and I found we could not schedule a biometrics appointment for a family member alongside our own appointments. After scheduling our appointments, the next available appointment for our family member was months out - when we already planned to be in Denmark. I discovered that we couldn’t use the same email address for our family members' appointments as we did for our own. “The system,” so-to-speak, thought we were making repeated appointments for ourselves. Once I used different email addresses for each person coming to Denmark with me, this problem was resolved. We were able to book back-to-back appointments with no trouble.
As I said earlier, bring hardcopies of the aforementioned paperwork to the biometrics appointment. Despite having evidence that I already submitted all these things for the residency permit, I was still asked to show them again at my biometrics appointment. There were no electronics allowed in the biometrics waiting area and office in Houston. So, when I didn’t have a hard copy of something, I had to leave the office and go stand in a secure space in order to retrieve the document on my iPhone. Each time I returned, I went through security again. This lengthened my appointment.
I received my residence permit about two weeks after this biometrics appointment. This permit isn't the same as the residence card. It's a piece of paper that has an administrative civil registration number, also known as a CPR number, on it. The closest thing I can think of to compare this number to in America would be a social security number. But it’s more than that. You need it to find a place to live, to open a Danske Bank account, to receive official email from Danish authorities (e-Boks), to set up a Rejsekort (public transportation account), to schedule doctor’s appointments, to check out books from the library (see Kb.dk), to get a Danish phone number, to set up a MitID, and to use MobilePay.
But this number is not yet activated when you receive this permit. You won’t be able to activate it until you actually come to Denmark. You must schedule an appointment with the International Citizen Service center, or “Borgerservice,” for as soon as possible after you arrive. And, you must find a place to live.
Since I was coming to Aarhus as a guest researcher, I posted a request on Aarhus University’s server to find housing specifically for internationals. The person whose house I ended up renting actually wasn’t listed on this listserv. Instead, she saw my post, and reached out to me. I am glad she did. I would gladly recommend her place to future scholars looking for furnished accommodation. But if that hadn’t worked out, I would have also tried www.lejebolig.dk, www.dba.dk, www.husvild.dk, www.boligportal.dk, or www.housinganywhere.com.
No matter what you use, be careful of scams. Fulbright Denmark and Aarhus University have great resources on this. If a lease is an English, for example, that’s a red flag. This is Denmark. Leasing contracts are in Danish. Make sure the address actually exists, and be weary of “landlords” who don’t provide a direct phone number or are unwilling to show you the accommodation before you deposit money.
Once you have your residence permit and housing secured, register for an appointment with the Borgerservice. In Aarhus, these appointments are held at Dokk1, up the giant outdoor staircase. You're supposed to have this appointment within five days of arriving in Denmark. However, I was coming just before the fall semester, along with a massive international student body coming to Aarhus University. We were all clamoring for the same limited appointment slots. I would see a free spot, but in the time I would click on it, it would be unavailable. A Borgerservice employee told me new appointments open at midnight, so I made sure I was on my computer at midnight Denmark time to grab one of these slots. (I was doing this while I was still in Arizona.) This employee also said it was okay if I couldn’t get a slot within five days of arrival. Still, the earlier, the better. You can’t really do much until you have this appointment out of the way. This is the meeting where your ever-important aforementioned CPR number is activated, and you are assigned a general practitioner. (For more on that, go to Sundhed.dk.) I received my residence card and yellow health card, known as a sundhedskort (see graphic above), about a week after this Borgerservice appointment. I also set up my MitID at this same appointment.
MitID is a two-step digital identification app that is needed to access just about anything in Denmark that requires authentication. It wasn’t long after I came here that I could see how much more seriously Denmark took cybersecurity and privacy than the U.S., and MitID is part of that. Apparently a person usually has to wait 24 hours after their Borgerservice appointment to activate their MitID, but I did not. Someone set it up for me at that same appointment. I appreciated that.
The biggest hurdle I faced was setting up a Danske Bank account. A person can’t do this until they have their CPR number activated. Thankfully, I had enough funds on hand that I could get through the first month without my Fulbright funds. (Fulbright Denmark can only transfer funds to a Danish bank account.) This was also crucial.
Once you have your bank account, you can use MobilePay. Denmark is a heavily electronic society. Besides using a Danske Bank debit card, people commonly use MobilePay by opening the app on their phone, scanning that business’s QR code or enter its phone number, entering the amount, and entering a personal security code to pay for items. Same for transferring money to individuals. In fact, only once have I seen actual cash exchanged in the time I’ve been here, and it was from children buying Sun Lollies from me at a school function. I set up a MobilePay using my Danish phone number, using Greentel for my mobile service. I have been happy with it.
Those are the main things. It has been a pleasant place to live. Violent crime is low. Petty crime, such as bike theft, is more common. I rented a high-quality bike from Swapfiet and have not had any problems. Take Vitamin D. Don’t be surprised that 16 year olds are buying alcohol. They can legally purchase certain types. There is no right turn on red lights, and don’t worry if you cannot pronounce “rødgrød med fløde.” It’s doubtful any of the Danes expect you to be able to do so. Ever.