Immigration Series: All about Denmark’s Positive List of People with Higher Education

The Positive List of People with Higher Education is a list of professions experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals in Denmark. A job title can appear in the list, if there is a regional or national shortage of qualified professionals for the position.

The applicant must have an educational background that makes him/her qualified for the job. When offered a job included in the Positive List, the applicant can apply for a residence and work permit in Denmark based on the scheme.

How is a job title added to the Positive List? A job title can be added to the Positive List if:

• Ongoing labour market monitoring (the Labour Market Balance Model) shows that there is a national shortage of qualified professionals for a job title,
• Profession specific unemployment insurance funds (a-kasser) assess that there is a national shortage of qualified professionals for a job title, or
• The Regional Labour Market Councils assess that there is a regional shortage of qualified professionals for a job title.
• The job titles in the Positive List can be delisted no sooner than two years after the time they were added to the list.

Timing: The update of the Positive List based on the ongoing labour market monitoring happens twice a year  - on January 1 and July 1. The Regional Labour Market Councils and the profession specific unemployment insurance funds also update the Positive List twice a year (usually, April 1 and October 1). However, in case of an acute shortage of qualified professional for a job title, the Regional Labour Market Councils and the profession-specific unemployment insurance funds can at any time add a job title to the list.

Requirements: 

Education: It is a condition for all job titles on the Positive List for People with a Higher Education that you have completed a higher educational programme. The list contains information about what educational level is required for each job title. For example, if you are offered employment as a civil engineer, you must document that you have, as a minimum, completed a professional bachelor's degree. For some job titles, it is in addition a requirement that you have obtained a Danish authorisation or official recognition.

Salary and terms of employment: Your salary and terms of employment must meet the Danish standards. This means that your salary, holiday entitlements and terms of notice etc. must not be inferior to the standards within the professional field in which you are going to work. When you apply, you must attach a copy of your employment contract or job offer. All terms of employment must be stated in the contract or the job offer.

Weekly working hours: It is a condition that your working hours are usual. This means that you typically must work full time (normally, 37 hours a week). However, within certain industries there might be job positions with employment of less than 37 hours per week, which in some instances may be considered usual.

Salary requirement: The salary you have been offered must not be lower that normal within the field you will be working in. The Labour Department can only take into account, following pay, when accessing whether the offered salary is corresponding to Danish standards:

• Salary in the form of liquid assets, including fixed supplements which are, therefore, guaranteed salary
• Payments to labour market pension schemes, including the pension contributions paid by both the employer and the applicant
• Paid holiday allowance.

If you earn holiday allowance, which can only be paid to you in the following year, it cannot count towards the annual salary for the year in which you have earned it. Moreover, it is only holiday allowance paid by the employer whom you are currently allowed to work for, that can be counted as part of your salary.

These salary components cannot be taken into account when assessing whether your salary corresponds to Danish standards: Paid living and housing expenses, Per diems, Free use of car, Paid phone, Paid internet, Benefits-in-kind, Subscriptions, and Other services offered to you by your employer.

Salary payment: Your salary must be paid to a Danish bank account in a bank operating legally in Denmark. Accordingly, your salary cannot be paid to you in cash or to a foreign bank account. It is not a requirement that the transfer to the Danish bank account must happen from a Danish bank account. There are no immediate limits to the type of bank account you can use. A currency account or basic bank account can both be used.

The requirement does not apply if you apply under the Positive List for the highly educated, under the researcher scheme or the researcher track under the Fast-track Scheme and your employment does not exceed 180 days from the day of entry. However, the requirement will apply to you if your short-term employment is extended beyond 180 days.

Bank account: The Danish bank account must be opened no later than 90 days after the date of being granted a Danish residence and work permit, or 90 days after the employee enters Denmark, whichever happens last. Your salary during your first 90 days in Denmark can be paid to a foreign bank account. If you already hold a residence permit for no less than 3 months, your salary must be paid to a Danish bank account from the first payment of salary.

Rule for accompanying family members: One of the conditions for a residence permit under this scheme is that an accompanying family member (spouse, cohabiting partner, children or in certain circumstances, other family members) has not had its residence permit revoked more than once due to lack of a required work permit.