Work and residence permit for PhD Students

You must hold a work and residence permit to be a PhD Student in Denmark and you need to have it before you begin your PhD study.

Your contact at the Graduate School will initiate the application process for your work and residence permit.

To have your work and residence permit processed within the promised time, please act promptly when you are asked to by the immigration authorities or by the Graduate School.

Please note:

• You cannot start the application for a work and residence permit on your own; Aarhus University must always initiate the application process.
• You have the right to work maximum 90 hours per month on top of your work as a PhD student.
• Non-Nordic citizens are required to hold a work and residence permit to work or conduct research in Greenland or the Faroe Islands. Special conditions apply and the processing time is 3 months. Contact the Graduate School for further information.

You are required to:

• Be enrolled as a PhD student at AU
• Be employed as a PhD student at AU
• Have a written job contract or job offer which specifies salary and employment conditions
• Uphold salary and employment conditions that corresponds to Danish standards (which is compulsory for employments at AU)

Advantages:

• You are free to work both in and outside Denmark - within the duration of your permit - without your permit lapsing*
• Your permit will usually include a residence permit of additional 3 years when you can stay in Denmark for job seeking. However, you are not allowed to work full time in this period without an additional permit. Read more about work permit during the job seeking period.

If you hold a permit issued before 1 April 2023, which only grants you a job seeking period of 6 months, you can apply for an extension of the job seeking period up to 3 years. Read more about job seeking residence permit after a completed educational programme.

• In addition to your PhD-position, you are also allowed to work an additional 20 hours a week, as well as full-time during the months of June, July and August

Please be aware that:

• You are not allowed to start working at AU before you have been granted a work and residence permit
• You are not allowed to move to another position at AU without applying for a new work and residence permit
• As a PhD student in Denmark, you may not receive certain public benefits. Read the confirmation letter containing your residence and work permit, contact the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) or check Newtodenmark.dk about public benefits.
• If you are employed and enrolled in a three-year Industrial PhD-programme, contact the Graduate School to clarify whether AU or the company will apply for the work and residence permit.
• It is a condition for the work and residence permit that you are active and enrolled at AU. If this is not the case, the immigration authority can revoke your residence permit. AU is obliged to inform the immigration authority if you are not actively following the educational programme or if you stop before planned.
• If you are on maternity leave your residence and work permit will not be revoked and you are able to get an extension of your residence permit. However, AU is required to inform the Danish immigration authorities about your leave. Therefore, always contact the Graduate School if you are going on leave.

For detailed information:

Please refer to Newtodenmark.dk for detailed information about the PhD scheme. If in doubt, contact the Graduate School administration.

You are required to:

• To be enrolled at AU as PhD student
• You must document that you have at your disposal a set amount per month, with 12 months being the maximum requirement. See the current monthly amount .

Advantages:

• You are free to work both in and outside Denmark - within the duration of your permit - without your permit lapsing*
• Your permit will usually include a residence permit of additional 3 years when you can stay in Denmark for job seeking. However, you are not allowed to work full time in this period without an additional permit. Read more at Newtodenmark.dk about the additional work permit without limitations.

If you hold a permit issued before 1 April 2023, which only grants you a job seeking period of 6 months, you can apply for an extension of the job seeking period up to 3 years. Read more about job seeking residence permit after a completed educational programme.

• In addition to your PhD-position, you are also allowed to work an additional 20 hours a week, as well as full-time during the months of June, July and August

Please be aware that:

• You are not allowed to start working at AU before you have been granted a work and residence permit
• You are not allowed to move to another position at AU without applying for a new work and residence permit
• As a PhD student in Denmark, you may not receive certain public benefits. Read the confirmation letter containing your residence and work permit, contact the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) or check Newtodenmark.dk about public benefits.
• If you are employed and enrolled in a three-year Industrial PhD-programme, contact the Graduate School to clarify whether AU or the company will apply for the work and residence permit.
• It is a condition for the work and residence permit that you are active and enrolled at AU. If this is not the case, the immigration authority can revoke your residence permit. AU is obliged to inform the immigration authority if you are not actively following the educational programme or stop before planned.
• If you are on maternity leave your residence and work permit will not be revoked and you are able to get an extension of your residence permit. However, AU is required to inform the Danish immigration authorities about your leave. Therefore, always contact the Graduate School if you are going on leave.

For detailed information:

Read more detailed information about the PhD scheme. If in doubt, contact the Graduate School administration. 

If you are on a research stay at AU without being enrolled as a PhD student by AU, please refer to Guest Researcher / Guest PhD for further information.

Your entitlement to benefits depends on your work and residence permit. Employed PhD students may receive some public benefits, whereas enrolled PhD students may not receive any public benefits at all.

Therefore, if your enrolment as a PhD student is extended but your employment is not, you are not allowed to receive public benefits anymore. 

You can read details about the conditions for public benefits on the Newtodenmark website 

Employed PhD students should read more under Working for a specific employer, enrolled PhD students under Student. 

The Establishment Card scheme no longer exists. However, if you already hold an Establishment Card it is still possible to apply for an extension. Read more about establishment card extension on the Newtodenmark website.