Public services and online portals

Key authorities

• SIRI (Styrelsen for International Rekruttering og Integration, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration): EU residence document (EU-opholdsdokument) for citizens of the EU and the EEA and for Swiss citizens; residence and work permit for everyone else (see DK-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).
• The municipality, at the Borgerservice (citizen service desk): population register (Folkeregistret) and CPR number, change of address, choice of doctor, health card, MitID, Digital Post. It also manages schools, nurseries and the jobcenter (employment).
• The ICS centres (Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg, Esbjerg, Sønderborg): SIRI and the municipality in the same place. In Copenhagen (ICS East, Nyropsgade 1, within International House Copenhagen): EU residence document, CPR, MitID, advice on the tax card (without issuing it), help with U2 unemployment benefits, employment programmes. Appointment required. ICS East serves residents of Copenhagen and the partner municipalities; elsewhere, you request the CPR at the Borgerservice of your municipality.
• Skattestyrelsen (tax authority, skat.dk): tax card, provisional and annual assessment notice, VAT for businesses (see DK-IMPOTS-TOUS-001).
• Udbetaling Danmark (benefits payment agency): family benefits, country of health insurance, special health card, voluntary health insurance for self-employed people (see DK-SANTE-TOUS-001).
• Erhvervsstyrelsen (Danish Business Authority) and virk.dk: business registration, CVR number (see DK-ENTREPRISE-TOUS-001).
• Motorstyrelsen (Danish Motor Agency): registration and registration tax for cars.
• Unemployment insurance funds (a-kasse): private, non-profit, subsidised; membership is required to receive unemployment benefits (dagpenge).

Online services

• borger.dk (citizen portal, in Danish) and lifeindenmark.dk (its official version for newcomers, in English).
• MitID: as soon as you have a CPR and are at least 15. You create it in the MitID app by scanning a passport or a chip ID card, or at the Borgerservice (with a valid ID document, and questions drawn from the CPR register or a witness). Without a Danish CPR, the app uses an 8-digit P code.
• NemKonto: a bank account you already hold, designated to receive all public payments (tax refund, benefits). It is free and requires a CPR. You designate it through your Danish bank, on nemkonto.dk with MitID, or by form for a foreign account (signature in front of two witnesses or a notary).
• Digital Post: official digital mail, automatic from age 15 with a CPR. Read it in the Digital Post app, on lifeindenmark.dk, e-Boks or mit.dk. You must read it. An exemption is possible, to be requested in person at the municipality.
• TastSelv (Skattestyrelsen's online tax portal) and virk.dk (businesses, with MitID Erhverv, the digital identity for businesses).

Steps

1. EU or EEA citizen, or Swiss: apply for your EU residence document from SIRI (online, then in person). Nordic citizens: not needed.
2. Find a permanent address: without one, no CPR. Start early, housing is often hard to find.
3. Register for the CPR at the Borgerservice or at an ICS centre. At ICS East, the request is made online, then a personal link arrives by email to book the appointment.
4. Receive your yellow health card (sundhedskort) and choose your doctor.
5. Create your MitID.
6. Apply for your tax card if you work (see DK-NIF-TOUS-001).
7. Open an account with a Danish bank: Lifeindenmark's "When you arrive" page says your tax card is needed first, but its NemKonto page says it is optional (see DK-BANQUE-TOUS-001): ask your bank.
8. Designate your NemKonto and activate Digital Post.

Common pitfalls

• Without a CPR, almost everything is blocked. Before the CPR, you can get a personal tax number (skattepersonnummer) to be paid and taxed: it will become your CPR when you settle. For urgent care, your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is in principle intended for temporary stays: check with your home health insurer.
• Working without a tax card: 55% of your salary goes to tax withheld at source (skat.dk).
• Ignoring Digital Post. Summonses (school, nursery, hospital) and decisions arrive there; not reading them does not protect you.
• No name on the letterbox: the health card and some letters still arrive by post.
• Car registered abroad: if you settle, you must register it in Denmark no later than 30 days after your arrival, in principle paying the registration tax, even for a car coming from the EU. A stay of less than 185 days in 12 months lets you keep foreign plates.
• Turning up at the ICS centre without an appointment for the CPR: this is only possible for general advice.
• Faroe Islands and Greenland: their own authorities, outside the EU; this sheet applies to mainland Denmark.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens and Swiss citizens: EU residence document, then CPR.
• Nordic citizens (Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden): CPR directly.
• British citizens (Scotland included): residence and work permit first; ICS East does not handle these permits, SIRI manages them in Valby.