Denmark · Business & founder
Start-up Denmark
Open
Last verified July 2026
Open, but capped at a hard quota of 75 permits per calendar year.
This is a genuine no-capital route into a Nordic economy for a start-up founder. But the annual cap of 75 permits tells you how modest Denmark's ambitions are for it. Think of it as a boutique programme, not a pipeline.
Qualifying routes
—
Expert panel approved start-up
There is no investment threshold. The business idea must first be approved by the expert panel at the Danish Business Authority, before you apply for the SIRI permit.
The facts
- Total landed cost
- Permit fees, plus proof of funds to support yourself and your family for the first year. There is no fixed investment requirement.
- Route type
- Business & founder
- Timeline
- 3–8 months (Expert panel approval comes first. Then you apply for the SIRI residence permit.)
- Physical presence
- You must play an active part in the business, and your presence must be necessary to it.
- Family
- Spouse or partnerChildren under 18
- Permanent residency
- A separate track, governed by general rules.
- Citizenship
- 9 years.
- Language test
- Prøve i Dansk 3, plus the Indfødsretsprøven.
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- Business idea approved by the Danish Business Authority's expert panelInnovative growth companyActive participation, with your presence necessary to the businessFunds to support yourself and any accompanying family for the first year
What can go wrong
- There is a hard quota. No more than 75 permits are issued across the whole scheme each calendar year. Timing within the year matters, and a rejection is not necessarily a judgment on your application.
- In practice, the expert panel rules out lifestyle businesses. Shops, restaurants, consultancies and import or export ventures do not qualify. The business has to be a genuinely innovative growth company.
- Panel approval has to come first. The SIRI permit application is a separate step that follows it.
- You must play an active part in the business. Your presence in Denmark has to be necessary, not symbolic. This is not a passive holding structure.
- Denmark's 9-year citizenship path, combined with naturalisation by parliamentary act, makes this a very long game if a passport is the goal.