Civil registration in Denmark
You can become registered in the CPR if you move to Denmark from abroad and meet the conditions for being registered as a resident. Registration of residence is also known as civil registration.
When you are registered in the Danish Civil Register, you will be issued with a Danish civil registration number. The civil registration number is often called a CPR number.
Your rights and obligations in this connection depend, amongst other things, on:
- Which country you are a citizen of
- Which country you are moving from
- How long you will be staying in Denmark
- Whether you have legal residence in Denmark
- Whether you have a home or a permanent residence in Denmark.
If you move between the Nordic countries, you are covered by the inter-Nordic civil registration agreement, under which you can only be registered at one address in the Nordic Region. It is the rules in the country to which you are moving that determine whether you should be registered there.
How do you register with the Danish Civil Register?
You must notify your change of address to your municipality of residence within five days of moving to Denmark, and you must meet the conditions for registration. You can only be registered as a resident if you are legally resident in Denmark and have a home or permanent residence in the country.
To register as a resident, contact the citizen service centre (Borgerservice) in your municipality. You can find more information on the procedure on the municipality’s website. In many cases, it is also possible to register at one of the country’s six International Citizen Service centres. Several centres allow you to upload documents and book appointments online. You can read more at borger.dk.
The municipality will assess what documentation you need to bring. This might for example include:
- Your passport or national ID card
- Documentation for your address in Denmark, e.g. a rent contract
- Residence document or residence permit, if applicable
- A marriage certificate, if you are married
- The birth certificates of any children who are moving with you
- Documentation of child custody, if applicable.
Once you are on the Civil Register, you will be issued with a Danish civil registration number (CPR number).
If you are a citizen of another Nordic country and are moving to Denmark, you must register with the Civil Register in Denmark if you will be staying in the country for more than six months.
You have the right – but not the obligation – to register if you will be staying in the country for more than three months.
If you are moving from another Nordic country, the civil registration agency in the country from which you are moving will be automatically informed that you are now registered in Denmark. You will then be deregistered from the Civil Register in the country from which you have moved.
In some Nordic countries, you must also report your move to the local civil registration office before leaving the country.
If you are a citizen of a non-Nordic EU or EEA country, or Switzerland, you can be registered with the Civil Register in Denmark if you will be staying in the country for more than three months. You must be registered in Denmark if you will be staying in the country for more than six months.
The same applies to family members from countries outside the EU and EEA, if they have right of residence under the EU rules on free movement.
If you are moving from another Nordic country, the civil registration agency in the country from which you are moving will be automatically informed that you are now registered in Denmark. You will then be deregistered from the Civil Register in the country from which you have moved.
In some Nordic countries, you must also report your move to the local civil registration office before leaving the country.
If you are a citizen of a country outside the Nordic Region, the EU or the EEA and are moving to Denmark, you must report the move to the Civil Register if you will be staying in the country for more than three months. If you are moving to Denmark from another Nordic country, you are only required to register the move if your stay will last more than six months.
Your move can only be entered in the Civil Register if you have a residence permit. You can apply for a residence and work permit at nyidanmark.dk.
If you are moving to Denmark from another Nordic country, the civil registration agency in the country from which you are moving will be automatically informed that you are now registered in Denmark. You will then be deregistered from the Civil Register in the country from which you have moved. In some Nordic countries, you must also report your move to the local civil registration office before leaving the country.
If you move to Denmark with children
Children who move to Denmark must also be registered in the Civil Register if they meet the conditions.
The municipality may ask for documentation for the child. This might for example include:
- The child’s passport or other ID
- The child’s birth certificate
- Documentation of child custody
- Documentation of consent or other documentation if only one parent is moving with the child.
If you are in doubt about what documentation to bring, you should contact the Citizen Service Centre in the municipality to which you are moving.
Moving from Denmark or Greenland to another country
If you are moving abroad from Denmark or Greenland, you must report your move to your present municipality of residence before leaving, even if you are moving to another Nordic country.
If you are moving to Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands or Greenland from Denmark, you must register your move with the municipality in the area where you will be living. Your previous municipality in Denmark or Greenland can only register your departure from the country when it has been informed by the registration authority in the country to which you are moving that you are now registered there.
You can register your move abroad at borger.dk.
Registration number if you cannot be registered with the Danish Civil Register
If you do not meet the conditions for being registered in the Danish Civil Register, you may in some situations be assigned an administrative civil registration number (personal tax number).
This might for example be required if you must pay tax in Denmark, but do not need to be registered in the CPR as resident in Denmark. An administrative civil registration number is a real civil registration number, but this does not mean you are registered in the Danish Civil Register as resident in Denmark.
If you will be working in Denmark, but do not need to be registered in the Danish Civil Register, you can apply to the Danish Tax Agency for a tax card and an administrative civil registration number (personal tax number).
If you later move to Denmark and become registered in the Civil Register as a resident, you will generally retain the civil registration number you have already been given.
Please fill in our contact form if you have any questions or if you have encountered an obstacle in another Nordic country.
NB! If you have questions regarding the processing of a specific case or application, or other personal matters, please contact the relevant authority directly.