Passport requirements for travel to Denmark

If you are a citizen of a Nordic country and are travelling to Denmark from another Nordic country, you do not generally need to bring your passport. However, you may be asked to identify yourself and document that you are a Nordic citizen.

If you are a citizen of an EU, EEA or Schengen country, you must bring a passport or national ID card. If you are a citizen of any other country, you must bring a passport and, in some cases, a visa or residence permit.

Do you need a passport when you travel to Denmark?

Below you can read about what ID you will need to bring with you when you travel to Denmark. The rules depend, amongst other things, on your citizenship, where you are travelling from and whether you are travelling with children.

You can read more on the website of the Danish National Police and on the website New to Denmark.

The Nordic Passport Union means that, in general, if you are a citizen of a Nordic country, you do not need to show a passport when travelling between the Nordic countries.

However, border controls have been temporarily reintroduced on entry to several Nordic countries, and there may also be random checks at the border.

You may therefore be asked to document or substantiate that you are a Nordic citizen. Only passports and national ID cards contain information about citizenship.

If you are a Nordic citizen you are allowed to travel in Denmark without a passport, but you must still be able to identify yourself if necessary. The police therefore recommend that Nordic citizens carry one of the following documents:

• Passport
• Driving licence
• National ID card with photo. Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish national ID cards are approved as travel documents for entry into Denmark.

If you are travelling by plane, ferry, bus or train, you should also check which ID the carrier requires. The carrier may have its own requirements, even though, as a Nordic citizen, you do not need a passport when travelling to Denmark from another Nordic country.

If you live in another Nordic country and wish to travel to Denmark with your child, you must make sure that the journey can be done legally. It is the rules in the country where the child lives that determine whether you can legally travel with the child to Denmark. This also applies to holidays.

• Children travelling with a parent or guardian: Nordic citizens under the age of 18 are exempt from the requirement of independent identification if they are travelling with a parent or guardian who can also identify themselves as a Nordic citizen. See the section ‘Nordic citizens over 18 travelling to Denmark from another Nordic country’, above.
• Nordic citizens under the age of 18 travelling without a parent or guardian must, like adults, be able to prove their citizenship. The police therefore recommend that the child brings a passport.
• School trips, etc.: Special rules apply to schoolchildren under the age of 18 who travel in connection with a school excursion within the general school system or with an after-school club. For school trips, the group must be accompanied by a teacher or other person over the age of 18 who is in possession of a list of all school pupils and accompanying teachers on the trip, as well as documentation of the purpose and circumstances of the trip.

You can obtain a school travel list from the the Danish Immigration Service or a Danish police district. The accompanying teachers must themselves meet the conditions for entry into Denmark.
 

If you are a citizen of a Nordic country and are travelling to Denmark from a country outside the Nordic region, you must bring a passport or a national ID card with photo. Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish national ID cards are approved as travel documents for entry into Denmark. Children must also have their own passport or ID card.

If you are a citizen of an EU, EEA or Schengen country outside the Nordic region, you must bring your passport or national ID card with you when travelling to Denmark. Children must also have their own passport or ID card.

You are not usually required to present travel documents when crossing the internal borders of the Schengen area. However, the Schengen countries may impose temporary border controls at any time, in which case you will need to provide proof of identity when crossing a border.

You must bring your passport with you if you are travelling from a non-Schengen country to an EU or Schengen country.

If you are a citizen of a country outside the Nordic Region, the EU, the EEA and Schengen, you must bring your passport when you travel to Denmark.

• If you are a citizen of a visa-free country, you do not need a visa to travel to Denmark. You can stay in Denmark for up to 90 days within a 180-day period without a visa or residence permit.
• If you are not a citizen of a visa-free country, you will need your passport and a visa or residence permit. You can get obtain a visa to stay in Denmark for a maximum of 90 days in a 180-day period. Your passport must be valid for at least three months after the date of your intended departure, and your passport must have been issued within the last ten years.
• If you have a residence permit for Denmark, you can travel within the Schengen area without a visa for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period. You must bring your passport and residence permit with you on the trip. If you have a residence permit for another Schengen country, you can travel to Denmark for 90 days within a period of 180 days without a visa. This time limit applies to the total stay in the Schengen area, not just in one country.

You can read more at ‘New to Denmark’.