Sideline employment

• A permit for sideline employment is normally granted with a view to taking on sideline employment of up to 8-15 hours per week and total employment of up to 45 hours per week.
• Your sideline employment must be naturally related to the job that forms the basis of your residence and work permit.
• There are no separate requirements for the terms of salary and employment conditions regarding the sideline employment and it can include salaried work as well as self-employment including freelance work.
• A permit for sideline employment is solely a work permit. Therefore, sideline employment cannot form the basis for a separate residence and work permit.
• The right to take up sideline employment is not included in a residence permit granted for job seeking.
• Full-time employment is not a requirement for researchers.
• You do not have to pay a fee for an application for sideline employment, and you do not need to have your biometric features recorded.
• The processing time for a permit for sideline employment is up to one month from the date the Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) receives a fully completed application.
• You cannot start working before you have received the permit for sideline employment.

If you hold a residence and work permit as an employed researcher, guest researcher or PhD student, you are allowed to take on sideline employment without a separate work permit, as long as your sideline employment is related to the main employment that forms the basis of your residence permit.

Whether or not the main and sideline employments are related always depends on a specific and individual assessment.

If you want to confirm that your main and sideline employments are related, please contact the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

If you hold a residence and work permit under the pay limit scheme or are a guest PhD student you are not covered by these rules and you have to apply for a separate work permit for any sideline employment.

When you already have a work permit

If you have a work permit as a guest PhD students or have a work permit under the Pay Limit scheme, you need to apply for a permit for sideline employment:

1. Please contact International Staff Office, iso@sdu.dk who will start the application process by completing part 2 of the AR1 application form.
2. Complete and submit the employee's part of the AR1 application form. You will receive a reference number and password from SDU for this purpose. Remember that you have to attach all the required documentation from you, SDU and the other educational institution/company for whom, you are going to work.
3. Start working after you have received the permit (and not before).

You can read more about the application for sideline employment at New to Denmark's website.

If you do not have a work permit

If you do not have a residence and work permit, and you know that you have been offered a sideline job before coming to work at SDU, you can apply for a permit for sideline employment at the same time as your residence and work permit:

After the International Staff Office has filled out part 2 of the AR1 application form, please follow these guidelines:

1. You must complete the applicant/employee part of the application.
2. Please submit your employment contract or a specific job offer which must not be more than 30 days old.
3. Please submit the other types of documentation that you think could be relevant to support your case.

If you hold a residence and work permit (including the Pay Limit scheme) your permit includes the right to carry out unpaid voluntary work in addition to your main employment and any sideline employment.

Unpaid work means that neither salary nor any other monetary incentives can be received, e.g. paid phone, internet, etc. Smaller goods that other volunteers receive are acceptable, e.g. payment of transportation costs to the workplace, free lunch, Christmas gift, etc.

Voluntary work can be performed for a formally organised organisation, association, public institution or the like. The voluntary work can also be performed in more loosely organised networks.

The (unpaid) voluntary work cannot replace salaried manpower, and it is therefore a condition that such work is usually unpaid and on performed on a voluntary basis.

The right to carry out voluntary work does not require an application, but it is covered by the original residence and work permit.

If you are going to take on sideline employment at another educational institution than SDU, please contact the educational institution or company beforehand, as the educational institution/company must begin the application process.

You can find the contact information here:

• University of Copenhagen
• Aarhus University
• Aalborg University