A paid doctorate in Denmark, from Nigeria

This guide is for a Nigerian with a master's degree who wants a doctorate abroad that pays her a salary, and who has never applied for one. In Denmark a doctorate is a job at a university: you apply to an advert for one post, the university employs you for three years, pays you a monthly salary and a pension, and your husband or wife and your children can come with you. This guide takes you from your master's to your first Danish salary, one stage at a time: what you have just done, what you do now, where, what it costs, how long it takes, and what comes next. Start with "Where the adverts stand today": there is no single deadline, because every advert has its own. Then read Part 1 once from top to bottom, and come back to the stage you are on. Every fee, date and rule in it comes from the official page that sets it; the guide was read whole on 12 October 2026, and it speaks to you as at that day. Where a line says "people who did it say", it is what applicants and doctoral fellows report from their own journeys, most of them from other countries, not a rule.

Where the adverts stand today

There is no window that opens and closes for everyone. Each university publishes its own adverts on its own job page, and each advert carries its own deadline, its own hour and its own start date. The University of Copenhagen puts it plainly: "Unsolicited applications will not be processed, so keep an eye out for vacant positions on this site." It keeps each advert up "for at least 14 days".

On 12 October 2026 the adverts stood like this. These are examples that expire; open each page today for the adverts open on the day you read this.

How to read a deadline. Every advert prints its own date, and most print an hour and a time zone. Read all three, then turn it into Nigerian time (the same hour in Lagos, Abuja and Zaria):

• "CET" is the same hour as Nigeria. "23:59 CET" on 8 November is 11:59 pm on 8 November in Nigeria.
• "CEST" and "GMT+2" are one hour ahead of Nigeria. "23:59 CEST" is 10:59 pm in Nigeria, and "23:59 GMT+2" is 10:59 pm in Nigeria too.
• "AoE" (anywhere on earth) is 13 hours behind Nigeria. "23:59 AoE" on 31 October is 12:59 pm on 1 November in Nigeria.
• Where an advert prints no hour, or prints "Danish time" or "CET/CEST" without saying which, send it by the end of the day before, in Nigerian time.

What is never late. Some schools let you change your application right up to the close: the Psychology advert at Copenhagen says "changes may be made to the submitted application right up until the deadline." The Graduate School of Health's system "closes precisely at 24:00 (midnight)", and its own words are "Don't use a tablet or phone, only use a computer." Aarhus's technical school says its online form "has to be filled out in one session." So write your letter and gather your scans first, then sit at a computer and send it in one sitting, a day early.

From the offer to the start. The University of Copenhagen says its recruitment "takes three to six months on average". Aarhus's Natural Sciences school must receive your application "at least ... four months (for international citizens) prior to the preferred start date". The Graduate School of Health says "You cannot be enrolled until the 1st of the month after you have obtained your permits." So an advert that closes in November is a start in the new year at the earliest, and the permit stage is part of that time.

From today: what you can still finish

Find the row for the days left on the advert you want, and the column for what you hold. The work you control least is the paperwork from your Nigerian university and, for a short master's, the Danish assessment of your degree. The work in your own hands is the one-page letter, the email to the supervisor and, where the advert asks for one, the project description.

With a family. Nothing about your family goes into the university application. The family's papers start the week an offer comes (Stage 8), but the slow one starts now: a Nigerian marriage certificate and a child's birth certificate must be verified and legalised before Denmark recognises them, and that takes a lawyer, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja and the Danish embassy.

Part 1. Before you start

What this is

A Danish doctorate is a three-year job. DTU says PhD students in Denmark are employees who "earn salary, pension, holidays and other benefits", and "the PhD student is normally offered a fixed-term employment contract for the full 3-year duration". The Danish rule behind every university is the same: the programme "corresponds to 180 ECTS credits and normally takes the form of full-time studies". ECTS credits are Europe's measure of study: 60 for a year of full-time study, as the Danish master's line "120 ECTS-points (2 years of study)" shows.

What you are paid. The University of Copenhagen's advert of October 2026: "the monthly salary starts at 31,800 DKK/approx. 4,200 EUR (August 2026-level)", about ₦6.3 million, before tax. "The employer will pay an additional 18,07 % to your pension fund", on top of that. "Depending on qualifications, a supplement may be negotiated." The salary is set by the agreement between the state and AC, the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (the collective agreement), so every university pays from the same scale (Stage 11).

What you pay the university. Nothing. The University of Copenhagen brings in a tuition fee for every PhD student from 1 January 2027, DKK 255,000 over three years, and its own words are: "The tuition fee is not paid by the PhD student personally. It is covered either by the external funding associated with the PhD project or by the faculty or department funding the PhD scholarship." Copenhagen Business School: "The scholarship includes tuition fees, office space, course and travel costs." Aarhus's technical and natural sciences schools: "does not charge an application fee".

The words the universities use. The same paid post is called a "PhD fellowship" (Aarhus), a "PhD scholarship" (Copenhagen Business School), a "PhD stipend" (Aalborg) or a "PhD position" (Copenhagen and DTU). On this route each of them is a salaried job.

The bodies you will deal with

The university is your employer. Its department advertises the post, and your principal supervisor is the professor who leads the project. Denmark has eight universities: the University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University, the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Roskilde University, Aalborg University, the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and the IT University of Copenhagen (ITU).

The graduate school (also called the PhD school) is the part of the university that admits PhD students, checks your degrees and, at some universities, assesses a foreign master's itself. Each faculty has its own, with its own rules.

SIRI, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration, decides your residence permit and your family's. Its website is nyidanmark.dk (also newtodenmark.dk), which it shares with the Danish Immigration Service; the Immigration Service decides permanent residence.

The Embassy of Denmark in Abuja and the Consulate General in Lagos take your passport and your biometrics for SIRI, and charge a fee of their own, through VFS Global, a commercial company that runs the Denmark application centres in Lagos and Abuja. VFS's own words: "VFS Global and its staff do not play any part in or influence the outcome of your visa application."

The Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science assesses foreign degrees for Denmark. "The assessment is free of charge, but does not include translation of documents."

After you land: the International Citizen Service (ICS) or your town's Citizen Service gives you your CPR number, Denmark's personal number: "10 digits. The first 6 digits are your date of birth (day, month and year) while the last 4 digits are random." "All Danish authorities, banks and employers use your personal tax number (CPR no.) to identify you." Skattestyrelsen, the Danish Tax Agency, gives your employer your tax card.

The route this guide walks: an advertised salaried post

Apply to advertised, salaried PhD posts at the Danish universities, on the standard scheme the University of Copenhagen calls "the 5+3 scheme": "a five year Bachelor and Masters process followed by a three year PhD programme". Study in Denmark, the ministry's own site, says how: "In Denmark you must apply for PhD programmes in writing via advertised projects and scholarships."

Here is why this is the route.

It is the one that pays you and asks no money of you. The University of Copenhagen "will not receive self-paying PhD students as of May 2025". Aarhus's Natural Sciences school: "It is not possible to apply for a PhD programme at GSNS with funding through personal/private means." A student who is not funded pays tuition: Study in Denmark prints "50,000 DKK per year, i.e. 150,000 DKK for three years". People who tried the other routes say the same thing: an Aalborg professor told an applicant with her own project that "the university asks at least 300,000 DK of funding", and an Indian who finished at Copenhagen calls applying with her own proposal "the more difficult" one and got in through an advertised post.

The permit asks you to show no money. SIRI's own words: "If you are employed by a university or by a company, your self-support is secured by your salary." Your family shows no money either: "If the sponsor is a PhD student who is employed and paid by a university or a company, we do not require documentation of your financial support." The University of Copenhagen "will initiate the application process for your residence and work permit".

Your family comes, and your husband or wife can work. The permit "allows your family to come with you to Denmark", and a family member's permit "grants you the right to work in Denmark".

Three years to look for work afterwards. "If you are granted a permit to complete a full PhD programme, you will generally be granted the 3-year job seeking permit along with your residence permit." The rules of 1 October 2026 that cut this to one year for other students say: "PhD students are not affected by the changes."

What it asks of you. Three things. A master's that Denmark counts as equal to its own two-year master's (Check that you can start, below). Many applications: people who did it put the competition at "more than 100+ applications" in epidemiology in 2025, and one international fellow in Copenhagen applied to "maybe 500 or more" posts before hers. And money before your first salary: about ₦1.03 million in permit fees for you alone (Part 7), then a deposit and rent in advance when you rent a home (Stage 9).

The other options in Denmark, and when you take each

The 4+4 or 3+5 scheme, for a student in the middle of a master's. Some faculties let you start the doctorate after one year of master's study: you are a master's student for the first part (Part A) and a salaried PhD fellow for the second (Part B). Take it only where an advert names it: Copenhagen Business School's 4+4 is "only for a vacancy where the 4+4 scheme is explicitly stated", and the University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Science opens its integrated 3+5 scheme only to applicants who "are enrolled on an MSc programme offered by SCIENCE or have been offered admission to an MSc programme offered by SCIENCE". Part A is not a salary: Aarhus pays it as a student's grant, the SU, "DKK 14.852 per month (2026-level, before tax)" at the technical school, and Aarhus Arts warns "there be a gap between your payments" when Part A ends. Aarhus's technical school says "The working and fiscal status of a recipient of a PhD SU scholarship is that of a student." The chapter On a 4+4 post, after Stage 13, walks it: who can take one, what Part A pays and the permit.

An open call with your own project. Aarhus's Graduate School of Health offers "Ca. 10 fully financed PhD fellowships" in each of its two open calls a year, and asks for "A recommendation from your main supervisor" and a budget. Aarhus Arts, Aarhus BSS and ITU also run open calls. Apply to one only with a supervisor who has agreed to lead your project and who confirms in writing that the post is financed.

Self-funded enrolment is not this route. SDU's engineering faculty prints a tuition fee "for students" of "DKK. 120.000, - (2022 level) per year"; Copenhagen Business School: "Independent PhD students are required to pay a tuition fee." An offer that asks you to pay tuition or to bring your own money is a different thing from the post this guide walks. Do not pay to become a PhD student in Denmark.

A guest PhD is for someone "enrolled in a PhD programme abroad" who does part of it in Denmark. It is not for a Nigerian applying for a Danish post.

On Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany

The same idea works in three neighbouring countries, at a lighter depth in this guide (the chapters after Stage 13). Choose by the advert that fits your master's, not by the country.

• Sweden. "When you apply for a PhD programme in Sweden, you're actually applying for a job." Four years, "no tuition fees", a residence permit for doctoral studies of SEK 1,500, applied for through the Swedish embassy in Abuja.
• The Netherlands. A four-year employment contract on the universities' PhD scale of 1 July 2026: EUR 3,204 a month at the start (about ₦4.8 million), P1 after 12 months, and up to EUR 4,051 at the top grade (about ₦6.1 million). Your employer applies for your permit and pays its EUR 254 fee.
• Germany. Most doctoral students work, "usually part-time, as a research associate", paid on the state scale (TV-L). The research visa is applied for at the German consulate in Lagos; the national visa fee is EUR 75 (about ₦112,275).

The season

Adverts come all year, each with its own deadline (Where the adverts stand today). Start dates fall on the first of a month: 1 January, 1 February and 1 March 2027 on the adverts open on 12 October 2026. Three things in the year change what you do:

• Fees change on 1 January. SIRI: "All fees are regulated every year on 1 January. Make sure to create your Case Order ID, pay the fee and submit your application in the same calendar year." An offer in November or December means you pay and submit before 31 December, or wait and pay the new year's fee (Stage 7).
• Housing is hardest in August and September. The University of Copenhagen: "It can be particularly difficult to find a rental place in August and September due to the beginning of the academic year."
• Christmas and the new year slow the answers. People who applied in the autumn say Christmas added two or three weeks to their wait.

If you are also applying for the Swiss government's research scholarship or the DAAD

The same papers serve all three. Do these once:

• Your transcripts and degree certificates. Clear colour scans of both degrees, front and back, serve every application. For Denmark's degree assessment, your university sends an official transcript straight to the Danish agency (Stage 6).
• The email to a supervisor. The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship requires "a letter of support from an academic supervisor in Switzerland (including a short CV)", and says "The search for an academic supervisor can take weeks or even months." In Denmark the same email (Stage 2) is how you are remembered; at Copenhagen's Faculty of Science you "must have an agreement with your supervisor before you apply".
• Your research proposal. The Swiss form takes a proposal of "max. 5 pages including a summary for non-specialists". A Danish project description runs from half a page to five, by the advert (Stage 3).
• Your referees. The Swiss scholarship asks for "E-mail addresses of two different professors" who upload their own letters; Aarhus's technical school asks "References (min. 1)". Ask the same two professors once, and tell them both calls.
• Your English. Danish schools take a degree taught in English at many faculties (Stage 3). The Swiss page sets no English test.

What differs.

• The Swiss scholarship is not a salary. "This scholarship is not a salary": it pays "CHF 2,450 per month to cover basic living expenses for one person", for "12 months, renewable twice for up to 36 months", from 1 September 2027. Its line on age: "Date of birth after 31 December 1991." Its line on your master's: "completed by 31 July 2027 (for ETH Zurich: 30 June 2027)". It takes one host only: "Multiple applications ... for several host universities" are excluded. Nigeria's window opened 20 August 2026 and closes 27 November 2026 at "11:59 PM (Swiss local time)", which is 11:59 pm in Nigeria, through the Embassy of Switzerland in Abuja. The FCS announces its decisions "By the end of May at the latest". The Swiss page says: "Please note that the application for a Swiss Government Scholarship is free of charge."
• The DAAD's doctoral scholarship for Nigeria is a scholarship, and this year's round has closed. The DAAD's Doctoral Programmes in Germany for Ghana and Nigeria pay doctoral candidates "1,400 euros" a month (about ₦2.1 million) for up to four years, for funding that "must begin in 2027"; the DAAD's list shows its deadline as 24 September 2026. A paid doctoral post in Germany is a different thing (On Germany).
• Denmark lets you apply to many posts at once. Each advert is its own job.

What one result opens for another. An offer from a Danish university, a Swiss award and a DAAD award each pay you to work full time on a doctorate in one country; you take one. The DAAD's own rule: "It is not possible to combine several study or research scholarships (with a funding period of at least 7 months) within one educational period".

Check that you can start

Every Danish university asks for a master's equal to a Danish two-year master's: "Admission to the PhD programme is based on qualifications equivalent to a Danish two-year master's degree (120 ECTS). Degrees awarded by foreign universities must be assessed by either the PhD schools or the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science." The Danish master's is "a bachelor's education of 180 ECTS-points (3 years of study) and subsequently a master's education, of 120 ECTS-points (2 years of study)." Find your case below.

You hold a four-year bachelor's and a two-year master's with a thesis. You can start. The Danish agency's general assessment for Nigeria puts a Nigerian "Bachelor's degree, 4 years" equal to a Danish "Bachelor's degree". For a Nigerian master's, the agency's table says "the length of the programme plus a sufficient thesis are decisive". In its assessment database, both Nigerian two-year MScs it has assessed came out as a full Danish master's (kandidatuddannelse): a BSc and MSc in Microbiology from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (assessed 2025), and a BSc from Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, with an MSc in Biochemistry from the University of Port Harcourt (assessed 2026). Apply to 5+3 posts. You need no assessment before you apply; the university may ask for one after (Stage 6).

You hold an 18-month or a one-year master's. Get the Danish agency's assessment of your degree first (Stage 6), because it decides which posts you apply to. The agency's table puts a Nigerian "Master's degree, 1-2 years" at one of two levels: "Bachelor's degree plus 1 year of studies at Master's level or Master's degree". An 18-month master's is in this line. The agency's Danish handbook says the length of the programme and whether it includes a larger written project weigh heavily in the outcome. Its database holds no assessment of a Nigerian one-year or 18-month master's. The graduate schools are strict: Aarhus's Graduate School of Health says "international one-year Master's degrees are not equivalent to a Danish Master's degree of 120 ECTS (two years full time)". Every public university must follow the agency's assessment: "Public employers must abide by the level of education stated in the Agency's assessment". So:

• If the assessment says a Danish master's, apply to 5+3 posts like anyone with a two-year master's.
• If it says a bachelor's plus one year at master's level, apply only to posts that pass the test below. Aarhus Arts says so in its own words: "If you have a Master's degree and it is only equivalent one year at Master's level in Denmark you can apply for the 4+4 scholarship (NOT the 5+3 fellowship)", and its study centre "will find a new Master's degree programme at Arts for you and make a credit transfer".
• If your field is health, Aarhus's Graduate School of Health has a second route: when your master's is not equal to a Danish one, "the Graduate School can assess whether your combined qualifications are equivalent", counting your credits at master's level, any paper you wrote first or with others, the methods you have used and your work experience. Send it your papers by email (Stage 6, Who needs it).
• While you wait for it, use one test on every advert. Apply where the advert names the 4+4 scheme, or takes, as Copenhagen's Protein Dynamics advert does, "a bachelor's degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor's degree (180 ECTS) and be academically qualified at master's level". Apply to no other post. Graduate schools can assess a foreign degree themselves, but once the agency has assessed yours its level binds the university, so a 5+3 post taken on a short master's can fall at the assessment after the offer.

Aarhus Arts adds that the agency "is in the process of changing the assessments of non-Danish degrees from specific countries": a one-year master's from England "will henceforth be regarded as fully equivalent to a Danish Master's degree". No page says that change has reached Nigeria; the agency's assessment of your own degree is the answer that counts.

You are in the last year of your master's. You can start now. Many adverts take you before you finish: the University of Copenhagen accepts "a certified or signed recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor" if "the master's degree has not yet been completed"; DTU: "You may apply prior to obtaining your master's degree but cannot begin before having received it"; Aarhus's Natural Sciences school: "You are welcome to apply for a PhD position before you obtain your Master's degree". Your master's must be finished by the start: Aarhus's technical school asks for "A master's degree (120 ECTS or equivalent), completed by enrolment", and SDU for a master's "at the time of enrollment and employment". In place of your master's papers, send a statement signed by your supervisor or your department, with your latest result sheet (Stage 1, Step 1).

First, find your programme's official length, in your admission letter or your School of Postgraduate Studies' handbook. If it is two years with a thesis, the two-year case above applies to you. If it is shorter, apply now only to posts that pass the test in the 18-month case above, and send your degree to the agency the week it is awarded (Stage 6), because the agency "cannot assess your coming foreign qualifications in advance."

When to start, in your last year. Count back from the month your master's ends. People who did it say most posts are advertised about three months before their start, and advise starting to look about a year out and applying about six months out. Aarhus's Natural Sciences school wants your application at least four months before the start, and Copenhagen's recruitment takes three to six months on average. So start reading the adverts every week a year before your master's ends, write to the supervisor on each post from about six months before your master's ends, and apply only to posts whose start falls after that month.

Your first degree is an HND, or you hold a postgraduate diploma. The agency's table puts a Nigerian "Higher National Diploma, Technical or Mercantile, 2 years" equal to a Danish "Academy Profession degree", below a bachelor's, and its handbook says a Nigerian Postgraduate Diploma does not give access to a PhD. If you went from an HND or a PGD to a master's, get the agency's assessment of your master's before you apply (Stage 6), and send the agency your earlier certificates with it.

Your grades. No Danish page converts a Nigerian grade. Some schools set a line on the Danish scale, each with a second route in:

• SDU's engineering faculty: an average of 8.2 on the 7-point scale or a 10 for the thesis, or "an official statement from the grade giving university that the candidate has graduated among the top 30 pct.".
• Copenhagen Business School: an average of 8.2, or 9.5 for the master's alone, and at least 10 for the thesis; "Applicants who do not meet the minimum grade requirements may still apply if they are ranked within the top 40% of their graduating class."
• Aalborg's social sciences and humanities: a 10 or its equivalent for the thesis, with an exemption for "other forms of documentation".
• Aarhus's technical school: "GSTS does not have a fixed requirement for a minimum level of the grade point average."
• DTU: "We recommend that if possible, applicants include a statement from their home university regarding their relative ranking".

Ask your department now for a signed letter that states your position in your class at both degrees, and ask it which office of your university signs such a letter. No Danish page in this guide sets out the 7-point scale's steps: ask the graduate school on the advert how it reads a Nigerian class of degree. If it reads your class below its line, send the class-rank letter with your application (Stage 3, What you need), as SDU and Copenhagen Business School allow.

You already hold a PhD. You cannot take a salaried PhD post: DTU says that a PhD holder cannot apply for its advertised PhD positions, and Aarhus Arts "you cannot be employed as a PhD fellow if you already have a PhD degree".

Your age and your nationality. None of the Danish pages in this guide sets an age limit or a nationality line for a salaried PhD post or its permit.

Your family. A permit can be granted to "your spouse, registered or cohabiting partner as well as children under the age of 18 living at home". A marriage counts if it is legal where it took place and "you were both physically present at the wedding" and "you had both turned 18 years old at the time of the wedding". A partner you are not married to counts only after living with you "for at least the last 1.5-2 years".

Your passport. Renew it before you apply for the permit if it ends less than six years and three months after the start date of your doctorate. A Danish permit "can only be valid until 3 months before the expiry date of your passport", and SIRI grants the three-year job-seeking period with your PhD permit only "if the validity of your passport allows it": three years of doctorate, three years of job seeking and three months make six years and three months. The Nigerian 64-page passport valid for 10 years costs ₦200,000 and a renewal takes "21 days after Successful Enrolment". A 32-page, 5-year passport never lasts that long; renew to the 64-page, 10-year passport.

Part 2. The whole journey on one page

Stage 1. Read the adverts and choose your projects. Read the universities' job pages every week and pick the posts your master's fits. Free. Each advert stays up at least 14 days; people who did it applied for between four months and more than a year before an offer.

Stage 2. Write to the supervisor. A short email to the professor named in the advert, before you apply. Free.

Stage 3. Send the application and the project description. A one-page letter, your CV, your degrees and transcripts, a project description where the advert asks for one, and a reference where it asks for one. No application fee at Aarhus's technical and natural sciences schools. An English test only where the school asks for one: IELTS Academic is ₦299,000 at IDP Nigeria.

Stage 4. The interview and the wait. An assessment committee, a shortlist, an interview with the supervisor. Copenhagen's recruitment "takes three to six months on average"; Aalborg's assessment "is expected to take 4 to 15 weeks" once the committee starts.

Stage 5. The offer and the contract. A three-year employment contract on the collective agreement, from DKK 31,800 a month before tax at the August 2026 level, with 18.07 percent added to your pension.

Stage 6. The degree assessment. Only where the university asks for it, or first of all if your master's is shorter than two years. Free. Normally at most two months, and 30 days on average in 2025, counted from the day the agency holds your form and your transcript; your university's time to send the transcript comes first.

Stage 7. The permit and the biometrics. The university starts your PhD permit; you finish it online and give your biometrics at VFS in Lagos or Abuja. SIRI's fee DKK 3,060 (EUR 410.19, about ₦614,050), the embassy's fee DKK 1,875 (EUR 252, about ₦377,240) and VFS's charge ₦28,632, plus ₦7,532 for VFS's courier if you hand in outside Abuja. A decision normally in 1 month, up to 2.

Stage 8. Your family's permits. One application each, at the same time as yours. DKK 3,080 each (EUR 412.87, about ₦618,070) to SIRI, and the embassy's and VFS's fees for each. A decision normally in 2 months, up to 3, never before yours.

Stage 9. A home, and travel. Find a home before you fly; travel only once your permit is granted. A deposit of up to three months' rent and up to three months' rent in advance in Copenhagen.

Stage 10. Arrival: your CPR number, MitID, your bank and your tax card. Free. The CPR number about 2 to 3 weeks after you apply online in Copenhagen; the tax card at once in e-tax, or about 2 weeks by form.

Stage 11. Your first salary and the tax. Paid "on the last working day of the month" into your NemKonto. Without a tax card, 55 percent is taken; most people pay 35 to 42 percent.

Stage 12. The three years. Courses, teaching, a stay at another research centre, your thesis and its defence. Your permit runs for the length of your programme and can be extended up to two years.

Stage 13. What follows. Three years to look for work in Denmark, granted with your PhD permit; permanent residence after eight years, or four with every extra condition met.

The money. Applying to the universities costs you only your papers: your transcripts, an English test where a school asks for one, and a passport that lasts. Once you have an offer, the permit costs you about ₦1.03 million in Lagos (DKK 4,935 and ₦36,164), or about ₦1.02 million in Abuja, for you alone; with a husband or wife and one child it is about ₦3.09 million. Then the deposit and the rent in advance before your first salary, which people who did it put at about DKK 35,000 to 75,000 in Copenhagen. The university pays your salary and your tuition; you pay no tuition. Part 7 has every fee.

The time. No official page states how long the whole journey takes. Copenhagen's recruitment takes three to six months on average from the advert, and SIRI's permit normally a month after that. People who did it applied for between four months and more than a year before their offer, and started three to six months after it.

On a 4+4 post the order is the same, but you are first a master's student at the Danish university (Part A) and become a salaried fellow when Part B starts (On a 4+4 post, after Stage 13).

Part 3. Stage by stage

Stage 1. Read the adverts and choose your projects

Back to the short stages

You know you can start (Part 1). Now get your papers ready and find the posts your master's fits. This stage never really ends: you keep reading the adverts every week until you hold an offer.

Step 1. Put your papers in one folder this week

Do. Scan, in colour and front and back, everything a Danish advert asks for, and keep each scan as its own PDF. Check that your name reads the same on every paper.

What you need.

• Your bachelor's and master's certificates. The adverts ask for "Original diplomas for bachelor's and master's degrees", meaning scans of the originals, and Aarhus's technical school says "even if you have started/finished your Master's degree programme, the transcripts and diploma of your Bachelor's degree must still be included".
• Your bachelor's and master's transcripts. Your own copy serves for the application; the official one goes from your university to the Danish agency only when you need an assessment (Stage 6).
• A page that explains your university's grading scale. Copenhagen asks applicants with a foreign master's to "enclose a short description of the grading scale used"; DTU an "official description of grading scale"; SDU "An official document describing the grading scheme"; ITU says non-EU transcripts need "a grade key".
• A signed letter from your department stating your position in your class (Part 1, Your grades).
• If your name has changed, proof of it: Aarhus's technical school says "please provide proof of name changes if all documents do not bear the same name."
• The picture page of your passport.
• A CV, in English.
• In the last year of your master's: in place of the master's certificate and transcript, a statement signed by your supervisor or your department on the university's letterhead, naming your programme and its official length, the courses you have passed with their grades, your thesis title and the month you are expected to finish; and your latest result sheet. Copenhagen takes "a certified or signed recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor".

Where. Your university's transcript portal for your own copy:

• University of Lagos: the student copy is applied for on the student portal (studentportal.unilag.edu.ng, under Results, "Student Academic Transcript") and "will be emailed to the specified email address and will also be available on the student portal for download"; its charges table prints no fee for it.
• University of Ibadan: "Any personal address supplied for processing transcript will be treated as Student's Copy and as such watermarked"; the portal's fee list prints ₦10,000 for a student's copy.
• Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria: a "Personal (student's) copy" from its e-transcript service; ₦5,000 for a local e-copy, sent in 24 to 48 hours.
• University of Nigeria, Nsukka: "the portal does not accommodate requests for student copies of Transcripts. If you want a copy of your transcript, kindly make a request for it on the portal and have it addressed to yourself." A local transcript is ₦12,000. Apply "with the name used to process your admission".
• Obafemi Awolowo University: "Transcripts that are requested for personally will be marked 'Student Copy'", on tps.oauife.edu.ng; its public pages print no fee and no time.

Your English letter. Many Danish faculties take a degree taught in English as your proof of English (Stage 3). Ask for it now: the University of Lagos issues "English as a Medium" for ₦5,000, and it "can be sent to any address (physical or electronic) or collect by hand"; the University of Nigeria offers a "Proof of English Proficiency ... at charged amount", and its page prints no fee: ask its records office for the fee and the time, and whether a student still in a master's can request it.

You are done when every paper above is a clear colour PDF in one folder (in your last year, the signed statement and your latest result sheet in place of the master's papers), and your name is the same on all of them.

If your names do not match. Fix it before you apply for anything: SIRI wants your documents "personally identifiable", and the University of Nigeria warns that "Providing a name that is different from what is currently on your file will greatly delay the processing of your transcript." A change of name in your Nigerian passport is applied for online with a birth certificate or declaration of age, a state of origin certificate, an application letter, your marriage certificate or a court affidavit and a newspaper publication, and your passport data page. A change of data takes "42 days after Successful Enrolment".

Step 2. Find the posts

Do. Open each university's PhD job page once a week, and sign up for its alerts where it has them. The University of Copenhagen offers "Sign up for job alerts" on its job portal. Read every advert in your field to the end.

Where.

• University of Copenhagen, PhD positions, opens in a new tab
• Aarhus University, Graduate School of Technical Sciences, opens in a new tab, Natural Sciences, opens in a new tab, Health, opens in a new tab, Arts, opens in a new tab and BSS, opens in a new tab
• DTU, PhD applicant pages, opens in a new tab, and DTU's Vacancies
• Aalborg University, PhD positions, opens in a new tab
• The University of Southern Denmark's vacancies (its PolIMa advert, opens in a new tab shows where they open)
• Copenhagen Business School, vacant positions, opens in a new tab
• IT University of Copenhagen, PhD admission, opens in a new tab

For SDU and DTU, open the university's own site and its page of vacant positions. Study in Denmark puts it in one line: "Job banks at universities are full of postings."

How to read an advert. Copenhagen's Natural Language Processing advert of October 2026 shows every line you look for:

• The deadline, with its hour: "November 8th, 2026, 23:59 CET", which is 11:59 pm in Nigeria.
• The start: "February 1st, 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter."
• The interview: "expected to be held in week 49." Danish adverts number the weeks of the year: week 49 is 30 November to 6 December 2026.
• The language: "Your application including all attachments must be in English."
• The papers: a "Motivated letter of application (maximum one page)", a CV, your diplomas and transcripts, a publication list "if applicable" and "Reference letters, if available".
• The master's line, and what it takes if you have not finished.
• The salary line, and the contact for questions: the supervisor, by email or phone.

Read each advert you want for these lines and write them down: the date, the hour in Nigeria, the start, the papers, the page limit of the project description, the referees, the English proof and the supervisor's name.

How to choose. Apply where your master's matches the project. Plant Nutrition at Copenhagen asks for "a degree programme, equivalent to a Danish master's degree (180 ECTS/3 FTE BSc + 120 ECTS/2 FTE MSc)" (FTE means full-time years); Copenhagen Business School's Operations Management post asks for "the grade of 10 (or equivalent) for the master's thesis" and "a five-page project description". An advert that names a subject your master's did not cover is not your post. With an 18-month or one-year master's, look for adverts like Copenhagen's Protein Dynamics post (closing 1 November 2026), which also takes "a bachelor's degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor's degree (180 ECTS) and be academically qualified at master's level", and for any advert that names the 4+4 scheme (Part 1).

Cost. Free.

Time. Each advert is up for at least 14 days at Copenhagen. People who did it say the posts appear about three to six months before their start, and that they applied for between four months and more than a year before an offer.

You are done when you have a list of the posts you will apply to, each with its deadline in Nigerian time, its start date and its list of papers.

If no advert fits you this month. Keep reading every week, and mark the dates the schools already print: Aarhus's Natural Sciences school's next deadline after 1 November 2026 is 1 February 2027, with its system open two months before; Aarhus Arts' specific calls close 1 January and 1 April 2027; Aarhus BSS opens 4 January 2027; Aarhus Health's spring call runs 28 January to 25 February 2027; ITU's open call comes "in late January".

From people who did it. People who found their posts say they found them where jobs are found: the universities' own job pages, Jobindex (Denmark's biggest job board), Jobnet, Nature Careers and professional networks online. They say competition is heavy, "more than 100+ applications" in epidemiology in 2025, and that "for a lot of PhD positions, the lab already have an internal candidate". The most common mistake they name is treating the doctorate as a scholarship to apply for once, rather than a job to apply for again and again.

Same as the Swiss scholarship and the DAAD. The same scans of your degrees and transcripts serve all three.

Next. Write to the supervisor of each post on your list (Stage 2).

Stage 2. Write to the supervisor

Back to the short stages

You have a list of posts. Now write to the professor named on each advert, before you apply.

Why. Some schools require it: at Copenhagen's Faculty of Science "you must have an agreement with your supervisor before you apply for admission", and "The PhD Administration is unfortunately unable to help you establish contact". ITU asks you to name your supervisor in your cover letter. Aarhus Health's open call asks for "A recommendation from your main supervisor". Every advert names a person to write to: Copenhagen's Natural Language Processing advert takes "Questions to the project supervisor by email or phone".

Do. Send one short email to the supervisor on each advert:

• Subject line: the post's title and reference.
• First sentence: the post and its closing date.
• Second: your master's, your university and your thesis in one line.
• Third: the one result or method of yours that touches the project.
• Then three questions: whether your background fits what the project needs; whether your degrees meet the admission rule (send both transcripts); and whether the project description in the advert is the whole of it.
• If your master's is not finished: write the month you expect to finish and your thesis title, attach your bachelor's transcript and your latest master's result sheet, and add a fourth question: whether the post can start after that month.
• Attach your CV and your transcripts. Sign off with your full name, your phone number with +234, and your email.

What not to do. Do not ask a professor for a post that is not advertised: the universities say "Unsolicited applications will not be processed" (Copenhagen) and "DTU does not accept unsolicited applications." Do not attach a supervisor's commitment to an application that forbids it: Copenhagen's Psychology advert says "Please do not include commitments from supervisors, recommendations etc."

Where. The email address on the advert, or the supervisor's staff page at the university.

Cost. Free.

Time. No page gives a time. Where people got replies, they came within days.

You are done when you have sent the email to every post on your list, at least a week before its deadline.

If no answer comes. Send one short reminder a week later, and apply before the deadline whatever happens: the application is judged by a committee, not by the email.

From people who did it. A poster in the Netherlands in 2026: "Contact the PI before applying, always." A Danish fellow, asked whether to write before applying: "whatever makes them remember you is positive." A Copenhagen supervisor's advice in 2025: "Do not be afraid to ask if they already have an internal candidate." People also say a cold email with no advert behind it rarely produces a post, because "most professors don't just have money lying around for a PhD position without posting it."

Same as the Swiss scholarship. The Swiss scholarship needs the same email to end in a signed "letter of support from an academic supervisor in Switzerland", and "The search for an academic supervisor can take weeks or even months."

Next. Send the application (Stage 3).

Stage 3. Send the application and the project description

Back to the short stages

You have written to the supervisor. Now send your application on the university's own system, before the deadline in Nigerian time.

Do. Apply on the advert's own button or portal:

• University of Copenhagen: "via the digital application form ... by clicking the APPLY NOW button found at the bottom of the job advertisement", and "you will receive an e-mail verification in your inbox".
• Aarhus's technical school: on its portal (app.researchplanner.net); the form "has to be filled out in one session", with "Attachments ... pdf-files, max. 20 MB, no zip."
• Aalborg: on Varbi: "create a candidate profile", and "You can go to and from your application before submitting it."
• DTU: "Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials", and "After submitting your application, you will receive a receipt."
• Aarhus Health: "Don't use a tablet or phone, only use a computer."

What you need. Each advert lists its own papers. Across the adverts read in October 2026, these are what they ask:

• A letter. Copenhagen: a "Motivated letter of application (maximum one page)"; Aarhus's technical school: "Motivation (max. 1 page)". Spend the first paragraph on the advert's research question and what you have already done that touches it.
• A CV.
• Your diplomas and transcripts for both degrees, "in the original language, including an authorised English translation if issued in a language other than English or Danish". Nigerian papers are in English, so no translation is needed. Aarhus's technical school also asks for your "grade point averages (weighted and unweighted)".
• A grading key (Stage 1, Step 1).
• A project description, where the advert asks for one: half a page to four pages at Aarhus's technical school; "max 3 pages / 6000 characters excluding references" for Copenhagen's Psychology post; "a five-page project description" at Copenhagen Business School; "3 to 5 pages" for Aalborg's electrolysis post; "minimum 5 pages" in Aalborg's social sciences and humanities; at most "five pages (12,000 characters including spaces)" at Aarhus Health, or "the application will be administratively rejected"; "maximum 5 pages" at ITU. For a post whose project is already written, Aarhus's technical school says: "For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF".
• References, where asked: Aarhus's technical school "References (min. 1)", on its template; Copenhagen "Reference letters, if available"; ITU "Letters of recommendation must be uploaded as part of the application and cannot be sent to ITU directly."
• A publication list, "if applicable"; Copenhagen Business School asks for one written work.
• Your class rank letter where your grades fall below a school's line (Part 1).
• Your English proof (below).

Your English proof, school by school. Each school sets its own:

• Aarhus Arts: exempts "Applicants with a complete high-school diploma/Upper Secondary School Leaving Examination, Bachelor's or a Master's degree taught in English", who "must upload a document stating that the programme was taught in English". Otherwise IELTS "Overall score of minimum 6.5 with a minimum subscore of 6.0 in each section", and "We accept test results older than two years." Aarhus does not accept "Oxford Online Placement Test, Duolingo English test, Trinity ISE III, Pearson PTE, Euroexam or Michigan Language Assessment."
• Aarhus's technical school: "comparable to a minimum of TOEFL 83 or IELTS 6.5".
• Aarhus Health: proof is "mandatory at the time of enrolment" on TOEFL iBT, IELTS Academic (6.5, at least 6 in each part) or Cambridge, and "No other tests are accepted".
• ITU: "A BSc or MSc degree obtained on the basis of an English study programme", or IELTS Academic of at least 6.0.
• Copenhagen's Faculty of Science: "This is done by an interview with the principal supervisor."
• Copenhagen's Health and Medical Sciences: a test is needed unless "You come from a country where English is the official language" or you "completed a BSc or MSc education where English was the language of instruction"; it takes only TOEFL iBT or IELTS Academic (6.5 or 83), "Language tests older than two years are not accepted", and it refunds your test "if they are enrolled as PhD students" and "the receipt is available in English".
• Aalborg's social sciences and humanities: proof only for applicants "who do not have English as a first language or who have not completed an English language-based Master's programme".

So send your university's English as a Medium letter (Stage 1) wherever a school takes a degree taught in English. Book IELTS only for a school that asks a test of everyone.

Cost.

• The application: "The GSTS does not charge an application fee"; "GSNS does not charge an application fee".
• IELTS Academic, where needed: ₦299,000 at IDP Nigeria on computer at a test centre.
• TOEFL iBT: $170 in Nigeria (about ₦227,000), paid by card on your ETS account; "Your scores are valid for 2 years."

Time. Write the letter and, where asked, the project description over a week of evenings; send at least a day before the deadline.

You are done when you hold the university's confirmation: Copenhagen's "e-mail verification", DTU's "receipt". Keep it.

If it goes wrong.

• A paper is missing after you submit. Where the school allows it, change the application before the close: Copenhagen's Psychology post says "changes may be made to the submitted application right up until the deadline."
• Your master's is not finished. Send the signed statement and your latest result sheet (Stage 1, Step 1): Copenhagen takes "a certified or signed recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor"; the Psychology post says "If your degree diploma is not available by the application deadline, please include your latest transcript of grades." No page says what each graduate school accepts at enrolment as proof that your master's is finished: ask the graduate school in writing when you accept the offer, and have that paper in hand by your start.
• The deadline has passed. It has passed; no advert takes a late application. Go back to your list (Stage 1).

From people who did it. Fellows say a Danish application usually needs one letter of recommendation, and that grades weigh heavily. The letter can weigh more: a fellow wrote online in 2025 that the supervisor who took them on paid little attention to their grades and looked mainly at the statement from their master's supervisor, for whom they had also worked as a research assistant. A PhD who finished in epidemiology wrote online in 2025 that departments expect "a decent grade average, a masters degree and some research-related experience, although that is not required". On an open call the project description is real work: an applicant turned down at Aarhus and Copenhagen wrote in 2026 that the proposals took "so much unpaid working time" and "are not needed in any other country I have applied in".

Same as the Swiss scholarship and the DAAD. The same CV, the same transcripts and the same two referees serve all three; the Swiss proposal is "max. 5 pages including a summary for non-specialists" on its own form.

Next. The assessment and the interview (Stage 4).

Stage 4. The interview and the wait

Back to the short stages

You have applied. Now the university checks your papers, an assessment committee reads you, and a shortlist is interviewed. You do nothing until a school writes, except keep applying to other posts.

What happens, in the University of Copenhagen's words.

1. HR checks your application against the formal requirements.
2. After the deadline the recruiting manager and the Appointments Committee pick the most relevant applications and send them to the Assessment Committee. "All applicants will be notified whether they are being passed to assessment or not."
3. If you are assessed, you are told the committee's members, and you receive your assessment "for consultation". The Natural Language Processing advert says applicants "will have the opportunity to comment on their assessment."
4. Interviews, "and possibly a trial lecture".
5. "An offer of employment is sent to the candidate and salary negotiations start. Rejection letters are sent to the unsuccessful candidates."

At the other universities.

• Aalborg: "The assessments committee consists normally of three to five members"; its composition and your assessment are each "submitted to you ... for review"; interviews are held "as required".
• Copenhagen Business School: "a positive assessment does not automatically result in an interview."
• ITU: "The final decision will be made within 3-4 months after the deadline. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview."
• Aarhus's technical school: "Shortlisting will be used"; its Physical AI post warns that "Shortlisted applicants should be prepared to discuss their own implementation, experimental design, results and limitations in a technical interview."
• Aarhus Arts: after a rejection, "We do not offer to give you a more comprehensive feedback".

Do. Answer every email from the school the same day. When you receive your assessment, read it, and comment within the time the letter gives if it gets a fact wrong (your degree, your dates, your grades). Prepare for the interview before it is offered:

• A ten-minute talk on your master's research: the question, the method, the result, what you would do differently.
• The supervisor's last few papers, read.
• Your answer to why this project, in two sentences.

An interview for an applicant abroad is usually online; if the school asks you to come, ask in writing whether it pays the travel, as IMPRS-IS in Germany does. Test your camera and your connection the day before.

Time.

• Copenhagen: recruitment "takes three to six months on average"; interviews are named on the adverts, "week 49" (30 November to 6 December 2026) for Natural Language Processing, "week 45 and 46 2026" (2 to 15 November 2026) for Plant Nutrition.
• Aalborg: "Once the assessments committee has commenced work, the assessment process is expected to take 4 to 15 weeks."
• Aarhus's Natural Sciences school: a call closing 1 November is reviewed in November and December, with a decision at the beginning of January.
• Aarhus BSS: applicants in its January 2027 round "can expect a result no later than the end of April 2027".

You are done when you hold a written offer, or a rejection letter.

If you are rejected. Apply to the next post on your list the same week. A decision by a PhD school can be complained about only on legal points: "you can file a complaint with the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science about legal issues relating to a decision by your PhD School. The deadline for filing a complaint is two weeks from the day you received the decision." "You cannot complain about the academic assessments", and the complaint goes "by email to the relevant graduate school".

From people who did it. "Qualified" is not an offer. Applicants at Copenhagen told in 2025 and 2026 that they were qualified waited a month or more with no word. From the deadline to an offer, one wrote in 2025: "It's at least a couple of weeks, usually less than two months." The interview is usually with the future supervisor, often a short talk on your master's research ("probably going to be around 10 minutes") and then technical questions. A fellow at Copenhagen described the panel online in 2026 as a mix: some members ask who you are and whether you can manage the work, and the professors ask questions on your subject and may press you hard, though that fellow's own interview was a pleasant discussion of the subject. An applicant at DTU wrote in 2026 that the second interview would be "mostly technical". The most common mistake they name is reading "qualified" or "shortlisted" as an offer and stopping the other applications.

Next. The offer and the contract (Stage 5).

Stage 5. The offer and the contract

Back to the short stages

A university has offered you a post. Now read the contract, settle your salary step and your pension before you sign, and send the papers the graduate school asks for.

What the contract must show. SIRI needs your "Employment contract or employment offer" for the permit, and its page on contracts lists what one shows: "Employer (name, address and CVR number); Employee's name; Place of work (name and address); Start date of the employment; End date of the employment contract, if the employment is temporary; Title/position; Tasks/responsibilities; Work hours; Salary; Applicable conditions in case of: Overtime ... Holiday; Termination". "Remember that the contract or job offer must be dated", and it is "signed by both you and your employer". SIRI's list of certified employers prints each university's CVR number beside its name.

Your salary. "You automatically fall under the Collective Agreement for Academics in the State", the University of Copenhagen says: "Your basic salary, number of holidays, pension and much more is determined by this agreement." What the adverts and the salary pages print, before tax:

• University of Copenhagen: from DKK 31,800 a month at the August 2026 level (about EUR 4,200, about ₦6.3 million), plus 18.07 percent to your pension; the Psychology post prints "approximately DKK 31.844,98 (EUR 4.260,48)", about ₦6.3 million.
• Aarhus Arts, at 1 August 2026: at level 4, a base of DKK 30,264.08 plus a PhD bonus of DKK 1,580.92, DKK 31,845.00 a month; level 5 DKK 34,198.00; level 6 DKK 36,343.92; level 8 DKK 38,458.64. "The supplement is not pensionable."
• Copenhagen Business School: "approximately DKK 31,000 up to DKK 37,000 depending on seniority and a pension contribution totalling 18,07 %".
• SDU's PolIMa post: "the monthly gross salary incl. pension is 37.075 DKK".
• DTU: "As of April 2024, the monthly salary, including pension for a PhD student with no seniority amounts to approx. DKK 34,000"; its pension page gives 17.1 percent.
• Aarhus's technical school: "approx. DKK 30,000 per month before tax, excluding pension and holiday" in one place on its page and "approx. DKK 28,000" in another. Plan on the figure in your contract.

Your step. Your step on the scale depends on your work after your master's. Aarhus Arts: "Your salary seniority is calculated based on relevant jobs after your Master's degree was awarded. Only employments that required a Master's degree in order for you to get the job count as seniority." With none, "you will be placed on salary level 4 which is a 2 year level. After 2 years of employment as a PhD fellow you will be placed on salary level 5." "Full salary seniority is awarded for relevant employments of at least 15 hours per week", and half for 8 to 14 hours. The University of Copenhagen: "You are entitled to a wage negotiation, when taking up employment". Before you sign, send HR a list of every job since your master's that required a master's (a lecturer's post, a research post), with dates, hours a week and a letter from each employer.

Your pension. At the University of Copenhagen "The University pays a total pension contribution equal to currently 18.07 % of your pensionable salary", into one of three schemes:

• The ordinary scheme. If you take the money out when you leave Denmark before retirement, "the current fee is 60% of the savings".
• The §53a scheme. The contribution is "taxed immediately", and on leaving Denmark "you can take out the remaining amount without paying further taxes".
• The pension exemption. The pension is paid with your salary, with no insurance. It is open to a PhD fellow with "Non-Danish citizenship; Fixed-term employment of maximum five years; Recruited from outside Denmark."

"If you have not chosen any, you will automatically be placed on the ordinary pension scheme." DTU pays the pension "out as salary" on the same kind of conditions. Choose in writing before your first payslip. If you plan to leave Denmark after the doctorate, the ordinary scheme costs you 60 percent of the savings when you take them out.

Your hours and your duties. "Working hours are presently 37 hours a week at full-time employment." Most posts include teaching or other work for the department: Copenhagen's Psychology post "a work obligation of up to 840 hours over the 3-year period of time without additional pay"; Copenhagen Business School "teaching obligations corresponding to 416 work hours"; at Aarhus's technical school "One-sixth of the PhD fellowship salary is given as compensation for an obligation to work 280 hours per year as a teaching assistant", and "The PhD fellow can decline the offer (with a corresponding reduction in the amount paid)." Aalborg's post has "a mutual probationary period of 3 months".

Your holidays and leave. "six weeks of holidays per year", on top of public holidays; "In general, the mother can take up to 32 weeks paid leave and the father can take up to 15 weeks paid leave"; "two child care days per child per calendar year".

Do.

1. Accept in writing.
2. Upload your passport scan when you accept: Aarhus says "It is important that you upload a scan of your passport when you accept the PhD offer".
3. Send HR your seniority list, and choose your pension scheme.
4. Check the start date. Aarhus Health: "You cannot be enrolled until the 1st of the month after you have obtained your permits", and SDU enrols "at the 1. and the 15. of a month". A start less than two months away leaves no room for the permit (Stage 7).
5. If no Danish assessment of your degree exists yet, ask HR in writing what happens to the offer if the assessment comes back below a Danish master's, and whether the university would move you to its 4+4 scheme. Public employers must abide by the agency's level. Keep the answer.
6. Ask HR in writing whether the university pays a fellow recruited from abroad a relocation allowance, the flight or a salary advance. No university page says.
7. Sign the contract once it shows every line SIRI asks for.

What the university may ask after the offer. A Danish assessment of your degree (Stage 6); its level binds the university, which is why you ask HR first (Do, 5). At Aarhus Health, for a project that involves children under 15, "you will not be enrolled and employed before we have a statement of no previous convictions". Some universities check further: DTU says "open-source background checks may be conducted on qualified candidates".

Cost. Free.

Time. No page gives a time from offer to contract.

You are done when you hold a contract signed by you and the university, dated, showing every line on SIRI's list.

If the contract is missing a line SIRI needs. Ask HR to add it before you sign; SIRI reads the contract when it decides your permit.

From people who did it. People describe HR sending "a sheet to fill in with your previous work experience". A fellow wrote online in 2025 that the salary "depends on your previous employment, if you have worked before, you get more money", and another that years as a teaching assistant on bachelor's courses earned a supplement. A fellow from outside the EU wrote in 2025 of choosing the pension exempt scheme, with "no concrete plan staying in Denmark", and a computing PhD wrote in 2025 of opting out of the pension: "It just means you get more money now." In 2025 another wrote online that the PhD contracts they had seen allowed no job alongside the doctorate, so read yours. The mistake they name is signing without telling HR your earlier jobs, and starting on the lowest step.

Next. If the university asks for an assessment of your degree, Stage 6. If not, the permit (Stage 7).

Stage 6. The degree assessment

Back to the short stages

You hold an offer and the university wants your degree assessed, or your master's is shorter than two years and you need the answer before you apply (Part 1). Now apply to the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science.

Who needs it.

• With a two-year master's, you need no assessment to apply: "You can apply for admission without an assessment from the Agency, and it is the educational institution that decides". The university can ask for one after your offer: Copenhagen's Protein Dynamics advert tells applicants with a master's from abroad that it can ask them to obtain an assessment of their education from the ministry. Your employer can also get one fast, with your written consent: "The employer can request an assessment if you have given your consent"; this employer's assessment is free and normally takes at most 5 working days. Before you sign, ask HR in writing what happens to the offer if the assessment comes back below a Danish master's, and keep the answer (Stage 5, Do).
• With an 18-month or one-year master's, or an HND or PGD before your master's, apply now, before you apply for posts (Part 1).
• Aarhus Health applicants: Aarhus Health sends your papers to the agency itself ("Send your Bachelor's degree and your Master's degree diplomas and your transcripts of records to graduateschoolhealth@au.dk"), and adds: "To shorten the processing time, you can also apply for an assessment directly from the Agency yourself."

Who can get one. "You can get an assessment of your qualification if... you have completed the qualification, the qualification is publicly recognised in the country of education, the qualification corresponds to a level in the country's formal education system, and you use our application form and document your education."

Step 1. Ask your university to send your transcript to the agency

Do. Fill in the agency's International Transcript Request and Release Authorisation Form, opens in a new tab: your name, your previous or maiden name, your date of birth, your university, your degrees and the years they were awarded, your student number; sign and date it. Send it "to the registrar's or controller of examination's office at your institution". The agency's Nigeria entry: "Please ask your college or university to send a transcript of your academic record directly to the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science."

What your university sends. "the transcript of records" and "a letter confirming that the above-named person has completed the studies and has been awarded the degree(s)", either:

• by sealed envelope, "Sign and seal the envelope across the back flap", to Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science, Haraldsgade 53, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark; or
• by email: "Scan this form and attach it to an email... Send the email to: vur@ufsn.dk".

What your university charges.

• University of Lagos: by email to the agency, the transcript ₦10,000 and the soft copy by email ₦3,000, ₦13,000 in all; by post to Europe, ₦5,000 by NIPOST or ₦20,000 by private courier. The ₦25,000 in its Senate notice of 13 June 2023 is its charge for a transcript uploaded to an application portal, which this step does not use.
• University of Ibadan: ₦20,000 to a foreign address, on the portal's own fee list.
• Ahmadu Bello University: an international e-copy ₦5,000 ($12), a hard copy ₦50,000 ($120) "sent by DHL/FedEx"; processing takes 24 to 48 hours for e-copies and 5 to 7 days for hard copies.
• University of Nigeria, Nsukka: a foreign transcript ₦25,000, sent by email by default.
• Obafemi Awolowo University: "Institutional (not personal/ individual) email address is to be submitted for official transcripts"; no fee printed.

Where. On your university's transcript portal, with the destination "Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science, vur@ufsn.dk" and the agency's form attached. The University of Lagos sends official transcripts "only ... to the official addresses of the Registrar on an equivalent academic institution, Dean of Postgraduate School of an equivalent academic institutions, Scholarship Boards and Embassies", and its page names no assessment agency. It also says "Official Transcripts CANNOT be issued directly to individuals" and "Official Transcripts CANNOT be sent through any third party organisation (soft or hard copy)", so you cannot carry or forward the official transcript yourself. If its portal will not take the agency as a destination, email records@unilag.edu.ng with the agency's form and ask the records office to send the transcript and the completion letter to vur@ufsn.dk; its visiting days are Tuesday and Thursday, 10am to 2pm.

Time. The University of Lagos's portal states no processing time; Ahmadu Bello sends an e-copy in 24 to 48 hours. Ask your records office in writing how many working days an emailed official transcript takes, and count it before the agency's time.

You are done when your university's portal shows the transcript sent, or the records office confirms it in writing.

Step 2. Apply on the agency's form

When. Fill in the agency's form the week your university confirms the transcript is sent, in one sitting. Upload scans of both original certificates and of the transcripts you hold; the official transcript goes from your university straight to the agency. In "Other information", write the date your university sent it.

Do. Living in Nigeria, you use the form for people without MitID (Denmark's digital ID): "If you do not have MitID or do not live in Denmark, please use this form: Application without MitID or with power of attorney." It is "for use ... If you live outside Denmark and you want an assessment of your own non-Danish qualifications". The form has five steps: you, "The purpose of your application", your education, "Other information, e.g. professional experience", and sending it.

Where. Application without MitID or with power of attorney, opens in a new tab. Use the PDF form only "if you cannot use one of our digital application forms".

What you need.

• "Diploma/certificate in the original language for each qualification that you want to have assessed. Make sure to include the reverse side when scanning." Send both degrees: "If you have more than one higher education qualification (e.g. a bachelor's degree and a master's degree), please enclose all of the documents".
• A transcript for each degree.
• Your school-leaving certificate: "If you want assessment of a degree, please enclose the entrance qualification too, e.g. high school certificate". Your WAEC certificate serves.
• Proof of a name change, "e.g. marriage certificate", if your name differs.
• Any earlier assessment.
• Your thesis: its title, and how long was officially allotted to it. The PDF form asks the "Official length of programme" and for the thesis "Nominal duration: How many months were officially allotted for this work?" For an 18-month master's, this is the line that decides it: the agency weighs whether "the programme include[s] an independent project or thesis work" and "what is the time allotted to this part of the programme". Before you open the form, ask your department or your School of Postgraduate Studies for a signed letter on the university's letterhead stating your programme's official length in months and the months allotted to your dissertation. Scan it with your transcript and enter the same figures on the form. The assessment is done once, so send this the first time.

The scans. "Scan each document separately." "Scan original documents, not copies." "Also scan the back of the document, unless it is blank." "Only pdf files are accepted." "Document images must be in colour and of good quality." The agency "conducts routine verification of foreign documents. Cases of fraud (including the use of documents belonging to another person) will be reported to the police."

The language. "You can only get the assessment in one language. We recommend Danish if you are going to apply for jobs or education in Denmark." Choose Danish: the universities read it.

Translation. "We do not need translations of the educational documents if they are in English".

Two clocks on the form. "the application will be deleted automatically if you have not made any changes within 7 days", and "If you make no changes in the form for 60 minutes, you will be automatically logged out." Fill it in one sitting with every scan ready.

Tell them your deadline. "If you need the assessment in connection with a specific deadline, for example an application for admission to a study programme, you should mention this when you apply for an assessment." Write the post's deadline or your start date in "Other information".

Cost. "The assessment is free of charge, but does not include translation of documents." Your university's transcript fee (Step 1) is what you pay.

Time. "The assessment normally takes a maximum of two months from the time we receive the application and the required documentation." "The average case processing time for a personal assessment in 2025 was 30 calendar days." "When you have sent the application, you will get a receipt." Both clocks count from the day the agency holds your form and your transcript, so your university's time comes first (Step 1).

You are done when you hold the agency's assessment, naming the Danish degree your qualification is equal to.

What the answer means.

• "Kandidatuddannelse" (a Danish master's): apply to 5+3 posts.
• A bachelor's plus one year at master's level: apply only to posts that pass the test in Part 1 (an advert that names the 4+4 scheme, or takes a bachelor's plus master's-level work), and read On a 4+4 post, after Stage 13.
• If your field is health: Aarhus's Graduate School of Health can still assess your combined qualifications (Part 1, You hold an 18-month or a one-year master's).

The assessment comes in Danish if you chose Danish. If you cannot tell which of the two levels it names, email vur@ufsn.dk and ask.

The university must follow it: "Public employers must abide by the level of education stated in the Agency's assessment, while respecting the regulations and collective agreements in force."

If it goes wrong.

• Your university will not send the transcript. Do not stop. Apply meanwhile to posts that pass the test in Part 1 (an advert that names the 4+4 scheme, or takes a bachelor's plus master's-level work). If your field is health, apply to Aarhus's Graduate School of Health: it takes your certificates and transcripts by email at graduateschoolhealth@au.dk and sends them to the agency, and if the agency finds your master's not equal, it can assess your combined qualifications (Part 1, You hold an 18-month or a one-year master's). Once a Danish university wants to hire you, ask it for the employer's fast assessment with your written consent: it takes your certificates and transcripts from you, is free and normally takes at most 5 working days, and the agency does not check the papers with your university on that route. The agency's background report is only for people who cannot get their papers for good reasons, "for example ... a refugee or ... a country that was or is in a war-like situation", and "A background report is not legally binding". No agency page says what else it accepts when a Nigerian university will not send a transcript: ask the agency at vur@ufsn.dk.
• You disagree with the answer. "Normally, you can only have your qualification assessed once, but we can carry out a new assessment if the basis for the assessment has changed." "You cannot appeal to any other administrative authority against the content of the Agency's assessment." So send everything the first time, the thesis lines above all.
• You have a question. "Email: vur@ufsn.dk. Phone: (+45) 7231 8700 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 12:30 to 15:00." "The Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science does not provide advice and counselling by personal appointment."

Next. The permit (Stage 7).

Paying from Nigeria

From Stage 7 on, three fees are paid for every permit, each paid differently:

1. SIRI's fee, in Danish kroner, online: "Pay using your Dankort, VISA or MasterCard", or "Pay by international bank transfer" to the "Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration" at "Danske Bank SKB". Anyone may pay it for you: "The fee must be paid by the applicant or another person, e.g. a person or firm in Denmark."
2. The embassy's fee, online in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' webshop: "The embassy fee should be paid online using this link https://dys.um.dk/permit/". The embassy's visa page: "VISA FEES CANNOT BE PAID VIA BANK TRANSFER".
3. VFS's service charge, in naira, at the centre: "VFS Service fees Additional services needs to be paid in Naira in the application centre, Lagos and Abuja".

Before Stage 7, ask your bank whether your naira card pays online in Danish kroner and what its foreign spending limit is. If the limit is lower than SIRI's fee, have it raised before you pay. SIRI rejects an application whose fee is not paid in full: "If the fee is not paid in time, the application, appeal or request will be rejected." Stages 7, 8, 12 and 13 point back here.

Stage 7. The permit and the biometrics

Back to the short stages

You hold a signed contract. Now the university starts your residence permit, you finish it online, and you give your fingerprints and photograph at VFS in Lagos or Abuja. You do not travel until it is granted.

Which permit. The PhD residence permit, on SIRI's page "PhD studies (full degree)". "You can be granted a Danish residence permit as a full degree PhD if you are enrolled as a PhD student at a Danish university and receive a salary from the university". SIRI's "Employed PhD" card for salaried fellows opens the same page. It is not the researcher permit: SIRI's researcher page says "If you are an employed researcher or a Ph.D. student, you must use another application page".

What the permit asks of you. "It is a requirement that you have been enrolled in a PhD programme in Denmark. The educational programme must be a full-time study." "You must be able to speak and understand the language of instruction". "you must be admitted to a publicly accredited educational institution", and "You cannot be granted a permit to study at a private educational institution." "If you are employed by a university or by a company, your self-support is secured by your salary": you show no money.

Step 1. The university's part

Do. Wait for the university to complete its part, then finish yours. SIRI: "The educational institution must complete the first of the two parts of the application. We will let you know by email when the educational institution has completed their part and you can begin your part." At Aarhus, "the application for a work and residence permit can be initiated only by the GSNS", and afterwards "we will send you an e-mail with application instructions and additional information on applications for accompanying family members".

One thing to check now. "Make sure that the email address the educational institution writes is the same email address as the one you intend to sign up with." Send HR the email address you will use, in writing.

Time. No page gives the university a time; Aarhus warns "there may be a long response time".

You are done when SIRI's email says the university's part is complete.

Step 2. Create your case order ID and pay SIRI's fee

Do. On the PhD page, create a case order ID: choose the case type "PhD" (service key 1303), the fee "DKK 3,060,-", and enter your names, surname, passport number and email. Then pay the fee (Paying from Nigeria, above).

Where. PhD studies (full degree), opens in a new tab, on nyidanmark.dk.

Cost. DKK 3,060 (EUR 410.19, about ₦614,050). "Fees paid to the Danish Immigration Service, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration or the Ministry of Immigration and Integration are non-refundable", and that includes a refusal.

The 1 January rule. "All fees are regulated every year on 1 January. Make sure to create your Case Order ID, pay the fee and submit your application in the same calendar year. If you pay the fee before 1 January and submit your application after 1 January, your application may be rejected." The fee rose on 1 January 2026, from DKK 2,255 to DKK 3,060 for study cases. If your offer comes in December, create the ID, pay and submit before 31 December, or do all three in January at the new year's fee.

You are done when you hold the payment receipt with your case order ID on it.

Step 3. Fill in the form PHD1 and submit it

Do. Fill in the online form PHD1, opens in a new tab. "Expect to use 30 minutes per person". "Please note that it is mandatory to use this application form." Without MitID: "If you do not have MitID, you can send the application by signing our sworn declaration by hand and attaching it to the application. It is important that you sign and attach our sworn declaration." Download the sworn declaration from the PhD page, or from inside the form.

What you need. SIRI's list for a salaried PhD:

• "Documentation of paid fee. Attach receipt for your payment".
• "Copy of all pages of your passport, including all empty pages and the passport's front and back cover".
• "Documentation that your have been enrolled in a Danish educational institution."
• "Employment contract or employment offer."

Your passport. "Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months beyond the date on which you expect to leave again"; "Your passport must contain at least 2 empty pages"; "Your passport must have been issued within the last 10 years." "A residence permit can only be valid until 3 months before the expiry date of your passport." (Part 1, Your passport.)

The documents' form. "we recommend that you send the documents in PDF format"; SIRI does not read zip files or cloud links. "Documents must always be translated by an authorised translator", but your Nigerian papers are in English, one of the languages SIRI takes for educational documents.

You are done when the form is submitted and you hold its receipt: you will need to "bring the receipt showing that your application has been submitted digitally".

Step 4. Pay the embassy's fee and book VFS

Do. The day you submit, pay the embassy's fee in the webshop and book your VFS appointment.

The clock. The PhD page: "You must have your biometric features recorded no later than 14 days after you submitted your application." SIRI's contact page of 28 September 2026: "SIRI has temporarily extended the deadline from 2 weeks to 4 weeks, after you have sent your application." Book within 14 days. If no appointment is free in time, tell SIRI the date you have, as both pages say: you can tell SIRI the time of your appointment so that your application is not rejected, and "If you do not notify SIRI, we may reject your application." Without biometrics the application is rejected, and SIRI refunds a rejected fee only "less an amount of DKK 1,040 (2026 level)".

The embassy's fee. "Please note that the Embassy fee for residence permit applications such as work permit, study permit or family reunification should be paid in the Webshop (DKK 1875)." Its fee list of 1 January 2026, item 124, "Application for a residence and/or work permit": EUR 252, DKK 1,875 (about ₦377,240). "The fee to either the Danish Immigration Service or the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration does not include the services provided by the Danish mission." VFS's own page prints EUR 195 for a long-stay permit; pay the amount the webshop shows on the day, and print the receipt.

Booking VFS. On VFS Global's Denmark page for Nigeria, opens in a new tab. "For long term visas (national visas), you do not need to follow above procedure and can go ahead with booking an appointment." "If you are part of a family or group, you'll have to book individual appointments for each member of the family or group." You receive "an appointment confirmation email along with the letter of appointment".

You are done when you hold the embassy's receipt and VFS's letter of appointment.

Step 5. Give your biometrics at VFS

Where.

• Lagos: Denmark Visa Application Centre, Purple Lekki, 2 Purple Way, Freedom Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. Submission Monday to Friday 08:00 to 15:00. The centre moved here from its old address on 9 March 2026; the embassy's residence permit page, dated 20 March 2023, still prints the old Lagos address, so go by VFS's.
• Abuja: Denmark Visa Application Centre, Sterling Bank Plaza, 3rd Floor, Plot 1083 Mohammadu Buhari Way, Central Business District. Walk-in 08:00 to 12:00, appointments 12:00 to 15:00, Monday to Friday.

What you need.

• "Print out of the email confirming the details of your appointment".
• Your original passport ("Valid passport ... With at least 2 pages that are blank on both sides"), and "copies of all pages of your passport. If you do not, the visa application centre will charge a fee for copying your passport."
• "a print of the confirmation that the application was submitted online (containing information about the case order ID)".
• A photo: "35 x 45 mm", "in color with bright background"; "the visa application is not acceptable if the photograph does not comply".
• The receipt for the embassy's fee.
• Your supporting documents, originals and copies: "All Supporting documents should be submitted in both original and copy."

Cost. VFS's service charge "28,632 NGN 19 Euro", paid in naira at the centre; it is "subject to change without notice and the difference amount needs to be paid in the Visa Application Center." If you hand in outside Abuja: "Applicants applying outside Abuja need to pay mandatory courier charges which is Euro 5 (NGN 7532)". VFS's extras (SMS, photocopies, a courier for your passport, a lounge) are optional: "They have no bearing on expediting your visa process or favourable decision-making."

On the day. "Aim to arrive 15 minutes before your appointment. You must attend the appointment in person". "A digital finger scanner collects images of all 10 digits, and you will have a digital photo taken"; SIRI records your signature, "written with a black pen". "Only one airline cabin size bag 55 cm x 35 cm x 20 cm ... per applicant is permitted", and "Under no circumstances is any photography, video or audio recording permitted." You hand in your passport, which "will be returned to you after it has been processed at VFS", and "your supporting documents will be kept at the mission during the case processing time." The mission "may ... request a personal interview at the Danish mission or at the Visa Application Centre (VFS)".

Closed days. The embassy and the Consulate General close on 24, 25 and 31 December 2026, and VFS posts its closures on its news page.

You are done when VFS gives you its receipt (keep its reference number to track the case).

If a paper is missing on the day. "additional documents can be submitted only by applicants themselves at VFS or to the Denmark Embassy via email abvambvisa@um.dk within 5 business days from the date of submitting the Visa Application in VFS." If you miss the appointment: "you will need to book a new appointment after 24 hours from your original appointment date", inside your 14 days.

Step 6. Wait for the decision

Time. SIRI's table for the second half of 2026: "PhD student (full degree) in Denmark 1 month / 2 months" (the normal time and the longest). "The time is calculated from the day you send your application until SIRI has made a decision on your case." "SIRI normally processes applications in the order they are received. It is therefore not possible to jump to the front of the queue." VFS's own page says a residence permit "may take 4 to 6 months"; SIRI, which decides, gives the PhD times above.

While you wait. Track your case on VFS's site "Use the Reference Number present on the invoice/receipt issued by the Visa Application Centre along with your last name". The embassy: "Please do not contact the Embassy for updates on the status of your application within the first 15 days after submission", and "Data protection rules prevent the Embassy from giving information about ongoing visa applications to any third party." You can see your application on SIRI's system "for 30 days from when you last logged into our application system".

The decision. "the Danish mission or Visa Application Centre (VFS) will contact you on their behalf." "You will be granted a visa allowing you to enter Denmark with your permit." Check your visa sticker the day you collect it: "If the sticker contains inaccurate details, inform the Danish Mission or the Visa Application Center immediately". Collect your passport from VFS within 30 days, with the papers VFS's collection page lists, your government ID in the original and a copy among them, or it is "retuned to the Embassy of Denmark". Someone else can collect with your authorisation letter and both IDs.

What the permit gives you. Full-time work at your university on your PhD; extra paid work "for up to 90 hours per month during the normal period of study from September to May, and full-time through June, July and August"; your family's permits; and, with it, "the 3-year job seeking permit". Your rights are "stated in the letter granting you the permit". (Stage 12 and Stage 13.)

You are done when your passport carries your visa and you hold SIRI's grant letter.

If it is refused. Read the decision for what it says you can do. You have three options, each with SIRI's or the Board's own rules (Part 4, If your permit is refused): appeal to the Immigration Appeals Board within 8 weeks (DKK 1,040), ask SIRI to reopen the case if you have information that existed at the time, or apply again with a new fee. For questions about the decision, SIRI's line for PhD and family is +45 72 14 20 02.

From people who did it. Fellows say the university starts the permit and that, salaried, they showed nothing but "the offer from the Uni and the contract". The trouble they report is with the fee: an applicant wrote online in 2025, "I was contacted by SIRI that I paid incorrect fee amount and then I made the correction using the mentioned case order ID"; a new Copenhagen fellow wrote in November 2025 that she was asked about DKK 6,500; the PhD case type is DKK 3,060 in 2026, and DKK 6,810 is the fee for researchers, a different permit. Choose "PhD" when you create the case order ID, and pay the amount the form shows. A Nigerian creator living in Denmark tells applicants to give their biometrics "at VFS Global in Lagos or Abuja".

Same as the DAAD. A DAAD scholar comes to Germany on a different visa from a salaried fellow; the German visa is applied for at the German consulate in Lagos, not at VFS's Denmark centre (On Germany).

Next. Your family's permits, at the same time (Stage 8), and your home in Denmark (Stage 9).

Stage 8. Your family's permits

Back to the short stages

You are applying for your permit. Now apply for your husband or wife and your children at the same time, so their answers come with yours.

Who can come. "your spouse, registered or cohabiting partner as well as children under the age of 18 living at home." "If your sponsor is a PhD student, you can apply for a residence permit as an accompanying family member of your sponsor." The bar on families of some students from 1 October 2026 does not touch a PhD: "their accompanying family members will still be able to be granted a residence permit."

Money. None to show: "If the sponsor is a PhD student who is employed and paid by a university or a company, we do not require documentation of your financial support."

Step 1. Get your marriage and birth certificates verified and legalised

Do. The embassy's rule for Nigerian papers: "Original Nigerian documents must be verified and legalised by competent authorities in order to be recognised in Denmark", including "marriage or divorce certificates" and "birth ... certificates prior to applying for family reunification or work and residence permit". "Verification and legalisation is at the expense of the holder." Three steps, in order:

1. Verification by "one of the below-mentioned legal practitioners approved by the Embassy".
2. Legalisation by "the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja".
3. The embassy legalises the ministry officer's signature: "One fee for each legalization".

Where. The embassy's approved law firms:

• Consolex Legal Practioners: Lagos, 62 Awolowo Road, S.W. Ikoyi, +234 (0) 8034706743, oomo-eboh@consolexlegal.com; Abuja, Plot 1346, Khadijat Labaran House, Ahmadu Bello Way, Garki 2, +234 (0) 98707940.
• Rosamond Omobola Bakara & Company: Lagos, rob_law2@hotmail.com, +234 (0) 8029442982.
• Law Firm Clara Ndive & Co.: 16A, Wolowo Road, S.W. Ikoyi, Lagos (as the embassy's page prints it; phone the firm before you go), ndiveandco@yahoo.com, +234 (0) 8033231868.
• Rayfield Associates: contact@rayfieldassociates.net, +234 (0) 9128262464; Abuja and Lagos +234 (0) 8033131211.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs: its Document Authentication service, which names birth and marriage certificates, starts on its self-service portal (mfa.1gov.ng/selfservice); its contact line is "Tafewa Balewa House, Central Business District, Abuja", +234 952365223, info@foreignaffairs.gov.ng (as the ministry's page prints it).

For the embassy's part, book "by e-mail abvambvisa@um.dk or by phone +234 (0) 9 903 6636 on Mondays and Wednesdays between 12 noon and 2 p.m." No page says which Nigerian marriage certificate (registry, church or customary) or which birth certificate the embassy accepts: ask it at abvambvisa@um.dk before the lawyer starts.

Cost. The embassy's fees are in its 2026 list of fees on its consular fees page; the law firm and the ministry set their own. "The Embassy does not accept cash. Payments have to be done by bank transfer to the Embassy's Naira account" at Guaranty Trust Bank, named "Royal Danish Embassy", with "'Name/Fee for ...'" on the transfer; "bring the receipt when coming to the Embassy." Ask the embassy which item of its fee list applies to each legalisation, and ask the law firm and the ministry their charges and their time when you book.

You are done when each certificate carries the lawyer's verification, the ministry's legalisation and the embassy's.

Your child's passport. If your child has none, apply for it the week the offer comes, with the certificates: a fresh passport takes "42 days after Successful Enrolment", and SIRI asks for a copy of every page of each family member's passport.

Step 2. One application for each family member

Do. "Each accompanying family member must submit an individual application. For example, if a spouse and two children are applying for residence permits as accompanying family members, 3 case order IDs must be created, 3 fees must be paid and 3 application forms must be submitted." The form is MF1: "Expect to use 60 minutes", "1 person". Apply with yours: "You can apply for a residence permit as an accompanying family member at the same time as your sponsor applies". Someone else can do it for them "with a power of attorney".

Where. Accompanying family: study and PhD, opens in a new tab, on nyidanmark.dk; and Aarhus sends "application instructions and additional information on applications for accompanying family members" by email.

What you need, for each person.

• The fee receipt, and a "Copy of all pages of your passport, including the cover". "This applies to everyone, even if you are a child."
• Your husband or wife: "Copy of your original marriage or partnership certificate and translation". A Nigerian certificate is in English, and SIRI takes marriage certificates in "Danish or English".
• A partner you are not married to: proof you have lived together, "lease contracts, insurance policies, bank statements or letters, joint payments or similar, received at the same address", for "at least the last 1.5-2 years".
• Each child: "A copy of your original birth certificate (your parents' names must be stated in the certifiate)"; if the other parent is not coming, "Consent from another person who has parental custody" and a copy of that parent's passport data page; proof of sole custody where it applies.

Which marriages count. One legal where it took place, where "you were both physically present at the wedding", "you had both turned 18 years old at the time of the wedding", "the marriage is not a marriage of convenience", and it "does not violate fundamental legal principles."

Cost, for each family member. SIRI's fee "DKK 3,080,-" (EUR 412.87, about ₦618,070); the embassy's fee in the webshop, DKK 1,875 (about ₦377,240), for each residence permit application; VFS's ₦28,632, plus ₦7,532 outside Abuja. With a husband or wife and one child, the family's permits come to about ₦2.06 million on top of yours. "Nor will you receive a refund in case your application is rejected."

Biometrics. Each person has a VFS appointment of their own, inside the same 14 days. Children: VFS says "Children under 18 years old need to be accompanied by an adult", and "Applicants who are under 6 for National Visa ... do not need to submit full biometric data but will need to have a facial scan." SIRI: "Children aged 6 and above will also have their fingerprints and signature, written with a black pen, recorded." A child's residence card is optional ("you will only get a residence card if you agree to it in your application"); without one, "the application must include a passport photo of the child".

Time. "Normal processing time 2 months"; "If further information is needed, the processing time can be up to 3 months"; "Due to the current large amount of cases, the processing time can take up to 3 months". "your family members cannot receive an answer to their applications before you receive an answer to yours."

If your family's answer comes after yours. Your permit is normally decided in 1 month and theirs in 2. If your start date comes first, either travel on your start date and let them follow once granted, or ask HR in writing to move your start; people who did it say a start can move by up to three months for a candidate the university wants. Their permit can begin up to 1 month before your start when they applied with you. No SIRI page says what changes for a family who arrives after you have started: ask SIRI's PhD and family line, +45 72 14 20 02.

You are done when each family member holds a grant letter and a visa in his or her passport.

What their permits give them.

• Work and study: "Holding a permit as an accompanying family member to a student ... grants you the right to work in Denmark. Therefore, you do not need to apply for a separate work permit if you get a job. You are also allowed to run your own business. In addition you can follow an educational programme". "If you are under 18 years of age, special rules apply to how much you are allowed to work."
• When they may come: "If you apply from abroad at the same time as the family member, who is in Denmark to study (the sponsor), you can be granted a residence permit for 1 month before the sponsor starts studying", "valid for the same period as the family member who is in Denmark".
• Where they must live: "It is a condition that you reside at the same address in Denmark as the sponsor".
• No public benefits: "If you receive benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act, the sponsor also risks losing their residence permit."

Your children's school, health and daycare. SIRI's family page sends families to Life in Denmark for "School and daycare", and Life in Denmark's arrival guide puts "Sign your child up for daycare" among the first steps after the tax card. "Children are covered by the health insurance scheme together with their parents until they reach the age of 15", and "Children and young people below 18 years of age are entitled to free dental treatment." No page gives the daycare fee, the wait or the school's starting age: ask your town's Citizen Service when you register (Stage 10). A Nigerian mother who moved to Denmark in November 2021 with her husband and daughter says, filming her first day at a Danish school: "the government is the one paying our school fees".

If one of them is refused. Each family member's refusal is appealed as yours is (Part 4). A family member's refusal goes to the same refusal page as yours on nyidanmark.dk.

From people who did it. People say to apply for the family with the fellow and fly together. A postdoc's guide online in 2026: "your spouse can also work in Denmark". In Sweden in 2026, a doctoral student who married after arriving faced a partner application that "averages around 18 months". On money, a Copenhagen fellow: two adults on one PhD salary "would be tight", with "40-60% of the take home salary on rent".

Next. A home in Denmark, and travel (Stage 9).

Stage 9. A home in Denmark, and travel

Back to the short stages

Your permits are being decided. Now find a home, because in Denmark everything after landing waits for an address: "you cannot apply for a CPR number before you have found a place to live and actually live there", and "a permanent address in Denmark is mandatory to obtain a CPR number." Then travel once your permit is granted.

Step 1. Find a home before you fly

Do. Apply to your university's housing service the week your offer comes, then search the private market for anything longer.

Where, university by university.

• University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Science: "accommodation is offered for your first two semesters in Copenhagen", and "our housing office must receive an application from you no later than two months prior to your arrival".
• University of Copenhagen, the Housing Foundation Copenhagen: it serves "international researchers affiliated with the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences". You qualify if you want housing "for minimum 3 months and maximum 2 years". PhD fellows "Send us your employment letter or an e-mail from your supervisor or HR", with "the period of your stay and your full name", to contact@housingfoundation.ku.dk. "Booking round for the spring semester will take place in end of November" (sign-ups from October), "Booking round for the fall semester will take place in end of June" (sign-ups from May); "we only open for sign-ups two months in advance". Staff rent "A minimum of 3 months, A maximum of 12 months (24 months)". Family apartments are "a limited number", and "It is not possible to stay with children in any of our other dorms or shared apartments." Prices are shown only in its booking system.
• Aarhus University: "AU Housing offers housing for your first months in Denmark only (6-12 months maximum.)". "you cannot request a specific dorm or location"; "In Aarhus dorms are NOT located at campus"; "we are able to send one housing offer per applicant only. Before declining a housing offer you should therefore be prepared to start the house hunting process yourself." Its staff rooms are "exclusively for applicants who have not previously lived in Denmark." Contact housing@au.dk.
• DTU: "DTU cooperates with a private housing foundation (Boligfonden DTU)" for PhD students staying at least 3 months; "As soon as you know you are coming to DTU, you should contact the housing foundation". "It is your responsibility to find an accommodation".

On a family. With a husband or wife and children, the University of Copenhagen's Housing Foundation is the only university service in this guide that names family apartments, and it has "a limited number": ask for one in your first email to contact@housingfoundation.ku.dk, in the sign-up months above. AU Housing's and Boligfonden DTU's pages say nothing on families: ask housing@au.dk and Boligfonden DTU in your first email whether they house a family. Then rent privately from the week your offer comes, at one address for all of you (your family's permit requires "that you reside at the same address in Denmark as the sponsor"), with a lease of at least three months.

Renting privately.

• The deposit: "A deposit is usually required. Normally 1 month's deposit for a room and 3 months' deposit for a flat." In Copenhagen: "You may be required to pay up to three months deposit and three months advance payment of rent which is within the terms of the law."
• Never pay without a lease: "Do not pay any deposit in advance without having a lease."
• Notice and bills: "You will typically have up to 3 months' notice to terminate the lease"; "Normally, utilities such as heating, water, and gas are not included in the rent."
• Defects: "You must report any defects in the flat no later than 14 days after you have taken it over."
• Where to look: "There is no central register of vacant private rental property." Housing associations are cheaper, but "often difficult to obtain for foreign nationals because they are usually let out on the basis of a waiting list"; "Subletting is quite common and for many the first place of residence is often a temporary one." A "standard rental contract (called 'standardlejekontrakt' in Danish)" exists "in both Danish and English".

How long you must live there before the CPR number. "The minimum residing period needed for a permanent address varies in municipalities, but usually it is 1 to 3 months." Aarhus's centre: "You must have taken up residence at your address and reside there for at least 1 month." DTU: "you will need to present proof of your address in Denmark, valid for at least 3 months, in order to receive your CPR number". So your first home is one you can stay in for at least three months.

Cost. No official page prints a rent. The deposit and the rent in advance are the biggest sums you pay before your first salary: people who did it put them at about DKK 35,000 to 75,000 in Copenhagen (Part 7).

You are done when you hold a signed lease or a housing confirmation for at least three months, with your name on it.

From people who did it. Fellows say a PhD fellow counts as an employee, not a student, so student housing is generally closed to them ("no student benefits, discounts or dorms", Copenhagen, 2025). They put the cost of moving in at about DKK 35,000 to 75,000 for the deposit and prepaid rent ("I also had to dump my entire savings into deposit and first months of prepaid rent - had to pay something like 75.000 dkk to move in", Copenhagen, 2025), and report rooms in Copenhagen at about DKK 6,000 to 9,000 a month and studios at about DKK 12,000 to 14,000, with Aarhus and Odense cheaper.

Step 2. Travel

Do. Fly once your passport carries your visa: "If you need a visa in order to be able to travel to Denmark, you must wait until you have received your permit before you travel to Denmark." Your family can come up to a month before your start date if they applied with you. If their answer is not in by your start date, see Stage 8, If your family's answer comes after yours.

What you carry. Your passport with its visa; SIRI's grant letter; your contract; your lease; and the originals of every paper you uploaded, because the CPR office asks to see them: "Please make sure to bring the originals of all the documents you have uploaded in your online application". Bring your marriage certificate and your children's birth certificates, legalised (Stage 8).

Money. Carry enough to live until your first salary, which is paid "on the last working day of the month" (Stage 11), plus the deposit and the rent in advance (about DKK 35,000 to 75,000 in Copenhagen, as people who did it report).

Travel in Europe. "a permit allows you to stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days within a 180 days period. However, the permit does not allow you to work in other Schengen countries."

Next. Arrival (Stage 10).

Stage 10. Arrival: your CPR number, MitID, your bank and your tax card

Back to the short stages

You have landed and moved into your home. Now register, in this order, because each step needs the one before it. Life in Denmark's order: "Find a home and get a permanent address"; "Register as a citizen, get a CPR number"; "Get a general practitioner"; "Get a MitID"; "Get your yellow health insurance card"; "Get a tax card"; "Sign your child up for daycare"; "Open a bank account".

Step 1. Your CPR number

The deadline. "you must apply for CPR registration within 6 months from the date where your work and residence permit was issued and no later than 5 days after you have moved into your Danish residence." "It is important that you already hold a valid work and residence permit".

Where.

• Copenhagen: ICS East, Nyropsgade 1, 1602 Copenhagen; cph@kk.dk; +45 33 66 10 00. Monday 9.00 to 15.00, Tuesday closed, Wednesday 11.00 to 17.00, Thursday 9.00 to 15.00, Friday 9.00 to 14.00. "you must book an appointment before appearing in person at ICS East." "Residents in other municipalities should apply for CPR registration at the local Citizen Service (borgerservice)."
• Aarhus: ICS West, DOKK1, Hack Kampmanns Plads 2, 8000 Aarhus C; icswest@aarhus.dk; +45 89 40 10 40. Monday 10.00 to 16.00, Tuesday closed, Wednesday 10.00 to 16.00, Thursday 10.00 to 17.00, Friday 10.00 to 16.00; by appointment. It serves Aarhus and 18 nearby municipalities.
• Elsewhere: the ICS in Esbjerg, Aalborg (ICS North), Odense (ICS South) or Sønderborg, or your town's own Citizen Service.

Do (Copenhagen). Apply online first. "It takes approximately 2-3 weeks to process your CPR application after you apply online. When your application has been processed, you will receive an invitation by email with a personalised link", then you book the appointment. "only one appointment is required per application, even if it includes multiple individuals. All applicants included in the same case must attend the appointment together."

What you need.

• "Proof of address either in the form of a rental contract or a housing confirmation".
• "Valid work or residence permit issued by SIRI".
• For a family, more: at Aarhus, "If you are married: marriage certificate, even if your partner is not accompanying"; "Children's birth certificates, for any accompanying children under 18"; "Documents on legal custody, if you have full custody of your child"; "Consent form from the child's other parent if this parent isn't accompanying the child to Denmark".
• "Your documents must be in Danish, English, German or a Scandinavian language", and the Aarhus centre warns that marriage, divorce and birth certificates from some countries need an apostille or legalisation: bring yours legalised (Stage 8).

Cost. None is stated.

You are done when you hold your CPR letter. Then send your CPR number to HR at once: the University of Copenhagen says "Please make sure to inform the HR Center (who issues your contract) about your CPR number in order to get paid."

What comes with it.

• Your health card and a doctor. "your health insurance card, also called yellow card, will be ordered when the CPR registration has taken place. It takes 2 to 4 weeks from your CPR registration date. Your surname or a c/o name should be clearly displayed in your letterbox." "Contacting and seeing your GP is free of charge." At Aarhus you get a temporary card with your GP's details at once.
• Digital Post: "If you have a Danish CPR number you automatically receive Digital Post from public authorities", but "you still need to check your paper-based letters".
• Your residence card: "You will normally receive your residence card 2-3 weeks after you have been granted a residence permit and registered an address in Denmark."
• Danish lessons: a letter from your town "within the first month" (Step 5).

Step 2. MitID

Do. "You can obtain MitID when you: have a Danish CPR number, have reached the age of 15, and are able to meet ID requirements." Two options: "By scanning your passport or ID card in the MitID app" ("your phone must be able to scan the chip in your passport"; "an iPhone 7 or newer or a newer Android phone"), or "by booking an appointment at your local municipality's Citizen Service". At Aarhus, MitID "is issued at ICS West in relation to the issuing of your CPR number". The University of Copenhagen: "If it's your first time getting a CPR number, you can get MitID the next day (but there may be a one-day delay)."

You are done when you can sign in with MitID.

Step 3. Your tax card

Why first. "If you don't have a tax card, you will pay 55% in taxes on your salary." "We will send your tax card directly to your employer". DTU: "If you do not have a tax card, DTU is required to withhold 55 % of your salary (+ 8 % labour market contributions) for taxes without allowances."

When. "Don't apply for your tax card until 1 month before you start your job."

Do, with MitID (fastest). In e-tax (TastSelv) "it will typically be generated right away" if you live in Denmark with a health card showing your CPR number, are registered at an address before you start, and have MitID; sometimes "it will take up to 5 days". The steps: "Log on at skat.dk/tastselv"; "Select 'Forskudsopgørelsen' (Tax budget)"; "Select 'Nyt job' (New job)"; enter "your expected salary before tax (gross salary) for the rest of the year"; choose your first working day under "Skattekort gyldigt fra"; "Beregn"; "Godkend". "Your employer will be informed automatically, so there is nothing more for you to do."

Do, without MitID. Skattestyrelsen's form 04.063: "it will take about 2 weeks" (the ICS pages say the form route "usually takes 3 to 6 weeks"). What it needs: "All pages of your contract or confirmation of employment in one file", "signed by you and your employer"; "A photo of the page in your passport with all your personal information"; "Marriage certificate if you are married: All pages of your marriage certificate in the original language"; "Your Danish residence and work permit". DTU adds for its PhD students: "If you are married, please submit a copy and official translation of your marriage certificate."

Then call. Skattestyrelsen: "We recommend that you call the Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen) on (+45) 72 22 27 80 once you have moved to Denmark and registered with the Danish National Register (Folkeregisteret)."

Cost. None is stated.

You are done when your tax card shows in e-tax, or Skattestyrelsen confirms it has sent it to your employer.

Step 4. Your bank account and your NemKonto

Do. Open an account at a bank of your choice, then make it your NemKonto, the account the state and your employer pay into. "You can only open a bank account with a Danish bank once you have obtained your tax card. As you are not a registered citizen in Denmark, the bank will want to see your passport, tax card, contract of employment and payslip." The NemKonto page lists what "Most banks ask for": "Proof of identity (for example passport, driving license or health insurance card); Employment contract or invitation letter; Tax card (not obligatory)". "banks must offer a basic payment account to all consumers with legal residence in a country within the EU", though "the bank can refuse to set up an account, for instance if you already have a payment account in another Danish bank."

Your NemKonto. "A NemKonto is a normal bank account you already own." "You need a Danish civil registration number (CPR number) to register a NemKonto." "It is free of charge to assign an account as your NemKonto." A foreign account can be your NemKonto, on the form on nemkonto.dk signed "either in front of two witnesses or a notary or an attorney"; the activation letter "will be sent by postal service to the address registered in the CPR register". Use a Danish account: your salary goes there "by the end of each month".

You are done when your NemKonto is registered and your HR has your account.

Step 5. Danish lessons, your address and your licence

Danish. "With a residence permit in Denmark, you are entitled to free Danish lessons. However, you must have turned 18 years and have your Danish address registered". Your town writes to you "within the first month"; you are not obliged to accept, and you can start "in the same week or the week after", in the day or the evening. You pay a deposit of DKK 2,000 per module, returned when you pass the module's test within its deadline (6 months for modules 1 and 2, 7 for module 3, 8 for module 4, 9 for modules 5 and 6). The offer runs "up to 5 years". Life in Denmark: "Danish Course 3 for students who have a lower or upper secondary or higher educational background." Take it: permanent residence asks for Danish (Stage 13).

When you move. "You can at the earliest inform the authorities of your change of address 4 weeks before you move and it must be done no later than 5 days after you have moved to your new home." You need MitID for it.

A Nigerian driving licence. Licences from outside the EU and the Nordic area "must be exchanged for a Danish driver's license at the local municipal Citizen Service Centre."

On a family. Your husband or wife does Steps 2 to 5 too once the CPR number comes: MitID (from age 15), a tax card before a first job, a NemKonto, and free Danish lessons (from age 18). All of you attend the one CPR appointment together, and children are covered by the health insurance scheme with their parents until 15.

If it goes wrong.

• No home yet, so no CPR number. Take a sublet or a university room for at least three months, and register from there.
• No tax card by your first pay day. You are taxed at 55 percent until it reaches your employer; the overpaid tax comes back in your yearly statement (Stage 11).
• No residence card or health card after four weeks. Check that your name is on your letterbox, then contact your Citizen Service: "If you have not received the card after 4 weeks, please contact your local Citizen Service Centre (borgerservice)."

From people who did it. A newcomer in Copenhagen wrote online in 2026 that the email inviting them to book the CPR appointment took three weeks, at a time the office said it was extremely busy: "I applied on August 28, and I received the invitation letter on September 18."

Next. Your first salary (Stage 11).

Stage 11. Your first salary and the tax

Back to the short stages

You are registered and your employer has your tax card. Now check your first payslip line by line.

When you are paid. "The salary is paid on the last working day of the month." "The payslip is sent at the end of every month to your e-boks from 'Økonomistyrelsen', the Agency for Public Finance and Management." (e-boks is the digital mailbox your payslip goes to.) "It is your responsibility to check whether you receive the correct salary. Please make sure that the salary and supplements correspond with your contract. It is also important to check the tax rate and the pension contribution."

How the tax is built. "All individuals in Denmark pay a gross income tax of 8%, called Labour Market Contribution (AM-tax/AM-bidrag) on salary income". "After AM-tax, municipal tax, church tax (optional), health tax and state tax." Skattestyrelsen's national figures for 2026:

• Personal allowance (18 years and over): DKK 54,100.
• Bottom-bracket tax: 12.01 percent.
• Employment allowance: 12.75 percent, at most DKK 63,300.
• Job allowance: 4.50 percent, at most DKK 3,100.
• Middle-bracket tax: 7.5 percent, above DKK 641,200.
• Top-bracket tax: 7.5 percent, above DKK 777,900.
• Tax ceiling: 44.57 percent.

The municipal tax is set by your town and is not on that page.

What you pay, in the universities' words. The University of Copenhagen: "it is impossible for the university to estimate your tax rate in advance. It can vary from approx. 30 % to approx. 56 %. Most people range between 35 to 42 %." Aarhus University says the same. At DKK 31,800 a month, 35 to 42 percent leaves about DKK 18,400 to 20,700 a month.

What the salary leaves after rent. People who did it report DKK 9,500 a month for a flat near DTU in 2025, and rooms in Copenhagen at about DKK 6,000 to 9,000 and studios at about DKK 12,000 to 14,000 in 2026. A Copenhagen fellow calls two adults on one PhD salary "tight", with "40-60% of the take home salary on rent". No page gives a family flat's rent: ask the Housing Foundation and each landlord you write to (Stage 9). Your husband or wife may work from the day the permit is granted (Stage 8).

The researcher tax scheme is not for you during the doctorate. The scheme taxes "gross earned income ... at 32.84% (labour market contributions + 27%) for a period of up to 7 years", but its researchers are "individuals who conduct research and have a research-qualifying degree at minimum PhD level". Aarhus University: "If you are a PhD student, you cannot be on the researcher's tax scheme, and you need to register for a tax card yourself." The University of Copenhagen: the scheme needs you "hired in a post doc position or above". DTU: "all PhD students" go on ordinary tax. It does not open later either: the scheme needs that "You may not have been subject to tax in Denmark for the past 10 years", and Aarhus adds that "once you have been on ordinary Danish taxation, you must have lived for ten years abroad in order again to be on the special researcher taxation scheme."

Your pension. It is paid by the university on top of your salary, and you do not see it in your pay unless you chose the exemption (Stage 5). You also pay "a minor contribution to the mandatory minor pension ATP. This pension contribution is not paid out automatically if you leave Denmark".

Your yearly statement. "In the middle of March, tax payers receive a tax assessment (årsopgørelse) in his/her online file with SKAT covering the previous year. In accordance with your preliminary tax assessment, you will either get a refund or have to repay the unpaid taxes." "You can change the assesment as many times as you like". Update your expected salary in e-tax when your step changes.

With children. Skattestyrelsen's 2026 figures for child and youth benefit a year: DKK 21,480 for a child aged 0 to 2; DKK 16,992 for 3 to 6; DKK 13,368 for 7 to 14; DKK 13,368 for 15 to 17. Its page states no condition for a newcomer. Before you claim it, ask Skattestyrelsen on (+45) 72 22 27 80 and SIRI's PhD and family line on +45 72 14 20 02 whether child and youth benefit touches your permit (Stage 12, No public benefits), and from which month your child receives it. Keep their answers in writing.

You are done when your first payslip shows your salary, your supplement, your tax card's rate and your pension as your contract says.

If it is wrong. Write to HR the same week with your contract and the payslip side by side. If 55 percent was taken, check that Skattestyrelsen has your tax card.

From people who did it. People put their own take-home pay at about DKK 18,500 to 24,000 a month, by their step, their town and their pension choice ("first 2 years it would be about 21,500-22,000 DKK after taxes", Copenhagen, August 2026; "If you opt out of the pension you get like 24-25,000"), and say two people with the same gross "can easily have a 15-20% span in their net salary". The mistake they name most is budgeting on the advert's figure, which is before tax. A newcomer wrote online in 2025 that at their company a first salary comes a month or more late when the CPR number or the bank account is not ready by the payroll date: "It is common for people to not get paid until their third month of work, primarily due to how long it takes to open a bank account." Arrive with money for your first weeks.

Next. The three years (Stage 12).

Stage 12. The three years

Back to the short stages

You are paid and registered. Now do the doctorate: the plan, the courses, the teaching, the stay away, the thesis and the defence, and keep your permit in order while you do.

What the three years contain. You must "Carry out independent research work under supervision", "Complete PhD courses or similar study elements totalling approx. 30 ECTS points", "Participate in active research environments, including stays at other, mainly foreign, research institutions", "Gain experience of teaching activities or other form of knowledge dissemination", and "Complete a PhD thesis". At the University of Copenhagen courses add up to "minimum 28.0 ECTS credits and maximum 35.0 ECTS credits", "A stay between 3 to 6 months is encouraged", and at its Faculty of Science "The teaching and communication components must not exceed 280 hours per year for a full-time PhD student."

Your plan and your checks. "Within three months of the start of the PhD programme, the institution approves a research and study plan (the PhD plan)." Copenhagen's regular assessments "are due 26 months, 14 months, and 6 months before the expected end date". At Aarhus's technical school, after about 18 months of enrolment "you will have to write a progress report and pass a qualifying exam". If you fall behind, "the student must be given three months to rectify the situation. The three months must not give rise to an extension"; if the new assessment "is negative, the student is expelled from the PhD programme."

Your thesis and its defence. "Within two months of the submission of the PhD thesis, the assessment committee must make its recommendation... The month of July is not included". The committee has three members, "at least one member must be from outside of Denmark". "The defence takes place two weeks after the assessment committee's submission of its recommendation, at the earliest... and within three months of the submission of the PhD thesis, at the latest."

Your permit, while you study.

• Take part. "If you hold a residence permit as PhD student, it is a condition for your permit that you must participate actively in your education." The university must tell SIRI if a PhD student does "not attend the beginning of the study programme or are not actively studying". "It is important you inform HR and ISM if you are granted leave of absence without pay, as it can affect your residence and work permit status" (ISM is the University of Copenhagen's office for international staff).
• Work. Full time at your university on your PhD, plus up to 90 hours a month from September to May and full time in June, July and August, plus "unlimited sideline employment" that is "naturally related to the job that forms the basis of your residence and work permit". "If you work illegally you can receive a warning, a fine or your residence permit as a student can be revoked"; "If you exceed the work limit to a significant extent, you will not receive a warning."
• No public benefits. "As an employed and salaried PhD, you are not allowed to receive benefits under the terms of the Active Social Policy Act, e.g. social security benefits. This also applies to any family members accompanying you".
• Time abroad. "If you are enrolled in a full PhD programme in Denmark your residence permit will not lapse, even if you give up your Danish address or stay abroad for more than 6 successive months", and the same holds for your family. Your stay at another institution abroad does not cost you the permit.
• A new programme. "If you change your PhD programme, you must apply for a new residence permit based on the new programme."

If the doctorate runs late. "You can stay in Denmark for the standard (nominal) duration of your PhD programme". The permit "can be extended for up to 2 years beyond the standard (nominal) time limit", and "If you have been on parental leave during your studies, the leave (for up to 1 year) will not be included in the allowed period of delay." The extension costs DKK 3,060 and takes "3 months" (up to "4 months"). "It is very important that you apply for extension before your current permit expires", and "If you submit your application for an extension too early it may be rejected": your grant letter states the earliest date. Your family extends theirs at DKK 3,080, "not earlier than 3 months before it expires".

If a PhD school decision goes against you. A complaint on legal points goes to the agency within two weeks, by email to your graduate school (Stage 4).

From people who did it. Fellows in 2025 describe "approximately 30 ECTS of coursework" inside the three years, with teaching and a research stay abroad; one wrote that with the teaching and the courses, "Effectively you only have 1.5-2 years of total research time". A computing PhD wrote in 2025 of saving "a good chunk because I knew I wouldn't finish in 3 years (and I didn't)", and that most of the PhD students around them "just treated it like a job". They say work and life "mostly depends on your supervisor". In the Netherlands, a PhD at the University of Amsterdam who had two children during her contract said in 2025: "I received 32 weeks of extension in total for two pregnancies, but no time to take a proper break within those 32 weeks."

Next. What follows (Stage 13).

Stage 13. What follows

Back to the short stages

You have defended, or your three years are ending. Now you have three years in Denmark to find work, and the job you take decides your next permit.

Your three years to look for work. "If you have completed a PhD programme in Denmark, you can be granted a 3-year residence permit to look for a job in Denmark. If you are granted a permit to complete a full PhD programme, you will generally be granted the 3-year job seeking permit along with your residence permit." "SIRI automatically grants a 3-year job seeking period along with your study permit if the validity of your passport allows it." The rules of 1 October 2026 that cut other students to one year leave you at three: "PhD students are not affected by the changes."

If yours was cut short. Apply yourself only if your permit "was shortened due to the expiry date in your passport", the job-seeking period granted was too short, or you finished late, and only when "there are 4 months or less left of your residence permit". The form is ST6, printable only, handed in at a SIRI branch office (Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus, Aalborg, Esbjerg, Sønderborg or Bornholm) or sent through SIRI's contact form; DKK 3,060; "3 months" (up to "4 months"); biometrics within 14 days at a SIRI branch.

Work while you look. SIRI's pages give two limits: up to 90 hours a month from September to May on the job-seeking page, and "20 hours per week" on the PhD page, both full time in June, July and August. Keep to 20 hours a week in term until you apply for the work permit below. To work full time for anyone, apply for the work permit for the job-seeking period: form ST7, DKK 840 (EUR 112.40, about ₦168,260), "2 months" (up to "3 months"). "It is not a requirement that you are offered a job already", and "You can start working full time from the day on which you submit your application."

When a job comes. "If you are offered a job during the job seeking period, you can also apply for a new residence and work permit based on work." Holders of a job-seeking permit or of "Employment as a PhD student" who are offered a new job "are also allowed to take up employment as soon as you have submitted an application to SIRI for a new residence and work permit under one of the ordinary work schemes", and "It is a condition that you submit your new application while your current permit is still valid."

Your family stays. "A residence permit for job seeking on the basis of a Danish PhD programme allows your family to live with you in Denmark." The job-seeking permit bars public benefits, "e.g. ... housing benefits or unemployment benefits".

A research job. A postdoc or another research post is on SIRI's researcher permit: "If you have been offered a paid position as a researcher, you can apply for a residence and work permit." DKK 6,810 (EUR 912.87, about ₦1.4 million), "Normal processing time 1 month"; forms AR1 (your employer completes its part first) and AR6 (your power of attorney to your employer). "If your employment is for a period of 4 years or more, you will normally be granted a permit valid for 4 years." On the Fast-track scheme's research track, "it is your employer who must handle the application process", and a decision comes "approximately 10 days after we have received your application"; all eight Danish universities are on SIRI's list of certified employers (updated 12 October 2026).

The establishment card is not among SIRI's schemes. On 12 October 2026 SIRI's list of work schemes has no establishment card; only the extension page for people who already hold one is live. Plan on the three-year job-seeking permit and a work permit.

Permanent residence. The Danish Immigration Service: "You can be granted a permanent residence permit in Denmark once you have had a temporary residence permit for eight years. In some cases the requirement is four years." The fee is DKK 7,570 (EUR 1,014.75, about ₦1.5 million), and "The expected maximum processing time is 12 months". The basic conditions:

• You are over 18.
• Eight years of legal residence without a break, on a permit "granted on the grounds of family reunification, asylum, studies or work etc.".
• "the Danish language test 2 (Prøve i Dansk 2), or a Danish exam of an equivalent or higher level".
• "regular, full-time employment or ... self-employed in Denmark for at least 3 years and 6 months during the 4 years prior to the date the Immigration Service reaches a decision"; full time is "minimum 30 hours per week"; and "Education, including internships or other forms of work that are a part of the programme" does not count as regular employment.
• No overdue public debts, no benefits under the Active Social Policy Act within four years, and a job on the day it decides.

With two of four extras, eight years; with all four, four: Prøve i Dansk 3; four years' work in the last four years and six months; the active citizen exam or a year of active citizenship; and "an annual taxable income of DKK 346,155.57 (2026 level) or more for the 2 years prior".

Your PhD years and the work rule. No page says whether a salaried PhD fellow's years count as "regular, full-time employment" or as "work ... part of the programme". Count your three and a half years of work from your first job after the doctorate; your PhD years count towards the eight years of residence in both cases.

Never let a permit lapse. "your legal stay may be assessed as interrupted if you apply for either a time-limited extension or a permanent residence permit after your current residence permit has expired. To ensure that the calculation of your residence does not go back to the beginning, you have to apply for a residence permit before your current residence permit expires."

From people who did it. In 2026, a PhD who finished in Copenhagen in 2023 wrote that the job-seeking time for PhD graduates had moved to three years that April; others confirm three years. On the first job, accounts in 2025 and 2026 describe a slow search: a DTU engineering PhD wrote in 2026, "I got a job offer after constantly applying for 6-7 months", judged sometimes overqualified and sometimes short of industry experience; a non-European with a PhD from Aalborg wrote in 2025 of 13 months and more than 100 applications without an offer, that job fairs had not helped, and that their Danish had come on slowly because their master's and their doctorate were taught in English. Beliefs about permanent residence ("after 4 years if you have B1 in Danish", "10 years (i think)") are wrong; the Immigration Service's rule above is the rule.

On a 4+4 post

The agency has put your 18-month or one-year master's at a bachelor's plus one year at master's level, or you are in the middle of a master's. A 4+4 post makes you a master's student at the Danish university first (Part A) and a salaried PhD fellow after (Part B). This chapter shows what differs from the 5+3 post the stages above walk.

Who can take one.

• Aarhus Arts: "60-90 ECTS credits after application deadline: You can apply for a 4+4 scholarship"; with a master's "only equivalent one year at Master's level in Denmark you can apply for the 4+4 scholarship (NOT the 5+3 fellowship)", and the study centre "will find a new Master's degree programme at Arts for you and make a credit transfer".
• SDU's Faculty of Science: "you can start the PhD Program after completing 60 ECTS of your master's program (typically in a 4+4 setup)."
• Copenhagen Business School: a bachelor's plus "one year of a relevant Master's degree programme (60 ECTS credits)", only for a vacancy "where the 4+4 scheme is explicitly stated".
• The University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Science: its integrated 3+5 scheme only for applicants who "are enrolled on an MSc programme offered by SCIENCE or have been offered admission to an MSc programme offered by SCIENCE".
• Aarhus's Graduate School of Health: for a health project, when your master's is not equal to a Danish one, "the Graduate School can assess whether your combined qualifications are equivalent" (Part 1, You hold an 18-month or a one-year master's).

How it runs, at Aarhus's technical school. "you will be admitted to the PhD programme based on your Bachelor's degree and one year of Master's study. You will be enrolled for four years", and "During the first two years ... you will be enrolled as a Master's student in parallel". "When you have passed the qualifying exam, you will also obtain your Master's degree."

What Part A pays. A student's grant, the SU, not a salary:

• Aarhus's technical school: "The PhD SU scholarship is typically paid out in instalments of DKK 14.852 per month (2026-level, before tax)", and "The working and fiscal status of a recipient of a PhD SU scholarship is that of a student." Part B's salary there is "approx. DKK 28,000 per month before tax".
• Aarhus Arts: "a payment corresponding to two SU vouchers per month", one voucher "DKK 7,426.00 (2026)", which is DKK 14,852 a month; and "280 working hours in total during part A" of work for the department, paid "DKK 252.04 (April 2026 level)" an hour.

The gap before Part B's first salary. Aarhus Arts: the grant "is paid monthly in advance while the monthly salary on part B will be at your disposal on the last weekday of the month. This means that there be a gap between your payments." Keep one month's living money aside for the change.

The permit. SIRI's PhD page: on a flexible model you "must choose whether you want to apply for a residence permit to complete your master's degree and, subsequently, apply a second time to complete your PhD programme, or whether you want to apply for a residence permit valid for the full duration of your education (4 or 5 years)". With one permit you apply and pay once, but "your permit cannot be extended for more than a maximum of two years". With two, the master's part can be extended by one year and the PhD by two, "up to 3 years in total".

What to ask before you accept. No page says whether a fellow from outside the EU is paid the SU in Part A, which case type and fee the permit takes, or whether your family can come during Part A. Ask the graduate school on the advert in writing before you accept, and keep its answer.

Next. The other stages run as for a 5+3 post, from the interview (Stage 4) to what follows (Stage 13).

On Sweden

What it is. The Swedish Institute: "When you apply for a PhD programme in Sweden, you're actually applying for a job." "If you are admitted to a PhD programme in Sweden, you are both a doctoral student and an employee of the university", with a monthly salary, paid holiday, parental leave and pension contributions. "Duration: Four years of full-time study." "There are no tuition fees for PhD studies in Sweden." Teaching or department work is "up to 20% of their time".

The adverts. "There is no centralised process for applying for a PhD, each university department is responsible for the admission to their PhD programmes." Posts are "advertised by each individual university through the university's job board", often under "PhD positions" or "Doctoral student"; Study in Sweden lists each university's link (KTH, Karolinska Institutet, Lund, Chalmers, SLU, Stockholm, Uppsala, Umeå, Gothenburg, Linköping and about thirty others). Each advert gives its role, how to apply, its deadline, its entry requirements, its assessment criteria and a contact. The usual papers: "A cover letter in English", a CV, "Certified copies of your transcript of records and degree certificates", "A copy of your master's thesis or other independently written academic work", and referees' contacts. Then "the department will invite a few applicants to an interview, either in person or online."

A live example. KTH's "Doctoral student in condensed matter theory", "Last application date 14.Oct.2026"; "Applications must be received at the last closing date at midnight, CET/CEST", so send it by 13 October in Nigeria. Its entry rule: "passed a second cycle degree (for example a master's degree), or completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 second-cycle higher education credits", and "English equivalent to English B/6". Its letter is "Maximum 2 pages long". "A new position as a doctoral student is for a maximum of one year, and then the employment may be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time." KTH adds: "We firmly decline all contact with staffing and recruitment agencies and job ad salespersons."

Your master's and your English. UHR, Sweden's recognition office, compares a Nigerian Master of Science to a Swedish "Masterexamen" or "Magisterexamen", and says "A more precise comparison to a 60-credit or 120-credit Master's degree can only be provided on the basis of individual documentation"; KTH points you to "the Qualifications Assessment Tool from the Swedish Council for Higher Education". For English, a bachelor's from Nigeria meets the requirement for university entry ("Students with a bachelor's degree ... from the following countries meet the English requirement", Nigeria among them); each doctoral advert states its own rule.

The pay. By each university's own agreement: KTH, "step 1: 33 700 kr ... step 4: 38 500 kr" a month before tax from 1 October 2025, with a new time-based scale from 1 October 2026; SLU, "Starting salary, minimum SEK 33,000", rising to SEK 38,000 with the degree.

The permit. The residence permit for doctoral studies:

• What it needs: a valid passport, final admission to full-time doctoral studies, and, for a salary, "a certificate of enrolment issued by the higher education institution".
• Fee: "Adults: SEK 1,500"; "Children under 18 years of age: SEK 750"; "You will not receive a refund if your application is rejected."
• Money: "at least SEK 10,656 per month, if you applied in 2026", plus "SEK 4,440 per month for a spouse or cohabiting partner" and "SEK 2,664 per month for each child", shown "through your own bank assets, scholarship, or doctoral student salary".
• Time: "If an application for a residence permit for doctoral studies is complete, we will make a decision within 30 days"; "75% of recently decided cases have been decided within: 3 months".
• Length and work: "a maximum of four years, but not for longer than your studies are supposed to last", plus "an extra two weeks"; you "can work with teaching, research or administration (up to 20 percent of full time)".
• How: apply "while you are outside Sweden", as soon as you hold your admission letter, paying by "Visa or Mastercard". A Nigerian passport can be checked in the Freja app ("the personal link is only valid for 7 days"). Fingerprints and photo at the Embassy of Sweden, 41 T. Y. Danjuma Street, Asokoro District, Abuja (migration.abuja@gov.se, +234 701 1979062); the consulate in Lagos does "not handle visa matters".

The family. "If your family will be accompanying you, they can apply at the same time." A family that applies later can be granted a permit only "if the person in Sweden has more than three months left on their permit period", and 75 percent of those cases took "5 months". The fees are the same as yours. "If you are granted a residence and work permit, you have the right to live and work in Sweden as long as the permit is valid." From 1 October 2026, a family member staying a year or less needs "comprehensive health insurance".

What follows. Since 11 June 2026, the job-search permit after a doctorate runs "at least twelve months and a maximum of 18 months", and "you can receive a permanent residence permit after three consecutive years with a permit for" research or doctoral studies, alongside the route of "four of the past seven years"; permanent residence also needs "maintenance and lifestyle requirements", and "a certificate from your supervisor". A doctoral student with a hosting agreement can use the researcher permit instead.

From people who did it. People in Sweden say most posts go to students who already know the lab ("Most positions (not all) go to students that already have a relationship with the receiving lab"), and that permit times vary widely, from about five weeks to six months. A Nigerian creator in Sweden says the family can come on the same application and there is no application fee. A student who married after arriving in 2026 faced a partner application that "averages around 18 months".

On the Netherlands

What it is. A doctoral candidate in the Netherlands is employed on a contract: the universities' collective agreement (CAO) says "The duration of employment of a doctoral candidate shall in principle be four years based on a full working week", and a first contract "with a term of 18 months at most" is allowed.

The pay. "PhD students have their own salary scale: P", from 1 July 2026: "P0 EUR 3.204, P1 EUR 3.706, P2 EUR 3.873, P3 EUR 4.051" a month (about ₦4.8 million to ₦6.1 million); "At the start of your contract, you will be assigned to grade P0. After 12 months, you will automatically move to P1." On top: "a holiday allowance amounting to 8% of the total remuneration", and "The year-end bonus shall be 8.3% of the salary received during the calendar year".

The adverts. AcademicTransfer, a job board, showed "215 jobs found" for PhD posts on 12 October 2026, each with its own deadline (LUMC Leiden "30 Oct '26", TU Delft "26 Oct '26", Utrecht "31 Oct '26"); some adverts are in Dutch ("Promovendus").

The permit. The residence permit for a researcher under Directive (EU) 2016/801:

• The employer applies: "Your employer applies for the MVV and the residence permit at the same time." The MVV is the provisional residence permit a Nigerian needs to enter. Your employer must be "a recognised sponsor".
• Your degree: "Your employer determines whether your degree is suitable." That rule is the Dutch answer for an 18-month master's.
• Fee: EUR 254 (about ₦380,240), and "Your employer pays the costs automatically by direct debit."
• Time: "The IND must take a decision within 60 days."
• Length and work: "you may work without a work permit"; the permit lasts as long as your contract, "5 years at most"; after five years you can apply for permanent residence.

Your papers. "To use a document from Nigeria in the Netherlands, you must first have it legalised by the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs." "Documents in English do not have to be translated". Birth certificates: "Only the original birth certificate issued by the National Population Commission (NPC) or a legalised photocopy"; a marriage certificate "from the Federal Marriage Registry".

The MVV sticker in Lagos. "Email lag-ca@minbuza.nl to make an appointment at the consulate-general in Lagos", with "your V number"; "you have 3 months to apply"; scheduling "may take up to 7 working days"; your passport "valid for at least 6 months from the date of the appointment and contain at least 2 empty pages"; you get it back with the sticker in "up to 10 working days". "The MVV is valid for 90 days."

The family. A partner's permit is EUR 254 and a child's EUR 85 (about ₦127,245); "The IND must take a decision within 90 days"; "Your partner is free to work"; you are "both 21 years or older", or 18 if already married while living abroad. No civic integration exam abroad is needed for the family of a researcher. A TB test after arrival (Nigeria is not on the exemption list), and an Antecedents Certificate for everyone over 12.

What follows. The orientation year: a one-year permit for recent graduates and researchers to work for any employer, applied for within three years of the degree, on IND form 9571, EUR 254.

From people who did it. A Dutch poster in 2026: "A PhD is a job here, not a study programme." Dutch posters put competition at 100 to 400 applicants a post and warn that a self-funded doctorate costs "more than 30k€".

On Germany

What it is. "The 'typical' PhD student in Germany works, usually part-time, as a research associate at his or her university." "In Germany there is no central admissions or selection office for doctoral students. Therefore, your first step is to find a suitable professor who is willing to be your supervisor." Structured programmes run "three to five years"; an individual doctorate takes "five to six years" on average. PhDGermany publishes posts "that specifically target international applicants".

The pay. On the state scale, TV-L: a master's graduate starts in pay group E13, "grundsätzlich in der Stufe 1": EUR 4,759.37 a month full time from 1 April 2026 (about ₦7.1 million), with a yearly special payment. A part-time post is paid in proportion; no page states the usual share for a doctoral post, so read the share on your advert and your contract. The DFG's rate of EUR 6,800 a month for a doctoral researcher is the employer's cost, not your pay.

Two programmes with dates. IMPRS-IS (Stuttgart and Tübingen): "The next deadline for doctoral applications will be November 15, 2026 (End of Day, AoE)", which is 12:59 pm on 16 November in Nigeria; "If selected, you will receive funding via an employment contract"; "Interview travel costs will be paid". ELLIS: "31 October 2026, 23:59 AoE" ("Application deadline (firm)"), which is 12:59 pm on 1 November in Nigeria.

The research visa. Apply on the Federal Foreign Office's Consular Services Portal, then at the appointment "your identity and original documents will be checked, a short interview will be conducted, your biometric data ... will be recorded and the fee will be paid." The missions' own words: "As a researcher please apply under the catergory: 'Taking up employment as a highly skilled worker with university degree / Visa to take up employment as an academic'", and "submit your 'Aufnahmevereinbarung' in place of 'Erklärung zum Beschäftigungsverhältnis'" (the hosting agreement, signed by your institute). "a master's degree (or higher) is required to apply. Full recognition of your degree must therefore be provided." A degree listed in anabin, the German database, with the required rating needs no Statement of Comparability, and anabin rates Nigeria's federal, state and private universities "H+". The national visa fee is EUR 75 (about ₦112,275). The consulate in Lagos, 15 Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, takes "visa applications for all of Nigeria".

The visa file. The missions' list of June 2026, in order: the application form, the section 54 declaration, the data protection form, your passport ("issued in the last 10 years", "valid for at least 6 more months", "at least two free pages"), your degree with its transcript and its recognition, proof of work if any, the hosting agreement, the institute's cost commitment if one applies, a CV and a letter of motivation, your birth certificate (the NPC's for a birth on or after 15 December 1992), your marriage certificate and any affidavits, your school results from primary to master's ("WAEC, National diploma, bachelor, masters"), transcripts, originals, one biometric photo and "Prepaid courier envelope". "All documents must be submitted in both copy and original form."

The law. Section 18d of the Residence Act: for an institution recognised for the special procedure "ist die Aufenthaltserlaubnis innerhalb von 60 Tagen nach Antragstellung zu erteilen" (the permit is granted within 60 days of the application); it runs "für mindestens ein Jahr"; it covers research at the named institution "und zur Aufnahme von Tätigkeiten in der Lehre" (and teaching). After the research, section 20 gives a permit to look for work "für einen Zeitraum von bis zu 18 Monaten".

The family. A spouse joining a researcher on section 18d needs no German: the German language condition "ist für die Erteilung der Aufenthaltserlaubnis unbeachtlich" for the holder of a permit under section 18d. Both spouses must be 18.

From people who did it. A Nigerian lecturer who did a DAAD-funded doctorate says scholarship holders come on a student visa and project-paid researchers on the research visa, taxed. People in Germany describe contracts that are part-time on paper ("TV-L 13, 65%, Stufe 1"; "50% of TVL E which amounts to 1700 roughly after tax") with full-time work expected.

Part 4. What can stop you

Your deadlines

Write each date into your own calendar the day it starts.

What stops people, and what you do

In the order you meet them.

No advert fits your master's this month. Keep reading every week, apply to every post your master's genuinely fits, and mark the dates the schools already print for their next calls (Stage 1). People who did it applied to many posts, one to "maybe 500 or more".

The supervisor does not answer. Send one reminder a week later and apply anyway before the deadline (Stage 2).

Your master's is not counted as a Danish master's. Apply only to posts that pass the test in Part 1: the advert names the 4+4 scheme, or takes a bachelor's plus master's-level work (On a 4+4 post). Get the agency's assessment once, with your thesis's length and title in it; it cannot be appealed, only redone on new information (Stage 6).

Your university will not send your transcript. Email your university's records office with the agency's own form (Stage 6); the University of Lagos sends no official transcript to you or through a third party, so you cannot forward it yourself. If the records office still will not send it, do not stop. Apply meanwhile to posts that pass the test in Part 1. If your field is health, apply to Aarhus's Graduate School of Health: it takes your certificates and transcripts by email at graduateschoolhealth@au.dk and sends them to the agency, and if the agency finds your master's not equal, it can assess your combined qualifications. Once a Danish university wants to hire you, ask it for the employer's fast assessment with your written consent: it takes your certificates and transcripts from you and normally takes at most 5 working days. Ask the agency at vur@ufsn.dk what else it accepts.

Your English proof is not accepted. Send your university's English as a Medium letter where the school takes a degree taught in English; book IELTS Academic only where a school asks a test of everyone, and check whether it takes a result older than two years (Aarhus does; Copenhagen's Health faculty does not).

You are rejected and told no more. Aarhus Arts: "We do not offer to give you a more comprehensive feedback". Apply to the next post the same week. Complain only on a legal point, within two weeks (Stage 4).

SIRI's fee is wrong, or the year turns. Choose the case type "PhD" (DKK 3,060 in 2026), pay the amount the form shows, and create the ID, pay and submit in the same calendar year. A fee not paid in full means "the application ... will be rejected".

No VFS appointment inside 14 days. Book the first one free, then tell SIRI its date the same day through SIRI's contact page; SIRI's contact page says that if you are abroad and cannot book within four weeks, you contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about another embassy or VFS centre, then write to SIRI.

Your passport ends too soon. Your permit stops 3 months before it, and your three-year job-seeking period depends on it. Renew it before you apply (Part 1). If you renew it in Denmark later, you apply to extend "no sooner than 3 months before your residence permit expires (if you apply as a student you can, however, apply 4 months before your permit expires)".

Your family's certificates are not legalised. Start the lawyer's verification, the ministry's legalisation and the embassy's the day an offer comes, or before (Stage 8).

You have no home, so no CPR number, so no pay. Take a university room or a sublet for at least three months and register from there (Stage 9).

No tax card on pay day. You pay 55 percent until it arrives; make it in e-tax with MitID, and the overpaid tax returns in March's statement (Stages 10 and 11).

You or your family take a public benefit, or you work more than your permit allows. Either can cost you the permit: "If you or your family member receives benefits in violation of the terms of your residence permit, your permit can be revoked", and illegal work brings "a warning, a fine or your residence permit ... can be revoked". Take no benefit, and keep your extra work inside the hours of Stage 12.

If your permit is refused

Read the decision: "It will be apparent from the decision how to appeal." For questions about it, SIRI's line for PhD and family is +45 72 14 20 02, "Monday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday closed. Wednesday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday 9 a.m. to 12.00 p.m."; have your case number, your personal ID and your case order ID ready. Its staff can help with "understanding what is stated in your decision" and "getting advice on your options for making a complaint", but not with whether a new application would succeed. Anyone who calls for you needs your power of attorney, "even if the person in question is a family member or friend". You can ask for your case file on SIRI's "Request access to documents" page. You then have three options.

Option 1. Appeal to the Immigration Appeals Board (Udlændingenævnet).

• Deadline: "If you want to appeal, you must do this within 8 weeks of receiving the decision." The Board: "If you do not comply with this time limit, the appeal will be rejected", and it asks for the appeal "as soon as possible". No page gives an hour; send it well inside the eight weeks.
• Fee: "DKK 1,040,-" (EUR 139.41, about ₦208,700), for "Study and researchers" and "Accompanying family member" appeals alike. First "create a new case order ID for the appeal case", choosing the correct case type from the list, then pay, then "State the case order ID on the appeal ... and attach documentation for payment". "The fee must be paid at the latest at the same time as you submit the appeal. Otherwise your appeal will be rejected."
• The receipt the Board accepts: one that "must contain an order no. (case order ID) and possibly a transaction ID", or a bank statement; take a screenshot of the payment. A receipt that only shows a case order ID was created is not accepted, "because it is only a receipt that a case order ID has been drawn, and not a receipt that a fee has been paid".
• What you send: your personal ID, address and phone; "a copy of the decision you are appealing against"; the fee receipt; a power of attorney if someone represents you; "the reason why you want to make an appeal against the decision"; the case number and your DNK number (the Board's page: "the applicant's alien identification number or visa case number (DNK number)"). The Board's English "APPEAL FORM" asks the same, with your bank details "in case of refund of the appeal fee". "There are no formal requirements to how you should write the appeal".
• Where: by email to udln@udln.dk, or by letter to Udlændingenævnet, Adelgade 13, 1304 København K; phone +45 61 98 38 00, "telephone inquiries only", Monday, Tuesday and Friday 09:00 to 12:00 and Thursday 12:00 to 14:00. An emailed appeal normally gets an automatic reply; if none comes, check your spam folder.
• Your evidence: "It is up to the appellant to forward any necessary and relevant material for the case"; the Board does not fetch it from other authorities. Send it with the appeal.
• Time: "Currently the expected processing time for appeal cases at the Immigration Appeals Board is 8 months from the day the appeal is received." Cases are handled in the order received, except in very special cases such as critical illness. Living abroad, the Board's letters come by post.
• The outcome: the Board can uphold the refusal, change or overturn it, or send it back to SIRI; "If you case is returned to SIRI for renewed processing, your fee will be returned to you", and the fee is refunded if the Board finds in your favour. A withdrawn appeal's fee is not refunded. An appeal rejected for no fee or lateness can be sent again with the fee "If the 8-week appeal deadline has not yet run out". After the Board, "You can bring the case before the courts." A Board decision can be reopened on information that existed but was not given to it, for DKK 1,040.

Option 2. Ask SIRI to reopen the case. Only with "new information in your case which has not been part of your application", which "must have been present when the original decision was made" and is important enough that the case could have ended differently. "If the information concerns circumstances that presented themselves after the decision was made, your case cannot be reopened. Instead you must submit a new application." The fee is DKK 1,040, with its own case order ID; send the new information, the proof of fee, your personal ID and the original case number. If you have also appealed, SIRI sends the information to the Board and refunds the reopening fee.

Option 3. Apply again. "If you think that you now meet the conditions for a residence permit, you can submit a new application." A new application is a new fee: "you cannot receive a refund in case your application is refused." Apply from Nigeria: "You can submit the application in your home country".

If you are refused while in Denmark. "you will be given a deadline for when you must leave Denmark and the Schengen area ... You are not allowed to work when you have been given a time limit for departure"; "If you stay illegally, you can be deported from Denmark and be banned from entering all EU and Schengen countries for a period of 2 years." "An appeal in and of itself does not give you the right to remain in Denmark".

If SIRI refuses to refund a fee. That decision can be appealed to the Board "no later than eight weeks after you have received the decision not to refund a fee."

Part 5. If you already did some of this

Start at the first stage you have not finished.

You hold a two-year master's and nothing else yet. Start at Stage 1 today.

You hold an 18-month or one-year master's and no assessment. Start at Stage 6 today: ask your university to send your transcript to the agency (Step 1), then fill in the agency's form the week it is sent (Step 2). Apply meanwhile only to posts that pass the test in Part 1. If your university will not send the transcript, follow Stage 6, If it goes wrong.

You hold the agency's assessment. If it says a Danish master's, start at Stage 1 for 5+3 posts. If it says a bachelor's plus one year at master's level, start at Stage 1 for posts that pass the test in Part 1, and read On a 4+4 post. If your field is health, Aarhus's Graduate School of Health can still assess your combined qualifications (Part 1).

You hold a one-year master's from England. Aarhus Arts says the agency now regards one "as fully equivalent to a Danish Master's degree", and that holders "must now apply to the 5+3 scheme". Start at Stage 1.

You are in the last year of your master's. Start at Stage 1 a year before your master's ends: read the adverts every week, write to supervisors from about six months before your master's ends, and apply only to posts whose start falls after that month (Part 1, When to start). Send the signed statement and your latest result sheet (Stage 1, Step 1).

You already hold an IELTS or TOEFL result. Check its age against each school: Aarhus takes "test results older than two years"; Copenhagen's Health faculty does not take tests "older than two years"; Aarhus asks 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each part; ITU 6.0.

You applied before and were not chosen. Start at Stage 2 for the next post that fits. Each advert is a new application, at the same university or another.

You hold a written offer. Start at Stage 5: your step, your pension and your start date before you sign. Start your family's certificates now (Stage 8, Step 1), and your housing (Stage 9).

You have signed the contract. Start at Stage 7, and apply for your family at the same time (Stage 8).

SIRI has emailed that the university's part is done. Start at Stage 7, Step 2: your case order ID and the fee. Your 14 days start when you submit.

Your permit was refused. Go to Part 4, If your permit is refused. The 8 weeks have started.

Your permit is granted. Start at Stage 9: your home, then travel.

You are in Denmark with a lease. Start at Stage 10.

You already hold a doctorate. This route is closed to you (Part 1). A research post is on SIRI's researcher permit (Stage 13).

Part 6. The time, stage by stage

• Stage 1, the adverts: each advert up for at least 14 days at Copenhagen; people report four months to more than a year of applying.
• Stage 2, the supervisor: no official time; replies where they come come within days.
• Stage 3, the application: a week of evenings for the letter and the project description.
• Stage 4, the interview and the wait: Copenhagen three to six months from the advert to the offer on average; Aalborg 4 to 15 weeks once the committee starts; ITU 3 to 4 months after the deadline.
• Stage 5, the contract: no official time.
• Stage 6, the degree assessment: first your university's time to send the transcript (the University of Lagos states none; Ahmadu Bello 24 to 48 hours for an e-copy); then at most two months normally, 30 days on average in 2025, from the day the agency holds your form and your transcript; the employer's fast assessment about 5 working days.
• Stage 7, the permit: biometrics within 14 days of submitting; a decision normally in 1 month, up to 2.
• Stage 8, the family: normally 2 months, up to 3, and never before yours; a child's first Nigerian passport 42 days after successful enrolment.
• Stage 9, a home and travel: Copenhagen's Faculty of Science needs your housing application two months before you arrive.
• Stage 10, arrival: the CPR number about 2 to 3 weeks after you apply online in Copenhagen; the health card 2 to 4 weeks after; the residence card 2 to 3 weeks after; the tax card at once in e-tax or about 2 weeks by form.
• Stage 11, the first salary: the last working day of the month.
• Stage 12, the three years: the PhD plan within 3 months; the thesis recommendation within 2 months of submission; an extension of up to 2 years, decided in 3 to 4 months.
• Stage 13, what follows: three years to look for work; the work permit for that time in 2 to 3 months; permanent residence after eight years (four with every extra), decided within 12 months.

The whole journey: no official page states it. Copenhagen's three to six months of recruitment and SIRI's month for the permit come after the time it takes you to find the post you win.

Part 7. The money, all of it

Every fee in the order you meet it, for you alone, handing in at VFS Lagos, then the total with a husband or wife and one child. For paying from Nigeria, see the paragraph before Stage 7.

What the university pays, and you do not. Your salary from DKK 31,800 a month before tax (August 2026 level), your pension at 18.07 percent on top, and the PhD tuition fee ("not paid by the PhD student personally").

What the total leaves out. Your flights; your living money until your first salary on the last working day of the month; the deposit and the rent in advance; and the fees for verifying and legalising your family's certificates. No official page prints the deposit's amount. People who did it put the deposit and prepaid rent at about DKK 35,000 to 75,000 in Copenhagen, where a landlord may ask "up to three months deposit and three months advance payment of rent", six months' rent in all before you move in. No university page says whether it pays a fellow recruited from abroad a relocation allowance, the flight or a salary advance: ask HR before you sign (Stage 5).

For each family member. SIRI's fee DKK 3,080 (EUR 412.87, about ₦618,070), the embassy's DKK 1,875 (about ₦377,240), VFS's ₦28,632, and ₦7,532 outside Abuja: about ₦1.03 million each. With a husband or wife and one child, the permits for the three of you come to about ₦3.09 million (DKK 14,845 and ₦108,492). Add the lawyer's, the ministry's and the embassy's fees for legalising your marriage certificate and each birth certificate, and a passport for each child who needs one: the Nigeria Immigration Service's 32-page, 5-year passport is ₦100,000. With one child who needs a passport, the family's total is about ₦3.19 million before the legalisation fees.

Later, only if you need them.

• Extending your permit: DKK 3,060 (about ₦614,050); your family's: DKK 3,080 each (about ₦618,070).
• The job-seeking permit, if you must apply for it yourself: DKK 3,060 (about ₦614,050).
• The work permit for the job-seeking period: DKK 840 (EUR 112.40, about ₦168,260).
• A researcher permit: DKK 6,810 (EUR 912.87, about ₦1.4 million).
• Permanent residence: DKK 7,570 (EUR 1,014.75, about ₦1.5 million).
• An appeal or a reopening: DKK 1,040 (EUR 139.41, about ₦208,700).
• A replacement residence card: DKK 1,375.
• A TOEFL iBT instead of IELTS: $170 (about ₦227,000).

On Sweden, the Netherlands or Germany. Sweden: SEK 1,500 for you and for each adult, SEK 750 for each child. The Netherlands: EUR 254 (about ₦380,240), paid by your employer; EUR 254 for a partner and EUR 85 (about ₦127,245) for a child. Germany: the national visa EUR 75 (about ₦112,275).

The universities say it in their own words. The University of Copenhagen, on its PhD tuition fee from 1 January 2027 (approved June 2026): "The tuition fee is not paid by the PhD student personally." Copenhagen Business School, on its PhD posts open on 12 October 2026: "The scholarship includes tuition fees, office space, course and travel costs." Aarhus University's technical school: "The GSTS does not charge an application fee." A salaried PhD post is a job that pays you, and you pay no tuition for it.