Arrival Checklist for Denmark: CPR, MitID, NemKonto and Tax Card

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

In Denmark almost everything runs through one personal number, the CPR number, and one digital login, MitID. Most of the first weeks are about getting both, in the right order. This checklist follows the official Life in Denmark and Danish Tax Agency pages as read in October 2026. Details differ by municipality, so check the page of the municipality where you will live.

Before you travel

Have your admission letter, your passport, and your residence permit or EU residence document. Non-EU students get the permit from SIRI; see student visa for Denmark.
Find a home first. You cannot apply for a CPR number until you have found a place to live and actually live there. See student housing in Denmark.
Keep the lease or a statement from your host: you will need it as proof of address.
Travelling from the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland, bring the details of your health insurance in your home country, because Life in Denmark says you must give them when you register.

Step 1: Register and get your CPR number

If you stay more than 3 months, you register with the Civil Registration Office. You do it in person at a Citizen Service centre or at an International Citizen Service (ICS) centre, usually by appointment. Typical documents:

passport or national ID card
residence permit (non-EU) or EU residence document (EU and EEA citizens)
the lease or the host's statement
marriage and children's birth certificates, if they come with you

EU and EEA citizens need the EU residence document before they can register an address and receive a CPR number. The CPR number is used for tax, healthcare and almost all official contact.

Step 2: Health card and doctor

The yellow health insurance card is issued when you register and sent to your Danish address. Public healthcare is based on residence, and once you are registered you are entitled to the public benefits. After registration you may also choose a family doctor. For travel cover during the gap, see health insurance for students in Europe.

Step 3: MitID

MitID is the digital ID for banks, public websites and your digital mailbox. Life in Denmark says you can get it once you have a CPR number and are 15 or older. MitID's own pages describe another route with a chipped foreign passport through the MitID app, with an 8-digit code if you have no CPR number yet; check mitid.dk for the current rules. Alternatively book an appointment at Citizen Service with valid photo ID.

Step 4: Digital Post and NemKonto

Digital Post. With a CPR number you automatically receive digital letters from public authorities. Read them on lifeindenmark.dk, in the Digital Post app, in e-Boks or on mit.dk. Check paper letters too.
NemKonto. Every resident must have one: an ordinary bank account that you register to receive payments from public authorities, such as tax refunds. It can be a Danish or a non-Danish account; the Tax Agency says you register it through your bank or at nemkonto.dk.

Step 5: Bank account

You can open a Danish account once you have a CPR number. The Tax Agency says to bring your passport and your preliminary income assessment (see step 6). Life in Denmark says that if you work you need a tax card first. Ask your bank which documents it wants.

Step 6: Tax card if you work

If you plan a student job, you need a tax card (skattekort) before you start. The Tax Agency says to apply online or with form 04.063, with a signed employment contract and photo ID, and a Danish work permit for non-EU citizens. After you have MitID you log on to TastSelv to complete your preliminary income assessment (forskudsopgørelse), which fixes how much tax you pay. Labour market contributions (AM-bidrag) are 8 percent of gross salary. Work limits are in student visa for Denmark and working while studying in Europe.

Step 7: Transport discount

Students on a programme approved for SU can apply for the Ungdomskort, a discounted travel pass. Conditions on ungdomskort.dk include full-time study, no other transport subsidy and daily travel of at most 3.5 hours each way. You apply with MitID and need a CPR number. The site warns that if you hold a student residence permit as a non-Nordic, non-EU/EEA citizen, receiving an Ungdomskort may affect your right to stay, so check with the immigration authorities before ordering. The price is on the site's rates page.

Order of steps

Find housing and keep the lease.
Collect the permit or EU residence document.
Book the CPR appointment.
Receive the health card and choose a doctor.
Set up MitID, then Digital Post and NemKonto.
Open the bank account and, if you work, the tax card.

Where to look next

Official sources

Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.