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Original poster

Moving to Denmark post Brexit

26 replies

SharkVega · 31/01/2023 16:30

My husband is Danish and for various reasons we're now exploring options for moving to Denmark.

I've only done some cursory googling so far, so if anyone has experience to share that would be great or links to easy to understand sites (i keep finding information that's not relevant post brexit)

It looks like it's not all that straightforward, even with a Danish spouse.

Any other aspects of living in Denmark appreciated too, culture wise we're fairly clued up but my husband hasn't lived in Denmark as an independent adult so things like utility bills and housing taxes are things we don't really know about. We're not telling family that we're looking into it in case it's a complete non starter so our usual sources of Danish info are closed off

OP posts:
Falvit · 01/02/2023 20:58

hi, plenty of forums on FB British in denmark, British ladies in cph, you will find all the info. Best (especially tax wise) to move already for a job.
I love DK, its perfect if you are planning/have kids.

newstart1234 · 02/02/2023 14:59

You will need a job, even with a danish spouse (I think withdrawal agreement brits' spouses have more residency rights than dane's spouses). You also need a fairly large amount of money in a danish bank account, and you need to pass danish exams within 6 months-ish of arrival. You need a CPR number to get a job, a job to rent a house, and a house to get a CPR number... welcome to Denmark!

Original poster
SharkVega · 02/02/2023 15:26

I thought there was more leeway with finding a job with a Danish spouse, i.e. i could move and then find work but maybe not. Husband has a CPR number so i'd hoped renting would not be a problem, the finance requirements shouldn't be an issue.

I've been trying to find info on the level of Danish needed for the exams. I'm legendary level on Duolingo 😀

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newstart1234 · 02/02/2023 16:06

I'm basing it on people I know who are married to Danes but need a certain amount of employment/income to maintain their residency permits. It might be their specific cases though. The language you sound like you will have no problem with, though for non eu citizens I think you have to pay for lessons and the tests. I don't know how much they are. Your dh s cpr number will likely circumvent the problem most immigrants have immediately, so it seems that it'll be problem free as long as you can find a job.

newstart1234 · 02/02/2023 16:09

The language needed isn't too difficult, day to day interactions and short conversations about traffic/tv/sport/culture etc

newstart1234 · 02/02/2023 16:19

Not brexit related but just an observation that might be worth baring in mind - brits married to Danes I think (ime I've no evidence for this), often struggle because the spouse settles back in to danish life, picks up old friendships etc. The Brit often feels left out I believe due to the language. I would be having a conversation about how you would fit in to your dhs new old life. Will he be making new international friends with you or slotting back into his hygge childhood friendship groups? Of course you may be a language natural but I find frequently the spouse gets left out a lot. It'll take minimum of months to enjoy a conversation with danish friends in danish or more likely years.

Original poster
SharkVega · 02/02/2023 16:46

His friends are fairly spread out these days so he wouldn't be slotting back in to ready made friendship groups as such (and he's been out the country 20+ years). We're not hugely social people so our social life will probably consist of friends who i know already and family. I know enough Danish that I can usually understand a conversation, even if I have to join in in English :-) Often there will be non Danish Scandinavians or Germans present so English is the default (a blessing and a curse as so much harder to learn without constant exposure).

OP posts:
newstart1234 · 02/02/2023 17:00

It sounds like a good set up then. My experience is based on people in their 20s and early 30s where the Dane was out the country for 3-5 years or less. Child free, sociable etc, it can be isolating even when married to a 'local'. It sounds like your in a different place in life and I've got to say, Denmark is a lovely stress free place to live (or sted at bo 🙂).

Smurf123 · 02/02/2023 17:07

I had a job lined up when we went over but I didn't need a large amount of savings just my wage to go into the Danish account. I got a cpr when we moved, but you need job and accommodation I think for it both which we had lined up and I did go to Danish classes but only did 1 exam in the language centre when I was there and I can't have a conversation with actual Danes as they talk too fast so it's pretty basic.. we only lasted a year because I missed home and hated apartment living (I'm from ni, husband is Danish but only English speaking school job I could get at the time was Copenhagen and his family are all in the south)

Smurf123 · 02/02/2023 17:10

If you rent an apartment don't expect any of your deposit back as they want it like new all repainted etc.
Water, heat, electricity all to be paid for.
As a city Copenhagen was fine, transport was good. I just missed home and family/friends

Original poster
SharkVega · 02/02/2023 17:15

I'm not sure where we'd base ourselves. Copenhagen is obviously the best bet jobs wise but really we'd prefer to be on Jylland. Fyn is about the only place we don't have local connections.

I have no family left in the UK anymore so there's not the pull there. I have friends of course, but we're spread all over and we only ever seem to manage to meet up once or twice a year at this point in our lives so it doesn't feel that there'd be much change there.

OP posts:
Smurf123 · 02/02/2023 19:47

I'm a teacher so we were pretty limited to the international schools I'd says there is more scope in many other job areas tbh
I actually think it would have made a little bit of a difference if we had been in Jutland as opposed to Copenhagen, as there's more space, countryside etc. wages were better especially for my husband who's job doesn't quite translate over here but the cost of living is also higher especially in the main city again looking at Jutland things are cheaper there so maybe different in jylland too

Original poster
SharkVega · 02/02/2023 20:00

We could buy a spacious house with a huge garden outright in Jylland, it's a big part of the attraction. I grew up in a quiet rural area, we live somewhere much better connected now and there's too many people, too much traffic and not enough space. Although Danish is easier to understand in kbh imo.

The sort of work I do is most likely to be hybrid going forward, most likely in an engineering consultancy or renewables or similar. Husband can get a transfer with his firm and would be wfh. His main concern is lack of curry options!

OP posts:
newstart1234 · 03/02/2023 04:42

Have you visited many areas in Jutland? Your husband is right, we lived in Jutland and there are 0 curry options, even in Aarhus the range of food available either eating out or at the supermarket is extremely limited. The curry restaurants cater to Danish palates. We bought our house outright about 15 years ago and we still own it now. That was a large part of the attraction for us. To live cheap, earn good money and get our uk mortgage paid off quickly. We did just that and more eg kids, uni, married, job, career. We went for the money and stayed for the lifestyle (like most eu citizens tbh). We lived near the sea and the sport options available on our doorstep were abundant. But but but,,, it's not everything. We still have our house as a place to decompress over the holidays. The freedom of space is incredible to have. With your employment background you'd be very well advised to live in Aarhus or Copenhagen . But to be honest, unless you're very lucky or well connected I think it'll be harder than you think to walk into a job. Being well qualified and experienced isn't always enough. Personal networks are very well used. In a fairly small sector in a fairly small city in a fairly small country people tend to know almost everyone at a more senior level and hire accordingly - and of course being non eu does add an extra hurdle. I believe a job needs to be advertised to and Dane or eu citizen in preference to non eu. Have you considered getting a summer house in Denmark and spending longer periods, without needing a residency permit? You could spend 180 days a year I think. (I'm not trying to be down beat, but you have other options in addition to moving whole hog)

Aintnosupermum · 03/02/2023 04:50

I did Denmark for a year. Ex husband is Danish and our children attended school and bornehave.

my warning to you is to be very mindful of their lower standards in education. The Danes remain in education until they are 30. It’s crazy. I didn’t find the standard to be so amazing. It’s very average and many Danes crumble under pressure because of how they are taught at school.

Original poster
SharkVega · 03/02/2023 07:28

The work I do is fairly specialized, I basically know a lot of the people who do this sort of work in Northern Europe already so I already have a network of sorts.

Whilst we're comfortable, I'd still need to work in some capacity at some point so just going for longer stays isn't really a possibility.

No kids involved so education not part of the equation but I don't know any Danes who've been in education until they're 30 or even close to 30

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Aintnosupermum · 03/02/2023 11:07

I echo what previous poster said about their husband reverting to a Danish version of himself. It was a nightmare. The heavy drinking culture was also not great. Danes drink a lot and get wasted. Not my thing.

Ironically if I had done it without him I would have had a better time of it. Job wise the pay is terrible and the taxes are brutal. I make 4-5x income after taxes and like for like costs removed, in the US compared to Denmark. Being british you will have a bit of an easier time but Danes are the best at everything they do and non-Danes are second to Danes. They are very nationalistic, which has preserved their culture, but it also means it’s not that welcoming.

Original poster
SharkVega · 03/02/2023 11:41

The heavy drinking culture was also not great. Danes drink a lot and get wasted. Not my thing.

Are you from the USA?

The drinking culture is pretty much the same as the UK in my experience (but more expensive!). My husband doesn't drink alcohol anyway.

I've never got a 'the Danes are the best at everything they do' vibe from people. I've heard the not that welcoming thing before but that's not been my experience. But to be honest at this stage in my life I'm not really looking to make friends, we already have friends and family in Denmark. It's the logistics of a move I'm not sure about

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newstart1234 · 03/02/2023 11:53

What aspect of the logistics are you unsure of? You have the house, job, culture, cpr, and social aspect sorted as far as I understand. You just need to either pack a van or hire a removal company. There are forms to fill in now to move your things post brexit but they are for the Netherlands/France border force to inspect not DK.

My dh works in engineering too. He found that it took about 5 years to get career progress you'd expect as a Dane. Merit counts for less. The flip side is that once established the work is much more fruitful (less effort and more money) than in the uk but it takes more time to get there.

newstart1234 · 03/02/2023 11:55

It's so fruitful In fact that my dh still works there and commutes every two weeks back to uk. But the 'water cooler' moments are extremely important. People trust people and it's very difficult to break into that without being widely known within the peer group.

Aintnosupermum · 04/02/2023 03:09

@SharkVega Im English but don’t subscribe to the getting naked wasted as a fruitful use of my time. I drink, but limit it to 2-3 drinks.

I hope you have a different experience than what I went through. I made friends with a couple of women, some Danish and some international, but I was living in a high income area and most people had lived abroad at some point. It did make it easier. The Danes doing it better was around healthcare and education.

Arriving from the US the standard of care for young children pre grade 0 was shockingly low and when I spoke up I was told this is the best way. No, it’s not ok that staff didn’t know where my child was and I found her at the top of an apple tree having peed her pants because she couldn’t get down. A week later a group of young children ages 4-5 were able to climb the fence because they were unsupervised for clearly what was a substantial period of time. This is not the best way and no, it’s not normal that children don’t know the alphabet at 5. If my child is in care full time because I’m working I have an expectation this is covered by them. Otherwise, I’ll stop working and raise my child myself…except in Denmark you don’t really have that choice. You have to work.

danske · 21/07/2023 16:28

@SharkVega have read this thread with interest - how is your potential move to DK going?

Original poster
SharkVega · 21/07/2023 16:48

No further with a permanent move for various reasons including my in-laws ill health. We're going for an extended stay (3 months) in September. I'm taking a break from work (end of my contract) and OH can work from Denmark. Will re-evaluate after that.

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danske · 21/07/2023 19:56

@SharkVega oh no, sorry to hear that. Best of luck with it and hope your three month stay goes well!

Miche30 · 16/01/2024 15:56

Hi guys. I'd like to move to copenhagen as I have friends there so I have an address. I'd like to go in summer to learn Danish but need a cpr number to enrol in the free school there, I'm hoping to work later. Shall I apply for a student visa? Is this where to start? Or shall I go there on my British passport and do applications there? Thanks