What you need to do before leaving Denmark

There are a few practical things you need to do before you leave Denmark. Read more about them here.


Public authorities

Deregister from the national register

When you leave Denmark for more than six months or give up your residence, you must deregister from the national register (Det Centrale Personregister or CPR) before you leave Denmark. You do this online at Lifeindenmark.dk 

No earlier than one month before your departure you need to deregister with your municipality.

When you deregister, your CPR number will no longer be active and you cannot use your yellow health insurance card. You must destroy your health insurance card immediately upon leaving Denmark – or return it to the municipality, who will destroy it for you.

Read more at Lifeindenmark - Practical matters before leaving 

Deregister your car

If you have a car registered in Denmark, you will need to de-register the vehicle in Denmark when you leave. In certain cases, you may be entitled to a refund of the registration fee.

Read more about exporting vehicles

Destroy your residence card (Non-EU/EEA citizens only)

If you are a non-EU/EEA citizen and hold a residence card, you must destroy the card upon leaving Denmark. Please make sure you destroy the card completely and immediately – but only if you are leaving Denmark permanently and the card is no longer valid.

Keep your MitID

It’s a good idea to keep MitID when you leave Denmark so that you can still log on to your Danish online services and access e-Boks/digital post to read important emails. Before you leave, make sure you order an extra printed code card – which you will need to reactivate your MitID app on a new device or to log on to digital service in the event that you can’t use your phone.

To keep your MitID, you must:

  1. Inform MitID of your new address when you leave Denmark. You do this on the MitID homepage. MitID needs your new address to send you new code cards.
  2. Renew your MitID every three years. Three months before your MitID is due to expire, you will receive a prompt in the MitID app or when you log on to the MitID website – which you must accept to keep your MitID active for an additional three years. It’s advisable to make a note of your MitID expiry date so that you don’t miss this prompt.

Notify the Danish Tax Agency

It is your job and your place of residence that determine which country you have to pay tax in.

We recommend that you call the Danish Tax Agency on +72 22 27 80 once you leave Denmark after having deregistered from the Danish National Register (Folkeregisteret).

If possible, the Tax Agency will determine your tax liability instantly and let you know which documents you need to submit to the Tax Agency in connection with your leaving Denmark.

Notify the Danish Tax Agency when you want to leave Denmark

Bank and insurance

Check your social security rights

When you deregister from the Civil Registration System (CPR), you simultaneously lose your right to receive social security in Denmark. So, before you leave the country, it’s important to check which social security services you’ll be entitled to in your new country.

Moving to another EU country

When you leave Denmark to live in another EU country, some EU countries require documentation to prove that you have been covered by the social security system in Denmark in order to be covered by the social security system in their country.

Once you have deregistered with the Citizen Service you should contact the public authorities in your new country and ask them to send a form S040 to Udbetaling Danmark. Udbetaling Danmark is the authority who administers questions relating to social security and international health insurance in Denmark. They will then send a form S041 to the public authorities in the new country, proving that you were covered by Danish national healthcare during your stay in Denmark.

For more information about international social security, please contact Udbetaling Danmark.

Notify your Danish bank

If you have opened a Danish bank account, you should tell the bank you are leaving Denmark and ask whether you can keep your account open for a short period of time (around a year) to receive any reimbursements you may be due, for example from the tax authorities or your utility suppliers.

Read more at Lifeindenmark - Practical matters before leaving 

Transfer periods of unemployment benefits (for employed staff and EU/EEA citizens only)

Upon leaving Denmark, you may transfer your periods of work and unemployment benefits from Denmark to another EU/EEA country. This is only possible if you have been employed and insured against unemployment in Denmark. 

If you are a non-EU/EEA citizen, you cannot transfer periods of work and unemployment benefits from Denmark to another EU/EEA country. But if you are moving to another Nordic country, you can transfer earned rights from Denmark.

Read more about transferring unemployment benefits 

Pay and pension

Settle your holiday allowance (for employed staff only)

If you resign from your position to move abroad, the university will pay the amount due for your ordinary holiday and special holiday directly to you. To qualify for this payment, you must document that you have deregistered from the CPR register.

Read more about holiday and termination of employment on the Staff Portal

Settle your pension (for employed staff only)

Aarhus University recommends that you contact your pension fund for information on what to do about your pension when leaving Denmark.

Find the contact details for the different pension funds in the right-hand column on the Foreign employees pensions page