Denmark tourist visa (Schengen type C)

Apply for a Danish visa when Denmark is your main destination, or your first point of entry if you split your time equally between Schengen states. Nationals of countries on the EU visa list need a visa; some countries’ special, service and diplomatic passports are exempt (for Türkiye, for example, special (green), service and diplomatic passports allow up to 90 days without a visa). The same procedure covers Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands at Danish missions that represent them.

You apply in the country where you live legally; if you are not a national of that country, add proof of your legal residence there. A visa never allows work or study, and stays beyond 90 days need a residence permit.

The Danish Immigration Service treats DKK 500 a day as adequate for a hotel stay and DKK 350 a day for a hostel or similar when the lodging is not paid in advance. Missions usually ask for recent bank statements, and some require your own statements for the last 3 months even when a sponsor pays. Carry copies of your documents when travelling, because border guards may ask for proof of funds and a return ticket.

Under Annex 1 of the Danish Foreign Service fee list valid from 1 January 2026, a visa costs EUR 90 (DKK 669), and EUR 45 (DKK 335) for children aged 6 to 11. You pay it online in ApplyVisa before your appointment; a visa application centre charges its own service fee. Neither fee is refunded if the visa is refused. Danish missions warn that agents and facilitators often charge very high fees and that they do not work with any of them.

You can apply up to 6 months before entry and the file should reach the deciding mission at least 15 days before travel. The clock starts when the mission registers the case, not when you submit online. The decision normally comes within 15 days, or up to 45 days if the case is referred to the Danish Immigration Service; some missions report backlogs well beyond that and only expedite cases with urgent reasons such as official meetings or serious illness of close family in Denmark, so book early.

A visa does not guarantee entry: border police may ask about your purpose, funds and return ticket. Count days carefully, because entry and exit days both count and the visa end date is absolute. Overstaying by more than 30 days, being expelled or applying for asylum normally makes you ineligible for a new Danish visa for 5 years.

The refusal letter comes back with your passport and states the reasons. A refusal by a Danish mission can be appealed free of charge to the Danish Immigration Service within 8 weeks of receipt, through its contact form or by post to Farimagsvej 51A, DK-4700 Næstved, quoting the case number. Appeals currently take up to 16 months, so a new, better documented application is often faster; you can also ask the mission to reopen the case if it was refused for missing information.