Agro Interns
Here you will find additional information about becoming or being an intern in Denmark.
You need to apply for a residence permit in Denmark if you want to do an internship in the green sector (agriculture, forestry, and gardening).
You must be at least 18 years old, but not older than 30 at the time of application, and you must pass a language test at a minimum A2 level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale and provide documentation of your ongoing education.
The internship must have a professional connection to the education you have started in your home country or in another country where you have resided legally. This means that the internship in Denmark should complement your ongoing education.
SIRI will assess your educational documents in relation to your internship tasks. You apply for a residence permit through SIRI, where you can also find more information about the conditions and rights.
If you are a citizen of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you do not need to apply for a residence permit but instead apply for an EU residence document.
Link to the Agency for International Recruitment and Integration, SIRI.
Your internship host must be approved as a training place for vocational education students. A copy of the training place approval must be attached to the application.
On www.lærepladsen.dk, you can check if the company has a training place approval. To be approved as a company for hosting vocational education students, you must meet the criteria established by the professional education committees within their respective fields.
The exact criteria for the respective education fields can be found on Jordbrugets Uddannelser (Agricultural Education). https://www.jordbrugetsuddannelser.dk/
Salary and employment conditions
An employment contract must be drawn up, and the intern is non-terminable during the agreed-upon internship period. However, the first month of the internship period is a trial period where both parties have the option to terminate the contract without notice.
The employment contract must meet the conditions specified in the Employment Contracts Act. You can find the Employment Contracts Act here.
If the internship host terminates the internship during the trial period, the host must either provide the intern with employment until a new internship can begin with another host or cover the intern's return travel expenses.
Salary and employment conditions must adhere to the applicable collective agreements for interns. You can find information about salary and the collective agreement through GLS-A , or 3F.
Interns are covered by and insurance scheme, which is administered by PensionDanmark. The company will report and pay for the insurance. Further details about the scheme can be found at www.pension.dk.
For additional information regarding salary and employment conditions concerning maternity leave, vacation, illness, etc., you can contact the employee organization/ Trade Union, 3F, or the employer organization, GLS-A.
Working Hours
You can find the applicable rates for allowances and overtime in the specific collective agreements.
For all, it is applicable that ad hoc tasks alone can constitute an insignificant part of the working hours.
Agriculture: The weekly working hours are 37 hours and are scheduled from Monday to Friday between 06:00 AM and 06:00 PM.
For stable work: The normal working hours are 37 hours per week or 296 hours in an 8-week period and can be scheduled on all days of the week, around the clock.
See current salary rate
Greenhouses and Plant Nurseries: The weekly working hours are 37 hours and can be arranged according to the provisions of the collective agreement.
See current salary rate
Forestry: The weekly working hours are 37 hours and are scheduled from Monday to Friday between 06:00 AM and 06:00 PM
See current salary rate
What are you allowed to do with a Danish residence permit as an intern - and what are you not allowed to do?
You are only allowed to work in the internship position and for the internship host for which you have obtained permission.
If you are offered a new internship position, you must apply for a new permit.
This also applies if you are offered a new position, such as a feed manager, with the same employer.
A Danish residence and work permit does not give you the right to work in other Schengen countries
A residence and work permit allows you to stay in Denmark for the duration of the validity of your permit.
With a residence permit in Denmark, you have the right to free Danish language instruction.
However, you must be 18 years old and have registered your Danish address in the national register.
The portal borger.dk provides you with information, links, and in many cases, options for action regarding important topics such as: NemID (electronic identification), CPR registration (civil registration), health card, tax matters, vacation arrangements, housing, danish language instruction, vehicle registration and driver's license
If you are an intern in the green sector, you can obtain a residence and work permit for up to 18 months, but not longer than the duration of your contract.
However, if you supplement your internship with a stay at a Danish agricultural school or technical school for a duration of 6 to 8 months, you can obtain a total residence permit of up to 24 months.
If your internship is extended, you must apply for an extension of your residence and work permit. It is important to do this before your permit expires. If you submit the extension application on time, you are allowed to stay in Denmark and continue your internship while the application is being processed, even if your residence permit expires.
A residence permit as an intern can only be valid until the expiration of any approved training place. If the training place approval of your internship host has a shorter validity than the otherwise possible residence period, your residence permit will be shortened.
This means that the length of your residence permit will be shorter than it could normally be. Once your internship host has obtained a new training place approval, you can apply for an extension of your residence permit.
Disputes or disagreements between a foreign intern and the internship host can be brought before the Professional Committee for Agricultural Education. If the Professional Committee cannot reach a settlement, the case can be brought before the Dispute Resolution Board.
Contact to The Professional Committee for Agricultural Education info@judd.dk
According to: Udlændingeloven § 46j.
Contact the organizations and seek further information at the following link:
GLS-A - Employers' Association
SIRI, the Agency for International Recruitment and Integration - New in Denmark