Practical matters before leaving

You have to report that you leave to the Civil Registration System (CPR) if:

• you will be gone for more than 6 months. Please note that if you go to Denmark on holiday during your stay abroad, this will not interrupt the 6-month period.
• you are gone for less than 6 months and you sublet or hire out your residence while you are gone. That is also called giving up the right of disposal.

You deregister in the self-service using NemID/MitID.

If you do not have a NemID/MitID, you can book an appointment with Citizen Service, and you can fill in a leaving form and submitting it to your municipality of residence.

When leaving Denmark, you must destroy your yellow national health insurance card ('sundhedskort') (cut it up) as it only applies to individuals living in Denmark.

If you move from Denmark to another Nordic country, you must both register with the local registration authority in the country to which you move as well as deregister your address from the national register (CPR) in Denmark.

To be registered in another Nordic country, you must bring your ID and provide your social security number (CPR number) as well as your previous address in Denmark.

You will only be registered as having left Denmark once the municipality to which you are moving has informed the municipality which you are leaving.

The Danish postal service, PostNord, can forward your mail to an address abroad for the first six months. Registration is only online using an online form.

In the form, Choose ’Flytning (Særlige adresseændringer)’ and then ’Udlands adresseændring’. Here you upload a copy of your passport, driving licence or other ID and fill in your details.

• Form – have your mail forwarded to your new address outside of Denmark (in Danish)

Parcels, magazines and newspapers will not be forwarded in connection with a change of address to another country. A permanent change of address is valid for six months and may be prolonged for another six months.

If PostNord does not receive any information about a new address in connection with relocation outside of Denmark, your post will be returned to sender.

• PostNord

Leaving Denmark entails a number of changes to your rights. When you have been registered in the Civil Registration System (CPR) as relocated to another country, you simultaneously lose your social security in Denmark.

Therefore, before you leave Denmark, you should check which social rights you will have in the country to which you are moving.

When leaving Denmark, you must destroy your yellow national health insurance card ('sundhedskort') (cut it up) as it only applies to individuals living in Denmark.

If you need a certificate stating your periods of social security coverage in Denmark, please ask the health insurance authority in the country you are currently living in to contact Udbetaling Danmark. 

Udbetaling Danmark can be reached by phone at + 45 70 12 80 81.

Doctor and dentist

Before you leave the country, remember to obtain your family medical and dentist records.

Before leaving Denmark, you should notify your children’s daycare facility, school, after-school scheme or other care arrangement that you are going to leave. The term of notice is generally 1 month. Many places demand a written notice in advance.

In some cases you can deregister from municipal childcare services digitally. Most of the online self-services are in Danish, but you can always get help to fill in forms and online applications at the local Citizen Service centre.

If you do not have NemID/MitiD, please contact Digital Pladsanvisning (the Placement Service) or Citizen Service to have them help you withdraw your children from childcare.

Please remember always to read your meters before you move and inform your electricity and heating provider, otherwise you risk paying for more than you have consumed and you will be held responsible for the consumption until the next resident registers as a consumer.

If you have opened an account in a Danish bank, you should notify the bank of your relocation and check the possibilities of perhaps keeping your account open for approximately one year in case you receive reimbursements, e.g. for utilities or tax, or deregistration fee.

Similarly, you should contact your insurance company to terminate your insurances and ask about your insurance coverage in connection with the relocation.

You can have your pension paid out abroad if you do not live in Denmark any longer.

Please contact your pension company, your pension fund or your financial institution if you want to learn more about your individual pensions.

You can not have your ATP Livslang Pension paid out if you leave Denmark. Read more what to do with your ATP Livslang Pension when you leave Denmark:

• ATP Livslang Pension

When you leave Denmark it is your job and your place of residence that determine to which country you have to pay tax.

You are recommended to call the Tax Agency on +45 72 22 28 92 once you have left Denmark and 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 if you leave Denmark permanently

You probably paid a deposit when renting an apartment or a house. Please remember that when you move, you will be reimbursed the deposit minus any possible expenses spent on the flat. You are required to leave it as when you took it over. Any surplus of utilities will also be reimbursed.

If you leave Denmark and stop working for a Danish employer, you can have all your holiday allowance disbursed without taking a holiday.

• Holiday allowance if you leave Denmark

If you leave Denmark and take your Danish registered car with you, you are entitled to a refund on part of the paid registration duty, depending on the current market value of the car. The amount will be paid into your Danish bank account.

If you have paid the registration fee in instalments, your instalment payments will expire upon the deregistration of the vehicle.

The relevant amount of registration fee will be paid out to the owner of the vehicle when 1) the current market value of the vehicle has been determined 2) the vehicle has been deregistered from the Central Motor Registry, and 3) when the Danish Motor Vehicle Agency (Motorstyrelsen) has received documentation that the vehicle has been exported out of Denmark.

You can apply for a refund by filling in form no. 21.044 EN. Please click here to download the form:

• Form 21.044 EN

Upon your departure, you have to hand over your number plates to SKAT, and you must notify one of the 4 Central Motor Registry Offices ('Motorcentre') in Denmark. Your notice must include a copy of the vehicle’s original registration certificate (Part I and Part II) and registration form 21.044.

Please note that the authorities may demand a vehicle inspection of the car.

For further guidance on car deregistration and registration duty refund, please contact SKAT:

• Contact SKAT about Motor Vehicles
• Exporting vehicles

• Notify the Danish Tax Agency if you leave Denmark permanently