About Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic country situated in the sovereign state. It has an official name- “Kingdom of Denmark". Location wise it is the southernmost country of the Scandinavian nations, Germany covers it from the south and it south-west part of Sweden.
It is situated in North Atlantic Ocean and is comprising of 2 autonomous constituent countries- the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark also has the peninsula, Jutland and 443 named islands among which Zealand, North Jutland Island, and Funen are the largest ones. The population of Denmark is around 5781190, spread in the land area of 42394 sq km. The total area of Denmark is 42924 sq km.
The islands are flat, have sandy coasts with low elevation and temperate climate.
Denmark is among the top socially and economically developed countries and they have very high living standards. Denmark secures top positions especially for healthcare, education, human development, prosperity, income equality, social mobility, etc.
It has the lowest professed level of corruption in the world with the world's largest per capita income and the 5th most developed country in the world. It also has the world's highest personal income tax rates.
Quick Facts
- Denmark is associated with the meaning- “Land of Danes".
- You can expect rain every alternate day in Denmark. Snow is also very frequent.
- It is made up of more than 100 islands and some of those islands are even not inhabited.
- Country has an almost double number of cycles than cars.
- It is reported as the happiest country in the world.
- As per the data of 2013, there are 14 Nobel laureates from Denmark from the field of physiology, medicine and literature.
- Citizens of Denmark secures the top 3rd position as the coffee consumers and they consume 4 coups in a day on an average.
- Denmark is the least corrupt country in the whole world.
- The coast-line of 7314 miles is present in Denmark which is even longer than the Great Wall of China.
- Germany is the only country which surrounds Denmark physically.
- Denmark is the 5th largest exporter of food in the world.
- The Danish alphabets are similar to English with 3 additional vowels- Æ, Ø, Å as an exception which come after ‘Z'.
- Paperless marriages are in trend in Denmark and even the divorce rates are one of the highest in Europe.
- Denmark's national flag “The Dannebrog" is the oldest flag in the world.
- It is the World's biggest producer of ranched minks.
- The currency of Denmark is “Danish Krone/DKK" which is around 10.75 times INR.
- The capital of Denmark is Copenhagen and is the largest city of the country.
- There are 3 calling codes for Denmark, +45 for Denmark particularly, +298 for the Faroe Islands and +299 for Greenland.
Admission Process in Denmark
For admissions in Danish Universities for higher education, international students need a language proficiency certificate in general. Some courses which are English taught require English proficiency comparable to ‘English B'. Some other course requires ‘English A' proficiency. There are some language proficiency tests getting conducted regularly like TOEFL, Cambridge ESOL, IELTS etc are in use for this purpose.
Students belonging to the English native countries are exempted from this certification.
For admission in Undergraduate courseIt requires to clear entrance test which is comparable to Danish upper secondary school leaving certificate.
Some other requirements are different for different courses which can be an interview, subject passed with a certain minimum grade, etc.
For undergraduate courses, students need to apply before 15th March for the sessions starting in August-September. Some institutes take additional students in January- February and for that, students need to apply before 1st September.
For admission in Postgraduate courseIt requires an internationally recognized Bachelor's degree or any other equivalent degree. A proof of Danish proficiency is required for the courses which are taught in Danish only.
There is no fixed deadline for application in postgraduate courses and it is advised to contact individual institutes to get specific information for the same.
Admissions for Ph.D. courseFor this, one needs to have Master's degree or equivalent. An integrated Ph.D. is available for Bachelor's students also.
Student Visa Application Process
Danish Universities (A usual name for universities of Denmark) are among the top especially for innovation and research work and they invest a lot to provide international research facilities to their students. That is the reason students keep Danish Universities on their list to study higher degrees.
But merely selecting a university does not fulfill the purpose and students need to get approval or acceptance from that university and then a valid student visa.
Please find below the detailed information about the same-
To get an approved Visa, following steps to be followed-
- Finalize the university and course to study-The first most important thing is to decide a course and then a university to pursue that course. After that, you need to apply to that University and once you get your acceptance letter, you can initiate the process for Danish student Visa.
The main subjects students prefer to study in Denmark are Economics, Computer Science, Information Technology, Biology and other research-based subjects. If we talk about top universities of Denmark, Roskilde University, Aalborg University, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), University of Copenhagen, etc are the top universities if Denmark.
Once you decide the course and university to study, you need to apply in the proper way to get the acceptance letter. After this, you can apply for a Danish student visa.
- Visa details to study in Denmark-The rules and details for Visa varies depending upon various factors like the country you belong to, the tenure of your course, etc. If your course is longer than 3 months duration, you need to get a residence permit or a registration certificate. If you are an EU/EEA citizen, you will need a registration certificate and Swiss citizens will need a residence card for the same.
Non-EU/EEA people need to apply for Danish residence permit before arriving in Denmark.
- Apply for Denmark Student Visa-Citizens from EU/EEA can travel with their ID card only to Denmark. They do not need Visa for the same but once settled, they need to get the residence permit which is quite easier in comparison to get a Danish Visa. Students belonging to other countries (other than EU/EEA and Switzerland) need to get a valid visa and residence permit for a longer stay.
The main steps for Visa or residence permit include filling up the online form and then a scheduled meeting at the Danish embassy of your own country. The form of residence permit needs to be filled by you and your university in parts. Indian students may need to provide Biometrics for the security purpose during the Visa application process. It includes fingerprinting and pictures as extra identification.
The duration of the residence permit is usually similar to the course duration you will be pursuing there. But you may need to renew your visa/ permit every year. Once the degree is completed and you still want to stay in Denmark, you need to apply for the different visa or need to go for visa renewal through Danish immigration office.
- Time required for Danish Visa/ residence permit-The time varies fro different countries. For India, Iran, Egypt, Philippines, Canada, U.S., Indonesia, etc, it takes around 60 days whereas it is up to 6 months for students from Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan and Ghana.
- Visa cost-The fee for Danish Visa/ residence permit is around 2110 DKK. It can be paid online, through bank transfer or on the location at the Visa application center as per your suitability.
- Work permit while studying in Denmark-Being an international student in Denmark, you are allowed to work while you are pursuing any course. But has following conditions that the Non-Eu/EEA and Non-Nordic students can work in Denmark for 20 hours per week between September to May and 37 hours per week from June to August. Whereas the students from Nordic and EU/EEA or Switzerland can work with no restrictions.
Lifestyle
Apart from excellence in education, Denmark is also having a great atmosphere to live in. The environment is very relaxed here and one can notice people of bikes and the things running very smoothly.
Love for bicycles
- Cities in Denmark are among the top for being bicycle friendly in the world. They have comprehensive systems for bicycle lanes in cities and even have designated bicycle routes all over the nation. More than 1/3rs population of Denmark moves on Bicycles to work or to schools all over the year and people love to enjoy their week offs riding bicycles by the coast and around the city.
Weather in Denmark
It is very much moderate and has no extremes during summers and winters. Citizens enjoy light summers from June to August with around 19 degrees C during daytimes. February is considered the coolest month of the year which usually has 0 degrees C temperature.
People enjoy Sunbath, swimming, picnics, etc during summers and indoor social gathering are favorite part-time during winters.
Food in Denmark
Earlier the Danish food was all about dishes made up of Potatoes and bacon and the Danish food habits were not much known outside the country. But the new Nordic food and cuisine is advanced and has revolutionized the country and have created the fresh focus of all the local ingredients. Citizens still love to have traditional foods like sandwiches, porridge, roast pork and a good Danish beer. The Food culture includes 3 main meals including Breakfast, lunch, and Dinner. Among which, breakfast and dinners are to be eaten at home whereas lunch is to be carried with for work.
During Breakfast, they take coffee or tea with rye bread/ white bread with cheese/ham. Children prefer milk with corn flakes/ oatmeal or muesli.
Lunch is a packed food most of the times, it consists of rye bread slices buttered and covered with different sausages, baked mixture of chopped pig's liver, boiled egg or liver paste, etc.
The Dinner or evening meal is also known as ‘Middag'. Danes love to have this meal together with the family. They take meat broth, fruit soup, etc as the first course and then meat or fish with potatoes and gravy and their main course.
Fashion
The fashion industry in Denmark is going very well nowadays. They have now international fashion designers and are regularly conducting fashion fairs at international levels and 2 annual fashion weeks successfully.
Denmark also has some reputed Fashion institutes offering Fashion education to international candidates.
Architecture
In Denmark, people have preserved the old historical building and also have adopted the new architecture. The advanced architecture in Denmark focuses on green buildings and considers the energy consumptions, an influx of day-light and reducing energy use.
Sports
You can find both participants and spectators in Denmark. Games like Handball, Football, Para-cycling, etc in trend there and even sports-men represent their country internationally in such games. Denmark also participates in Olympic Games and other world championships.
Cost of Living for Students
Denmark is an expensive country to live in and the living cost is high even by the European standards. The petrol, utilities, and dining out facilities are especially high. To compensate for the expensive lifestyle, the salaries are also relatively higher. Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark is the most expensive city in the world.
The most part of the salary gets spent on accommodation, transport, food and drink and communication in Denmark
Accommodation cost-This is the most expensive requirement and the major part of monthly salary goes here. One can save a bit by choosing the location to stay carefully as it matters. In Denmark, the utility expenses are not getting included in the rent hence you need to keep an extra budget for the same.
The Rental initial deposit is 3 months rent in most of the cases.
Schooling expensesThe education cost is very low in Denmark. As per the rules, the tuition fee is completely free but need to pay for the study and learning materials like books, text books, and other miscellaneous items.
For Non-EU citizens, schooling can be an expensive task as international schools are very expensive in Denmark.
Food and GroceriesGroceries and other food items are shockingly expensive in Denmark. One has to prepare and manage the budget to adjust these expenses. You can save a bit by preferring local food items rather than imported edibles.
The average cost of food is around 200-300 EUR per month depending on different factors like family size, your eating habits, etc. A habit of weekly shopping in discount markets like Lidl, Bilks, Fakta, etc can save significant money for you.
TransportIt is reasonable if you are using public transport like trains and buses. If you are using taxis on the personal basis, it will be very expensive. The high cost of transport is due to the expensive petrol and even the cars are also too expensive to own one. Local Danes prefer cycling and walking where ever it is possible as it is pocket-friendly and good for health.
Other additional expenses for students are the purchase of books and other study material which will cost around 35EUR per month. A healthcare insurance which is mandatory will cost you approximately 26 EUR per month.
Some social activities in which students usually spend, it costs around 120-175 EUR per month.
Documents for University Admissions in Denmark
Documents requirement for Student Visa application
For initiating the Visa and residence permit application, it is better to prepare all the required documents and keep them ready. Below is the list of required documents-
- The very first thing you need to make available is acceptance letter from a Danish university. You need to apply for a course in that university through proper channel to get this acceptance letter.
- Then you need to have a language proficiency certificate or proof which can be acquired by appearing in language proficiency exams getting conducted regularly.
- A signed and duly filled Visa application form is the next requirement.
- You also need to carry the Visa fee payment proof. It can be paid online, through bank transfer or even at the office as per your suitability.
- A valid passport with the validity of 6 months extend from the tenure of your stay in Danish. You can submit any other travel document depending upon the country from which you belong to.
- Recent passport photos are also required and t must not be older than 3 months.
- proof of financial capability to travel and stay in Denmark without any problem. You require around 1000EUR/month for the same.
- Travel insurance is again an important document to be arranged.
- Detailed information about the course and study program you have enrolled in is to be submitted with the visa application.
