What is the correct order to get set up in Denmark?

CPR number first, then MitID, then a bank account and a tax card, then a doctor. Housing, insurance, school or daycare and work come after that, though many people have to sort housing earlier because CPR registration requires a Danish address you actually live at.

What should I do on my first day in Denmark?

Get your address and your residence paperwork in order, then apply for CPR registration online through your municipality or an International Citizen Service centre. You cannot apply for a CPR number from abroad, and you cannot register at an address where you do not live.

Can I get MitID or a bank account before my CPR number?

MitID yes, with limits: you can create it using a P code instead of a CPR number, but most public self-service still needs a CPR number. A normal Danish bank account in practice needs a CPR number and MitID, because banks must verify identity, address and often employment.

How long does the whole arrival process take?

The CPR application is the bottleneck at about two to three weeks, and the yellow health card follows by post in another two to four weeks. MitID takes minutes in the app, a bank must decide within 10 working days, and a tax card is generated immediately online. Most people have the core five steps done within four to eight weeks of landing.

What happens if I skip a step in the order?

The expensive one is starting work without a tax card: your employer must deduct 55% tax until you have one. Skipping CPR registration delays everything else, because a bank account, NemKonto, Digital Post, a doctor, insurance and daycare applications all depend on it.

Do I need private insurance before I can register in Denmark?

No. Your Danish health cover comes with CPR registration and the yellow health card, and GP and hospital care are free. Private insurance such as indboforsikring covers your belongings and personal liability, and some residence permits require specific cover.

What to do first when you move to Denmark: the arrival order

If you have just landed in Denmark — or you land next week — this is the order that works. Nine steps, each one unlocking the next, with the real cost and the real waiting time. Every step links to the full guide with the documents, the forms and the office you have to deal with.

What order should you do things in when you move to Denmark?

Get a CPR number. This is your Danish civil registration number and the key to almost everything else: salary, bank account, doctor, insurance and daycare. Apply online through your municipality or an International Citizen Service (ICS) centre, then attend an in-person appointment with your passport, proof of your Danish address and your residence paperwork. Cost: free. Time: about 2–3 weeks for the application to be processed, then the appointment; the yellow health card follows by post in 2–4 weeks. Guide: How to get a CPR number in Denmark.
Get MitID. Denmark’s national digital ID. Set it up yourself in the MitID app by scanning a chip passport or national ID card and your face, or at Borgerservice with valid ID and a booked appointment. Ask for it at the same appointment where you register your CPR number if you can. Cost: free (up to three code displays or readers are free; a MitID chip costs 143.60 DKK). Time: minutes in the app, or the wait for a Borgerservice appointment. Guide: How to get MitID in Denmark.
Open a Danish bank account. You need a normal account for your salary, your rent, MobilePay and your NemKonto — the account the authorities pay money into. Banks apply anti-money-laundering checks, so bring ID, your CPR number, proof of address and often proof of work. Cost: a basic payment account is free or a reasonable fee (Nordea charges 135 DKK per quarter in 2026). Time: the bank must decide within 10 working days of a complete application. Guide: How to open a Danish bank account as a foreigner.
Get your tax card (skattekort). Do this before your first payday. Log in to skat.dk/tastselv with MitID, open your forskudsopgørelse, enter your expected salary and your first working day, and approve it. Cost: free. Time: usually generated immediately online, and your employer is told automatically. Guide: How to get a tax card and understand Danish tax.
Choose a doctor (egen læge). Register with a GP on borger.dk once you have your CPR number and yellow health card. Group 1 gives you free care through your named doctor; group 2 lets you see any doctor and pay part yourself. GP visits, hospital treatment and emergency care are free. Cost: free (changing doctor later costs 40 DKK in 2026 unless you have just moved). Time: the yellow card takes about 2 weeks. Guide: How to get a doctor in Denmark.
Sort out housing. Rent privately through portals and agents, or join a housing association waiting list. Expect competition, a deposit and prepaid rent, and landlords who screen your income. You need CPR and MitID to sign most contracts digitally and to claim housing benefit. Cost: by law up to three months’ rent in deposit plus up to three months’ rent in advance; housing benefit (boligstøtte) can pay up to 1,194 DKK a month without children. Time: weeks to months, and longer for public housing waiting lists. Guide: How to rent an apartment in Copenhagen as a foreigner.
Take out insurance. Employers must carry work-injury insurance (arbejdsskadeforsikring) and vehicles on public roads need liability insurance, but the policy almost every household needs is indboforsikring: contents, personal liability and legal-expenses cover in one. Cost: a median 2,909 DKK a year for contents cover in 2026. Time: usually the same day online. Guide: Insurance in Denmark: what is mandatory, what is critical.
Apply for school or daycare. Do this as soon as you have a CPR number, because places are allocated by waiting list. Apply through your kommune’s pladsanvisning (placement system) for vuggestue, børnehave and SFO, and through the school admission portal for the folkeskole. Cost: in Copenhagen, 3,555 DKK a month for a vuggestue place without lunch and 2,042 DKK a month for SFO/KKFO, with July free and a sibling discount. Time: apply early; popular places have months-long queues. Guide: How to get your children into school and daycare in Denmark.
Find work. Denmark hires in English in IT, engineering, pharma and life science, academia, shipping and parts of hospitality and logistics. Search jobindex.dk, Jobnet, workindenmark.jobnet.dk and LinkedIn, join an a-kasse and a union from day one, and check the work-permit route before you accept an offer. Cost: free to search; an a-kasse and union membership are monthly costs that pay for themselves if you lose the job. Time: the standard week is 37 hours with five weeks’ paid holiday; the Pay Limit Scheme threshold is 552,000 DKK a year in 2026. Guide: How to find a job in Denmark when you don’t speak Danish.

Why does your address come before the CPR number?

The list starts with CPR, but CPR registration needs a Danish address where you actually live Life in Denmark. You cannot register at a hotel booking, and a c/o address only works if you genuinely live there CPR-kontoret. So in practice your first task is somewhere to live, and the CPR step starts the day you move in. Non-EU citizens should also watch two deadlines: apply for CPR registration within six months of the date your permit was issued, and no later than five days after you move into your Danish address International House Copenhagen.

The same applies to your residence paperwork. EU/EEA and Swiss citizens need an EU residence document (registration certificate) from SIRI, and non-EU citizens need a valid residence permit, before the address can be registered Life in Denmark.

How long does it all take?

Week 1: get your address sorted, apply for CPR registration online, and apply for MitID if you can do it in the app with a chip passport.
Weeks 1–3: wait for the CPR invitation, then attend the appointment. Many ICS centres hand over the number the same day ICS North.
Weeks 2–4: your yellow health card arrives by post — put your name on the mailbox or it can be returned City of Copenhagen. Meanwhile apply for the bank account and generate the tax card.
Weeks 4–8: doctor, insurance, daycare or school applications, and the job hunt.
Day 90: if you are non-EU, your CPR registration should have been done long before this. If you have not registered, sort it now.

What does it cost in total?

Registration itself is free. The money goes on the things around it.

Housing: up to three months’ rent in deposit plus up to three months’ rent in advance Børne-, Ældre- og Boligministeriet.
Contents insurance (indboforsikring): a median 2,909 DKK a year in 2026 Forsikringsoplysningen.
Childcare in Copenhagen: 3,555 DKK a month for vuggestue without lunch, 2,042 DKK a month for SFO/KKFO, July free City of Copenhagen.
MitID: free, up to three code displays or readers free; a MitID chip costs 143.60 DKK MitID.dk.
Bank account: free or a reasonable fee for a basic payment account; Nordea charges 135 DKK per quarter in 2026 Nordea.
CPR, MitID, tax card and the doctor: free.

What happens if you skip a step?

No tax card before your first payday: your employer must deduct 55% tax from your salary skat.dk. This is the most expensive mistake a new arrival makes, and it takes about ten minutes online to avoid.
No CPR number: no bank account, no NemKonto, no Digital Post, no doctor, no daycare application, and no salary paid the normal way.
No MitID: you cannot log in to skat.dk, borger.dk or your bank, and you cannot sign most contracts digitally.
No address the municipality accepts: your registration is refused and everything downstream waits. Ask the caseworker why, then fix the documentation or the housing CPR-kontoret.

Next steps on this site

All the guides — CPR, MitID, banking, tax, housing, insurance, healthcare, schools and jobs.
Daily news in English — what is changing in Denmark this week, in your language.
The ebook — every guide plus the checklists and the 90-day planner in one file.