Questions and answers concerning the condition of ties with Denmark

Here you can find answers to the questions most frequently asked concerning the condition of ties with Denmark when applying for SU for a whole study programme abroad

The condition of ties is a condition stipulated in the Executive Order on SU which must be fulfilled by everyone applying for SU for a study programme abroad. Therefore, we must assess your degree of ties with Denmark, irrespective of whether you have a Danish or foreign citizenship. There are several conditions of ties with Denmark you may fulfil. You can see the conditions here.

You can find the conditions of ties in the Executive Order on SU:

  • Section 1 concerns Danish citizens
  • Section 2 concerns EU/EEA citizens who work in Denmark
  • Section 3 concerns EU/EEA citizens who have resided in Denmark for at least five years
  • Section 4 concerns spouses or registered partners of EU/EEA citizens who work in Denmark
  • Section 5 concerns children of EU/EEA citizens who work in Denmark
  • Section 6 concerns parents of EU/EEA citizens who work in Denmark
  • Section 7 concerns family members of EU/EEA citizens who have resided in Denmark for at least five years. In this connection spouse/registered partner, parents and children are considered to be family members. In certain cases it may be a condition that your family member supports you.

The condition of two years' continuous residence within the past 10 years means that you must have resided in Denmark for a continuous period of at least two years. This means that several and repeated periods of residence, e.g. holidays, cannot be added to form one continuous period.

The Danish Educational Support Appeals Board determines the practice we follow when we assess what a considerable period is. We assess the ties based on the specific and individual circumstances in each individual case.

This means that neither the Danish Educational Support Appeals Board nor we can tell you in advance whether you fulfil the condition of e.g. having attended school or worked in Denmark for a considerable period. However, you can see.

We decide whether or not you are deemed to be supported based on a specific and individual assessment, but the general rule is that your family member must support you financially, i.e. you are dependent on the family member in question for financial support.

When you have submitted an application for SU, we will consider it, including whether we need a completed ties form from you. You will receive a letter from us as Digital Post via borger.dk/in your e-Boks if we find that we need a ties form from you.

You must document that you fulfil the conditions you have marked in the ties form. If you have marked the item concerning school attendance, you must attach documentation of your school attendance in Denmark. There are no formal requirements as to the documentation – it is, however, an advantage if the documentation is from independent third parties confirming your information.

Your documentation should preferably be dated and signed, and in a readable format such as PDF. If we need to obtain additional information from you while we are processing your case, it will prolong the period required for processing. We are not permitted to, nor are we able to, check information provided by you or anyone else in the digital systems of other public authorities, with the exception of the Civil Registration System. Therefore, you must send us a copy of all information you wish to be considered in your case.

The ties to be documented are your ties according to the SU rules. Basically, you should only submit documentation that concerns you, but it may be relevant for us to obtain documentation of e.g. your parents’ work if they work in Denmark but do not live here.

You must keep an eye on your Digital Post on borger.dk/in your e-Boks. We will contact you this way if we need more information from you to be able to process your case.

If you have given someone else power of attorney, we will contact this person and not you. You can read more about power of attorney here (in danish).

Every week, we update su.dk with the status on cases; this update also includes the ties cases. The month stated in the table of case processing times on our website is the month in which we received the cases we have now completed. If we pass the month in which you applied for SU, you must check your Digital Post on borger.dk. Does this not answer your query, you can contact us here.

We process the cases in the order in which we receive them.

We review your ties form and the documentation submitted by you and compare this information with the conditions of ties in the SU rules.

We process your case based on your information. This way we arrive at a specific and individual assessment.

All applicants, Danish citizens as well, must have their ties with Denmark assessed when they apply for SU for a study programme abroad. We do not assess your personal ties with Denmark and/or your Danish family; we only look at whether or not you fulfil the conditions of ties with Denmark in relation to the SU rules.

If you do not agree with our decision, you may submit a complaint to us. You must submit the complaint as Digital Post via borger.dk/from your e-Boks. Write: "Klage til Ankenævnet for Statens Uddannelsesstøtteordninger" (complaint to the Danish Educational Support Appeals Board) in the subject field.

Indicative examples

Each ties case is decided based on a specific and individual assessment. Your case may involve issues that lead to a different decision than in the examples even if your situation may be similar to one or more of the examples.
Here on su.dk you can read a number of indicative examples of assessments of students’ ties with Denmark based on an application for SU for a study programme abroad.

Read the examples here.