Denmark admits skilled workers selectively and documents it precisely. For a Filipino tradesman the Positive List for Skilled Work is the route: an occupation on the list, pay that SIRI's statistics recognise as Danish, a Danish bank account and an employer that trains apprentices. This page is the process from brief to first working day, the schemes around the list, and the one 2027 change that will not help a Philippine hire.
The Positive List for Skilled Work is Denmark's route for vocational occupations in shortage: updated on 1 January and 1 July, 63 job titles since 1 July 2026, no labour-market test. Four conditions decide the case. The job must be on the list under its DISCO-08 code. Pay and terms must correspond to Danish standards — SIRI assesses the salary against Statistics Denmark wage statistics for the occupation and experience level, counting only cash salary, labour-market pension and holiday allowance, and a collective agreement does not by itself prove the point. The salary must be paid into a Danish bank account in the worker's name within 180 days of the permit. And the employer must have met its apprentice-training obligations under Læreplads-AUB. The fee is DKK 6,810, biometrics are recorded within 14 days of submission (in Manila through VFS, with the Embassy's separate fee of DKK 1,725), the standard processing time is three months, the permit follows the contract up to four years and is tied to the job and the employer, and nobody starts work before it is granted.
The list changes every six months and SIRI does not publish which titles came and went; an occupation that is on the list on the day of application stays valid for that permit. We check the list on the day we file, not the day we quote.
SIRI does not accept a collective agreement's minimum rate as proof that pay is at Danish standards. It compares the offered cash salary, pension and holiday allowance with Statistics Denmark figures for persons with a vocational qualification in the occupation, by experience — the lower quartile, median and average are published per code — and may refer a case to the regional labour-market council. The Industriens Overenskomst minimum hourly rate of DKK 143.40 from 1 March 2026 is a floor, not a benchmark; a welder or mechanic with five to nine years' experience is assessed against a monthly figure well above it. Housing, per diems, cars and phones do not count. We set the offer against the statistics before the Manila briefing so that the net pay the candidate hears is the pay SIRI will approve.
The Pay Limit Scheme admits any occupation at DKK 552,000 a year (2026) and the Supplementary Pay Limit at DKK 446,000 after a two-week posting on Jobnet and EURES, with processing of one and two months respectively — relevant for engineers, supervisors and specialists rather than tradesmen. Fast-track lets SIRI-certified companies (ten or more full-time employees, a clean record, a guidance meeting with SIRI) start workers within days on the Pay Limit tracks. From 1 January 2027 the Collective Agreement Scheme will let employers covered by a DA/FH collective agreement hire at DKK 322,000 — but only nationals of sixteen named countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, China, Japan, Canada, Australia, India, Brazil, Malaysia, Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova). The Philippines is not on that list, and a Filipino hire in 2027 still runs on the Positive List or the Pay Limit schemes unless a bilateral agreement adds it.
Four to six months from brief to first working day: two to four weeks to a tested shortlist, a complete application filed in week four to six, three months at SIRI, then travel once the permit is granted — the worker may not start before. Fast-track companies hiring on the Pay Limit tracks are faster; nobody is faster on the Positive List itself.
Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office in London, which has jurisdiction for the Nordic countries, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. Recruitment follows the employer-pays principle: no applicant pays for an interview, a trade test or a place on a shortlist. Your company is the employer from day one; we never employ or lease the workers.
Everything here is subject to the Danish Aliens Act and SIRI's practice in force, the Positive Lists as updated on 1 January and 1 July, Danish collective agreements and wage statistics, and Philippine DMW rules.
Among the 63 titles: steel construction workers and ship builders (721400), sheet-metal workers and vehicle body technicians (721300), blacksmiths, metal workers, locksmiths and tool makers (722100/722200), industrial technicians and CNC operators (722300), mechanics for cars, trucks and machinery and ship's fitters (7231xx/723300); electricians, service electricians, automation and electronics technicians; bricklayers, heating and ventilation technicians, house painters, cabinet makers and landscape gardeners; chefs, retail butchers and bakers; social and health care workers. Welders as such (721200), carpenters (711510), plumbers (712600), truck drivers, vehicle painters, industrial butchers and industrial bakers are not on the list in force (SIRI, updated 2 September 2026) — welding and carpentry profiles are filed under a listed title that matches the duties, or under the Pay Limit schemes.
No. SIRI assesses the offered pay against wage statistics for the occupation and experience level; the agreement's minimum rate is not enough on its own, and allowances in kind do not count.
No. From 1 January 2027 it lowers the threshold to DKK 322,000 for sixteen named countries; the Philippines is not among them. Filipino hires continue on the Positive List or the Pay Limit schemes.
No, as a general rule — only Fast-track provisional permits and the job-change rule allow it. The permit may start one month before the job to allow travel and registration.
The employer must be covered by Læreplads-AUB and have reached its apprentice target in the latest calculated year or in two of the last three, with no additional contribution owed. We ask for the status before sourcing.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.