Denmark is the Nordic market where the care route is narrowest and most precisely defined. Social and health care helpers can be recruited from the Philippines on the Positive List under a quota of 1,000; third-country nurses cannot file new authorisation applications until 31 December 2026 (the route is expected to reopen in 2027, subject to the 2027 quota decision); and a government-to-government agreement, initialled but not yet signed, foresees up to a hundred care workers a year from the second half of 2027. This page sets out the three doors — open, closed and opening — so that a Danish employer plans the right one.
Since 1 July 2024 Denmark admits social and health care workers from outside the EU on the Positive List under a quota of 1,000 residence and work permits, and the SOSU-helper codes (532110 for institutions and hospitals, 532210 for private homes and nursing homes) carry no authorisation requirement. The conditions are those of the list — pay at Danish standards per SIRI's statistics for the code, a Danish bank account within 180 days, the employer's apprentice obligation met — and the process is the standard one: fee DKK 6,810, biometrics within 14 days, three months at SIRI. Filipino caregivers with the TESDA Caregiving NC II and years in Gulf, Israeli or Asian care homes are the natural candidates; Danish is not required for the permit, and municipalities that recruit them invest in language after arrival.
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 Danish Patient Safety Authority is not accepting applications for authorisation from nurses who are citizens of, or educated in, countries outside the EU/EEA: a quota of zero applies from 7 October 2025 to 31 December 2026, pending applications were rejected with fees refunded, and the only exceptions are applicants with a concrete job offer covering the full three-year evaluation period under a special process and applicants with legal residence in Denmark. When the route reopens, the process is the one defined in 2025: a comparability assessment of the education, Prøve i Dansk 3 with at least grade 10 in oral and 7 in reading and writing, an evaluation employment of at least six months under temporary authorisation, and authorisation within three years. A Filipino BSN nurse cannot be recruited to Denmark as a nurse in 2026; some are recruited as SOSU helpers with the nursing pathway deferred — we say so in Manila.
On 11 December 2025 the DMW and Denmark's Ministry for Senior Citizens initialled a memorandum of understanding on the education, training and recruitment of Filipino health and care professionals, following a joint letter of intent of December 2024: a pilot for social and health care helpers in elderly care, up to one hundred care workers a year, training from 2026, municipalities able to hire from the second half of 2027, later extension to assistants and nurses, with the TESDA Caregiving NC II accepted as the entry qualification. The programme runs government to government; employers who want Filipino care staff before it starts use the Positive List quota.
Caregivers are selected by scenario at our Makati facilities — transfers, personal care, feeding, dementia communication, documentation in English — with your head of care watching live; references from previous care employers are verified. The first year in Denmark decides retention: housing, a Danish course, a mentor, and an honest briefing in Manila on the shift pattern, the climate and the net pay after Danish tax.
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.
Not as nurses. Authorisation applications from third-country nurses are closed until 31 December 2026, with narrow exceptions. SOSU helpers can be recruited under the Positive List quota; the government-to-government programme starts hiring in the second half of 2027.
No — the helper codes carry no authorisation requirement; SOSU assistants do, including Danish at grade 10 orally.
Not for the permit. Municipalities and care homes invest in Danish after arrival; the Positive List does not set a language condition for helpers.
From the second half of 2027 municipalities can hire up to a hundred Filipino care workers a year through a government-to-government pilot with training from 2026; until then the Positive List quota is the route.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.