Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway are four of the best-paid labour markets in Europe and four different admission systems — a shortage list with a statistical pay benchmark, a salary rule by occupation code, a fast residence permit with a EUR 1,600 floor, and a skill-level test with a backlog. None of them is unskilled-friendly; all of them admit tested tradesmen; the care routes differ most. One Philippine office — MWO London — accredits employers for all four. This is the decision guide, with the country guide and cluster to open next.
4–6 months from brief to first working day on the Positive List; 1–3 months under Fast-track · None for listed occupations and the Pay Limit schemes; the Supplementary Pay Limit requires a two-week Jobnet/…
Country guide →🇸🇪 Sweden3–5 months from brief to arrival · Yes — the vacancy must be advertised for at least ten days so that residents of Sweden, the EU/EEA and Switzer…
Country guide →🇫🇮 Finland3–5 months from brief to arrival · Applied by Migri for the first residence permit for an employed person: the employer shows that suitable labou…
Country guide →🇳🇴 NorwayNo fixed processing time; vocational-level cases filed in 2025–2026 have waited many months — plan on 6–12 months from brief to arrival · No test; the skill requirement and the pay level are the filter.…
Country guide →| 🇩🇰 Denmark | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 🇫🇮 Finland | 🇳🇴 Norway | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU / Schengen | EU · Schengen · krone | EU · Schengen · krona | EU · Schengen · euro | EEA · Schengen · krone (not EU) |
| Permit | Positive List for Skilled Work (63 titles from 1 July 2026) · Pay Limit DKK 552,000 · Supplementary DKK 446,000 · Fast-track for certified companies | Work permit by SSYK code — employer-led, union opinion, Migrationsverket handling categories A–D | Residence permit for an employed person (TTOL) — Migri decides labour-market availability and residence in one | Residence permit for skilled workers — UDI; three-year vocational training, degree or special qualifications |
| Labour-market test | None on the Positive List; two-week Jobnet/EURES posting for the Supplementary Pay Limit | Ten-day advert in Sweden/EU/EEA before the offer is signed; union opinion on the terms | Availability consideration by Migri for the first permit; certified employers use the fast track | None — the skill level and the pay are the filter |
| Pay rule | Danish standards per SIRI wage statistics for the occupation and experience — a collective-agreement minimum is not enough; cash salary + pension + holiday allowance only | ≥ 90 % of the median (SEK 34,470) or 75 % (SEK 28,725) for the exemption list — welders, heavy plate workers, maintenance mechanics, assistant nurses among 27 occupations — and collective-agreement level | Collective agreement and at least EUR 1,600 gross a month (2026); zero-hours contracts excluded | Not poorer than the normal Norwegian level — in practice the collective agreement; full-time offer ≥ 80 % |
| Trades that work | Steel-construction and sheet-metal workers, industrial technicians/CNC operators, tool makers, body technicians, mechanics, electricians, bricklayers, heat-and-ventilation technicians, painters, chefs, retail butchers and bakers (welders, carpenters and plumbers are not on the 1 July 2026 list) | Welders (7212), heavy sheet-metal workers (7215) and maintenance mechanics (7233) at 75 %; CNC machine-tool operators (7223) at 90 %; construction trades at 90 % in category D | CNC machinists, welders, construction workers (tax number and Valtti card), cleaners and facility staff | Welders, electricians, pipefitters, fabricators with three-year vocational training; shipyards and offshore services |
| Care and nursing | SOSU helpers on the Positive List, quota 1,000, no authorisation · third-country nurse authorisation closed to 31 Dec 2026 · DK–PH care agreement from H2 2027 | Assistant nurses and care assistants on the 75 % list; nurses need Socialstyrelsen licence and Swedish C1 | Nurses and practical nurses via the Finnish Supervisory Agency pathway, Finnish YKI 3–4; care assistants | Nurses need Norwegian B2, courses and a trade test before authorisation; care assistants rarely qualify as skilled |
| Fee and time | DKK 6,810 · biometrics within 14 days · 3 months (Positive List); days under Fast-track | Fee SEK 2,200 · category A within 30 days; B–D longer | EUR 750 online · about 17 days average for positive first decisions (mid-2026); D visa for certified employers | NOK 6,300 · no fixed time; vocational-level backlog in 2026 (779 pending in April, 278 for 1–2 years) |
| Permit length | Contract period, up to 4 years; tied to job and employer; salary to a Danish bank account within 180 days | Up to 2 years, extendable; employer-tied for the first 24 months | Up to 1 year first, then up to 4; sector-tied | Up to 1 year at a time at vocational level; permanent residence after 3 years |
| Filipino presence | Not published by scheme; Positive List for Skilled Work 258 permits in 2025 across all nationalities | Growing in welding and metal since the 2026 salary reform | Largest Nordic Filipino care workforce; metal and construction growing | 852 permits in 2025 — 4th nationality after Vietnam, the UK and India |
| Philippine office | MWO London · Embassy Copenhagen (consular) | MWO London · Embassy Stockholm (consular) | MWO London · Embassy Helsinki (consular) | MWO London · Embassy Oslo (consular; Norway and Iceland) |
| Timeline | 4–6 months | 3–5 months | 3–5 months | 6–12 months |
Scroll the table sideways for all four countries →
Denmark is a list market: the occupation must be on the Positive List for Skilled Work in force (63 titles from 1 July 2026 — steel construction workers, sheet-metal workers, industrial technicians and CNC operators, tool makers, body technicians, mechanics, electricians, bricklayers, heat-and-ventilation technicians, painters, chefs, retail butchers, bakers, social and health care helpers; welders as such, carpenters and plumbers are not listed), the pay must match SIRI's wage statistics for the code and experience band rather than a collective-agreement minimum, the salary must reach a Danish bank account within 180 days, and the employer must have met its apprentice-training obligations. Fee DKK 6,810, biometrics in Manila within fourteen days, three months to a decision, four to six months to a first working day. The 2027 Collective Agreement Scheme does not include the Philippines. Seven Denmark guides →
Sweden is a code market: since June 2026 the salary rule is 90 % of the median (SEK 34,470) for most roles and 75 % (SEK 28,725) for the exemption list — welders, heavy sheet-metal workers, maintenance mechanics, assistant nurses and care assistants among twenty-seven occupations — after a ten-day advert and a union opinion. Complete applications in category A are decided within thirty days; construction trades sit at 90 % in category D. For metal employers the 75 % list makes Sweden the most accessible Nordic market by salary floor. Four Sweden guides →
Finland is a speed market: Migri handles the availability consideration and the residence decision together, positive first decisions averaged about seventeen days in mid-2026, certified employers' workers apply for a D visa with the permit, and the floor is a collective-agreement wage of at least EUR 1,600 a month. Finland also has the only Nordic nursing pathway that works at scale from the Philippines — Finnish Supervisory Agency registration with YKI 3–4 — and the largest Filipino care workforce in the region. Four Finland guides →
Norway is a skill-level market with a queue: UDI requires three-year vocational training, a degree or special qualifications, pay at the normal Norwegian level and a full-time offer; there is no labour-market test and no fee beyond NOK 6,300, but vocational-level cases filed in 2025–2026 have waited many months and the Philippines is among the countries subject to additional document checks. Norway works for shipyards, offshore service companies and industrial employers that can plan six to twelve months ahead; 852 permits went to Filipinos in 2025, the fourth nationality. Norway country guide →
One office covers all four countries: the Migrant Workers Office at the Philippine Embassy in London has jurisdiction for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Your company is accredited there once — recruitment agreement with our DMW-licensed agency, job order, master employment contract, company documents — and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. The embassies in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and Oslo provide consular services. The Philippine ban on direct hiring applies; recruitment runs through Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024). For the regulator itself, see the DMW explained.
Finland for speed — Migri decides complete first permits in weeks and certified employers' workers fly on a D visa; Sweden for metal trades on the 75 % list, where the salary floor of SEK 28,725 fits welders and maintenance mechanics; Denmark for a defined occupation on the Positive List if the employer meets the pay benchmark and the apprentice condition. Norway is the slowest in 2026 because of UDI's backlog at vocational level.
Finland has a working pathway (Finnish Supervisory Agency registration, YKI 3–4, practical-nurse and care-assistant roles). Sweden and Norway admit nurses only after national licensing with C1 Swedish or B2 Norwegian, which most employers start in the Philippines. Denmark is closed to third-country nurse authorisation until 31 December 2026; Danish care homes recruit social and health care helpers on the Positive List instead.
No. Denmark, Sweden and Finland are EU member states with separate national systems; Norway is in the EEA and Schengen with its own. A permit for one does not allow work in another. The only shared element on the Philippine side is MWO London, which accredits employers for all four.
The Migrant Workers Office at the Philippine Embassy in London — the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The embassies in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and Oslo provide consular services, not contract verification.
No — it lowers the threshold to DKK 322,000 for nationals of sixteen named countries from 1 January 2027, and the Philippines is not among them. Filipino hires in Denmark continue on the Positive List and the Pay Limit schemes.
General information for employers, not legal advice. Lists, thresholds and processing times change; we re-verify before each hire.