Moving to Denmark with your family

Don't come to Denmark!  The government changes the immigration laws and applies them retroactively to people who came (and who paid money to come) under a different promise.  There is no concept of Substantive Due Process in this crazy country and the stories about how great it is are just propaganda (unless you are native born).  There is one law for Danes and another for foreigners.  Stay home!  Or come to the States!  But don't come to this little schizophrenic country.

Agree with @Andrea_L_O...

The language barrier and descrimination are very impregnable here.
If you don't know the language, heck you won't get any jobs at all, mostly cleaning and other blue-collar jobs (as in the deeper shades of blue!). 

And of course, they do offer language classes for you to learn, but of course if you're very much willing to firmly acquire their language (    ) and to be satisfied in getting some petty allowance ('cause compared to the cost of living here, it is too small), well then OK. You can try, but honestly it's not a place for you to really settle down.

We've even encountered to really struggle finding a rent, it's simply because most owners wanted to only have Danish speakers to stay in their homes/apartment, etc.

We were only very fortunate because some of my relatives and even my brother-in-law helped us find one (even if the deposit was way over our expected budget). And so luckily, we stayed in a $95-per-night hotel for ONLY 2 weeks! Pffffffff....

However, it is still upon your decision, these are just merely some things I hope you'd consider.

God bless and Good luck!

Hello Bhavna,
A lot depends on why you are moving to Denmark. Each immigrant goes through unique experience here in Denmark and it may be naive to generalize it.

If you are coming to Denmark because you or your spouse already have a job offer here, your experience will be completely different from those who have landed in this country without a job.

I completely agree with Andrea and Liann. It is true that most of the jobs require us to know danish, if we are seeking jobs and this is a REAL challenge for a new-comer. In order to survive and make both ends meet, most of the non-danish speaking immigrants end up in odd jobs..... which obviously they are not proud of. This is a harsh reality.

An important consideration is your finances and savings to support till the time one has a job. Few months without a job and savings can dry up pretty soon. Housing Rent is pretty expensive as well. Depending upon the area in Copenhagen, rent for a 500 sq flat could be ridiculously as high as 8000 to 10000 DKK per month.

Regards,
Jay

I am sorry to hear that some of you have this negative impression of Denmark, but to be fair, Danes could have experienced just the same as you when we talk about finding a job, finding a housing, having to live on a social allowance. I can count several of my own acquaintance, who have had to go abroad to find a job, and who have moved from friend to friend after a divorce because there were no housing because of waiting lists overall or you had to know someone. As a foreigner, it is easy to believe that it is because you are a foreigner, but it doesn' need to have anything to do with that.

To quote https://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/coming_ … cheme.htm:
At present, the demand for foreign labour is generally limited. However, certain sectors request highly qualified foreign professionals. Please note that good Danish language skills are often a condition for success in the Danish work market, unless you have special qualifications and work within special branches.

That is indeed a warning when we talk about an official site. I shall not say for how long time this formulation has been there, but for at least a couple of years, it has. This warning has to be taken seriously. The positive list on the same site, however, indicates the professions and skills which are sought, and which makes it possible to find a job. In between we have the grey market.

The GC scheme was changed in 2014, but if you were a GC holder after the old scheme, it was this scheme and not the new one which applied for you.

Don't expect that you can always find a odd job. First of all, there are too many who are looking for such a job, and e.g. job as cleaning assistants or caretakers at public authorities demand some courses or even the exam as a SoSu-assistant before you are let in. Taking care of children is normally not a possibility, too, as you have to show a criminal record disclosure proving you haven't abused children within the last 10 years.

I'll use this opportunity to advise everybody to explore the market thoroughly before they apply for a GC.

/Nellie

Learn the language.  Put your kids in danish schools.  Don't wait for people to approach you.  You have to make the effort to meet people and make new friends.  Most danes are NOT stand-offish, but they already have a close circle of friends, family culture is pretty insular, and probably both partners work full time, so time and opportunities to make new friends are few.
Mac