Changing jobs in Greenland requires a new work permit

Check whether the new job needs permission

Workers planning to change jobs in Greenland must check their immigration permission before starting the new role. The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration, known as SIRI, says an employment-based permit authorises work in the specific job and company approved. A different position can require a new permit even when the employer stays the same. This is an explanation of current guidance checked on 2 November, rather than an announcement of a newly introduced restriction.

SIRI’s Work in Greenland resource is the starting point for that assessment. Nordic citizens are exempt from the residence-and-work-permit requirement. Greenland is outside the European Union, however, so other EU citizens cannot rely on EU free movement to take employment there. Certain existing Greenland residence categories, including permanent residence and family reunification, also provide access to work without a separate work permit. Workers should identify their actual category before treating a promotion as an ordinary administrative change.

Ask the employer about municipal approval

The Nordic Council of Ministers’ work-and-residence guide explains a second layer of permission: municipal approval for specified occupations. Its examples include craft workers, social workers, social pedagogues, certain maritime professionals and unskilled workers. This requirement can also affect Nordic recruits who do not need an immigration permit. Nationality-based freedom to settle therefore does not settle every employment question.

The employer, rather than the worker acting alone, must address the relevant municipality’s recruitment requirements. The Nordic guide describes an initial effort to recruit labour in Greenland, followed by an application to the municipality where the job is located. The approval concerns a particular employment at a particular workplace. Readers can use the guide’s municipal links to identify the responsible authority. An illustrative case is a Nordic tradesperson accepting a Greenland contract: immigration exemption does not itself establish that the employer has satisfied the local hiring rules.

Prepare the current GL1 application with the employer

The official GL1 salaried-work form, marked 19 January 2026, gives the practical document checklist. The employer completes its part, supplies the required evidence and signs; the employee completes and signs the applicant’s part. Both parts belong in the submitted application. Applicants need a copy of every passport page, including the cover, and the passport must remain valid at least two months beyond the planned departure from Greenland.

The form also requires an employment contract stating pay, working conditions and the job description; it says the contract must not be more than 30 days old. First-time applicants provide educational records, subject to the stated Health Agreement exception. Documentation must be in Danish or English, with an authorised translation where necessary. The form is the appropriate resource for coordinating the worker’s documents with the employer’s municipal permission. Preparing only the worker’s identity papers leaves an incomplete employment application.

Confirm the filing route, costs and start date

SIRI’s separate sideline-employment guidance lists no processing fee and a normal three-month processing time, potentially six if further information is needed. These are planning indications, not guaranteed decision dates. The additional job must naturally relate to the main employment, with a specific offer and Greenland-standard pay and conditions. Normally it must involve eight to 15 hours weekly. Its permission cannot outlast the main permit or the additional contract. This resource helps a worker distinguish adding related part-time work from replacing the principal job.

For applicants filing in Canada, the Danish foreign ministry’s residence-permit instructions provide a separate submission resource. They direct applications through VFS Global and require the original passport for verification. The instructions specifically distinguish Greenland applications from standard biometric-card cases: three passport photographs are requested, and a case-order ID is not applicable. These are Canada-specific handling instructions, not a worldwide appointment rule. Applicants elsewhere should confirm the competent Danish representation’s process before booking travel. There is no universal job-change filing date in the cited guidance; the operative deadline is obtaining the necessary permission before beginning the changed employment.

Applicants should distinguish SIRI’s application fee from overseas consular handling, application-centre charges and travel costs; a no-fee immigration assessment does not make those services free. The sideline guidance says an applicant legally in Greenland can send the file to SIRI or submit it in person at its Nuuk office, or to the local police outside Nuuk. Its submission instructions help workers choose the correct office rather than travelling unnecessarily to the capital.