Starting a business in Denmark as a foreign citizen

Can foreign citizens start a business in Denmark?

The short answer is yes! As a foreign citizen living in Denmark you can easily start a business and become self-employed – and with Legal Desk you can save money at the same time. There are only a few conditions you need to meet for this to happen:

1. If you do not have a CPR number (personal identification number), then you can only establish a capital company (ApS or A/S). However, if you have a CPR number, then you can also start a sole proprietorship.

2. The company must have its home address in Denmark, but there is no requirement as to where you, the owner of the company, must live.

3. When you register your company through the Central Business Register (CVR) on virk.dk, you have to identify yourself by uploading a copy of your passport and stating your address and national social security number. If the owner of the company is a holding company, then the company’s certificate of registration must also be uploaded in either English or Danish. After registering you will receive a CVR number, which corresponds to what in most countries is known as a VAT number.

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What kind of company should I start?

When you are deciding what form of company you want to start, your decision should be based on your current situation, ambition and capital, because there is a significant difference in cost depending on whether you want to start a limited liability company (“anpartsselskab” or ApS in Danish) or a limited company (“aktieselskab” or A/S in Danish).

The most important commonality between the two corporate forms is that the owner is not personally liable for anything except the money invested in the company. However, the differences between the two corporate forms are as follows:

Limited liability company (ApS)

The limited liability company is for you, who want to invest a larger sum in initial capital. ApS is the most widely used corporate form in Denmark, and it requires a capital injection of at least 20.000 DKK to found. To start an ApS, you need to have a founding document and articles of association. As the owner of an ApS, you can decide whether you want to have both a management board and a board of directors or just a management board.

Limited company (A/S)

The limited company is the largest corporate form in Denmark and requires an initial capital of 400.000 DKK. When you are the owner of an A/S, you are required to have both a management board and a board of directors. As with the ApS, an A/S also requires founding document and articles of association.

Note that it’s always possible to convert a smaller corporate form to a larger corporate form, for example converting an ApS to an A/S.

You can read more about the different company types here.

Start your business online with Legal Desk

With Legal Desk you can easily start your own business by filling out our online form. Simply decide what form of business you want to start and click on the ‘Start’-button in the top or bottom of the page to begin filling out the form. Our form guides you through the process and asks the same questions a lawyer would ask  – but note that the form is in Danish.

After filling out the form, you have to pay for your newly created company documents and sign them, after which your company is ready to be registered with the Danish Business Authority (virk.dk). When the registration is completed and processed, you will receive a CVR number, after which you are ready to start running your business!

Process for company formation with Legal Desk