Denmark visa guideThe Denmark family visit visa is a Schengen short-stay visa (type C) for staying with relatives or friends who live in Denmark, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. You fill in the form and pay on ApplyVisa, submit at VFS Global, and the Embassy of Denmark in New Delhi decides, usually within 15 days of registering the file.
Denmark looks hard at the relationship: for Indian applicants, close family such as spouses, children, parents and siblings is the normal basis. Your host should send the VU2 invitation, and you must show DKK 350 for each day on your own bank statement, even if the host pays.
Do Indians need a visa to visit family in Denmark, and which one?
Yes. Parents visiting a son or daughter, spouses visiting each other, brothers and sisters, friends: all of them travel on the Schengen short-stay visa, type C, for a private visit. It covers up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the Schengen area. You fill in the form and pay online on ApplyVisa, give your documents and fingerprints at VFS Global, and the Embassy of Denmark in New Delhi decides.
Who you are visiting matters more in Denmark than in most Schengen states. When the authorities doubt that an applicant will go home, Danish guidelines look at nationality groups, and India is in group 3. For group 3 the starting point is a close relationship with the host. A visa is normally granted to:
- spouses, cohabiting partners and boyfriends or girlfriends;
- children of any age, and their accompanying spouse;
- parents, and their accompanying spouse;
- brothers and sisters, and their accompanying spouse.
Visas can also be granted to nieces, nephews and grandchildren under 18 coming on holiday without an adult, and to someone accompanying an elderly, frail family member. Other visitors, including friends and more distant relatives, can still apply, but anyone who is not the host's spouse, cohabiting partner, child under 18 or parent will be refused if the authorities judge that their ties to India are too weak to bring them home.
Visiting family in Denmark: the basics
- VisaUp to 90 days in any 180
- Schengen type C, private visit
- Host's invitationOnline needs MitID and a Danish CPR address
- VU2 form, online or printable
- Funds while staying with the hostDKK 500 a day if you stay in a hotel
- DKK 350 a day
- Decided bySome cases are checked by the Danish Immigration Service
- Embassy of Denmark, New Delhi
- Visa feeUnder 6 free
- €90; €45 for ages 6 to 11
New to Denmark, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and VFS Global, checked 14 Oct 2026
Two exceptions to know. If your host is a citizen of another EU or EEA country, or Switzerland, exercising free movement in Denmark, you may be entitled to have your visa processed under the EU rules, faster and free of charge. And a spouse who wants to stay longer than 90 days should look at family reunification, not a visa.
Where do applicants from Punjab apply?
Through VFS Global, which runs Denmark's visa centres in India. Families from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh go to VFS Chandigarh, and Delhi families to New Delhi; there are also centres in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Files from every centre are decided at the Embassy in New Delhi, and centres outside Delhi add a compulsory courier charge for sending your file back.
Before the visit to VFS:
- ApplyVisa. Each traveller's form is filled in and the fee paid online. Parents travelling together can register as one group, up to 8 people, and pay in a single payment.
- The wait. Allow up to 24 hours after ApplyVisa for validation. The appointment calendar opens only after that.
- The invitation ID. If your host invited you online, carry a printout of the invitation ID. The Embassy asks for a physical copy of the code.
At the centre, every applicant comes in person unless their fingerprints were taken for a Schengen visa within the last 59 months. Children under 12 come too but give only a photo. Elderly parents with henna on their fingertips should let it fade first, because it can spoil the fingerprint scan. To see when dates open up, check our Denmark appointment availability page.
Which documents depend on your situation?
The usual documents are listed lower down. A family visit adds three things: the host's papers, proof of the relationship, and your own funds.
From your host in Denmark. The Immigration Service recommends the VU2 invitation. The online version needs the host's MitID and a registered Danish address in the Civil Registration System (CPR); without those, the host uses the printable VU2 form. An online invitation produces an invitation ID that the host sends you, it stays valid for 6 months, and each traveller needs a separate invitation. Your host also gives you a copy of their passport and their Danish residence permit card, as proof of legal residence. If you will stay at their home, their proof of sponsorship or private accommodation replaces a hotel booking.
Proof of the relationship.
Your spouse
- What proves it
- A copy of the marriage certificate if your passport does not show your marital status, and a ration card copy where applicable
Your son, daughter, parent, brother or sister
- What proves it
- A certificate proving the family relationship, such as birth certificates that link you
A boyfriend or girlfriend
- What proves it
- Proof of a long-term relationship: both unmarried or divorced, and you have met in person and been together within the past year
A friend
- What proves it
- The invitation, and strong proof of your ties in India
For a boyfriend or girlfriend, Denmark is blunt: if the relationship has only been by phone, letters or online, a visa will not be granted, and it will not be granted where either of you is registered as married to someone else.
Your own side of the file. The Embassy asks every applicant for ITR acknowledgements for the last two assessment years, and then by situation:
Retired parent
- Add
- Pension statements for the last three months, and proof of regular income from property or a business
Salaried
- Add
- Payslips for three months, the employment contract and a leave letter
Business owner
- Add
- Company registration certificate with its GST number
Sponsored by the host
- Add
- Proof of sponsorship
Student
- Add
- Certificate from your school or college
Child under 18
- Add
- Birth certificate copy, both parents' passport copies, and notarised consent from any parent not travelling
The money. Staying with your host, you must have DKK 350 for every day of the visit, or DKK 500 a day in a hotel. A 60-day stay with your daughter is DKK 21,000. It must show on your own original bank statement for three months, stamped and signed by the bank, even when your host pays for everything.
How much is the Denmark family visit visa fee for Indians?
The visa fee is the standard Schengen €90 for adults and €45 for children aged 6 to 11, with no fee under 6, paid on ApplyVisa at that day's exchange rate. VFS then charges ₹2,090 per person, plus a mandatory ₹440 courier charge at centres outside Delhi, as listed on its fee tab on 14 October 2026. Applicants processed under the EU rules are usually exempt from the visa fee. Nothing is refunded after a refusal. Our filing fee is shown at the top of this page.
How long does it take, and when should you apply?
Expect 15 days from the date the Embassy registers the file. If your file carries an invitation ID, it is matched with the host's online invitation before processing starts, and the Immigration Service says a completed invitation normally cuts the processing time significantly. Without one, the host has to be contacted and the case takes longer. A case that needs further enquiry can take up to 30 days. Some family cases also go to the Danish Immigration Service to verify the relationship or the host, and the ceiling is then 45 calendar days.
Timing for family trips:
- You can apply up to 6 months before you travel, and no earlier.
- Get the file to the Embassy at least 15 days before entry, plus the courier days from Chandigarh.
- Summer visits fall in the Embassy's peak season, March to September, when it advises submitting at VFS at least 4 weeks in advance and does not move short-notice files ahead of the queue.
- Hold off on buying tickets. The Embassy recommends a reservation until the visa is approved.
Why do Denmark family visit visas get refused for Indian applicants?
Most refusals in family files come down to the relationship, the host or the ties at home. These are the main ones, and how to close each before you apply.
A relationship that is not proved
Denmark grants family visas on the strength of the relationship, so a missing marriage certificate or birth certificate leaves the officer guessing. Match the names on the certificates, the invitation and both passports, and explain any spelling difference or name change in the cover letter.
Ties at home that look too weak
For anyone beyond a spouse, partner, minor child or parent, the test is whether your attachment to India is strong enough that you will return. Show it: your own house or land, pension, business, the family members who stay behind, and a stay that fits that life.
Doubts about the host
The host must have a permanent home in Denmark and normally be a citizen or resident there. The Immigration Service also refuses where there is reason to believe an earlier guest of the same host broke the terms of a visa. A host with a lapsed permit, or a past guest who overstayed, needs explaining up front.
Relying on the host's money alone
The checklist demands the applicant's own bank statement regardless of sponsorship, at DKK 350 a day for a stay in a private home. A parent with a modest but steady pension account is fine. An empty account with only the host's letter is not.
Papers that arrive too late
Anything missing at VFS must be supplied within 3 days, counting the signing day as day one. After that the Embassy decides on what it has. Get the invitation ID, the host's residence card copy and the certificates before the appointment.
Our Schengen refusal reasons page explains each standard refusal ground.
Tips for a stronger file
- Ask the host to invite online. A VU2 with an invitation ID saves the Immigration Service from writing to your host, which is where family files lose weeks.
- One invitation each. Mother and father need separate invitations, even on the same trip.
- Build the relationship trail. Birth certificates linking parent and child, the marriage certificate, and old passports if names changed.
- Write the cover letter as a family plan. Who you will stay with, the address, the dates, who is travelling with you, and when you return to India and why.
- Keep the stay sensible. Ninety days is the legal maximum, not a target. A retired parent's long stay is easier to justify than a working person's.
- Do the money sum per person. Each traveller's statement should clear DKK 350 a day for their own dates.
- Insurance for older parents. A Schengen-wide policy of at least €30,000 for the whole stay, from an insurer on the Embassy's approved Indian list. See our Schengen travel insurance explainer.
- Plan the passport's return. Only an immediate family member, meaning a parent, child or spouse, may collect it for you, with your authorisation letter, a photocopy of their government ID and the original receipt. Otherwise choose courier when you submit.
Who can be a host in Denmark?
For an Indian visitor, Denmark normally expects someone in Denmark to host the visit, and the host has to meet three conditions set by the Immigration Service:
- Confirm the visit. The VU2 invitation is recommended, though not compulsory.
- Have a permanent place to live in Denmark. This can be waived in some cases, for example when a Danish citizen settled abroad wants to holiday in Denmark with a spouse, partner or minor child.
- Be a citizen or resident of Denmark. If the host's residence permit has expired and a renewal is pending, the Immigration Service decides case by case, looking at whether the host may later qualify for permanent residence.
The host's conduct matters too. If a past guest broke the terms of a visa, a new invitation from the same host is at risk. And no visitor should treat the visa as a way to stay on: misuse can bring a penalty period of 3 or 5 years in which you will generally not get a visa to visit Denmark.
If the visit is a holiday without a host, see the Denmark tourist visa guide; for work-related trips, the Denmark business visa guide.
Official sources
- Short-term visa for private visits and tourist visits, New to Denmark
- Invitation of a visa applicant, New to Denmark
- No to visa: where to appeal, New to Denmark
- How to apply for a visa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
- Visa: practical information, Embassy of Denmark in India
- Before you apply for your visa, Embassy of Denmark in India
- While your application is being processed, Embassy of Denmark in India
- After you have received an answer on your application, Embassy of Denmark in India
- VFS appointment system for Schengen visa applications, Embassy of Denmark in India
- VFS Global Denmark India: visiting family and friends
- VFS Global Denmark India: visa application centres
