The Denmark tourist visa is a Schengen short-stay visa (type C) for holidays and sightseeing. It allows up to 90 days in any 180-day period and is normally valid across the whole Schengen area. You fill in the form and pay the visa fee online on ApplyVisa, then hand in your documents and give biometrics at a VFS Global centre such as Chandigarh or New Delhi. The Embassy of Denmark in New Delhi decides, normally within 15 days of registering your file.
Denmark publishes its money test: DKK 350 a day if you stay in a private home, or DKK 500 a day in a hotel, shown on your own bank statement. Anything missing at VFS must be supplied within 3 days.
Do Indians need a visa for Denmark, and which one?
Yes. An Indian passport holder needs a Schengen short-stay visa, type C, for a holiday in Denmark. It allows up to 90 days in any 180-day period and is normally valid for the whole Schengen area, not only Denmark. It is not an e-visa, but it does start online: since 3 September 2019 you fill in the form and pay the visa fee on ApplyVisa, Denmark's online system, and only then hand in your papers and give fingerprints at a VFS Global centre.
The Embassy of Denmark in New Delhi decides. Some files are sent to the Danish Immigration Service in Denmark for a closer look, for example to verify a Danish reference, family ties or earlier stays in the Schengen area. If that happens, the Embassy gives you the case reference number so you can follow the file with the Immigration Service (visa@us.dk). The decision reaches you in writing, by telephone or orally.
The Embassy also decides how many entries you get and for how long. Denmark issues multiple-entry visas for a set number of days, or with a validity of 6 months, 1, 2, 3 or 5 years. If you want a longer visa, ask for it on the form: tick multiple entries in field 24 and write the validity you want, for example "I would like a 1 year visa". Indians have an extra route since April 2024. Under the EU's cascade rules, after two Schengen visas obtained and lawfully used within the previous three years, you can be issued a two-year multiple-entry visa, normally followed by a five-year one if your passport has enough validity left.
Denmark tourist visa at a glance
- VisaForm and fee online first, then VFS
- Schengen short-stay visa, type C
- Longest stayCounted across all Schengen states together
- 90 days in any 180-day period
- Who decidesSome files go to the Danish Immigration Service
- Embassy of Denmark, New Delhi
- Where you hand it inChandigarh and New Delhi are among the centres
- VFS Global
- Visa feeFree under 6
- €90 adult, €45 child aged 6 to 11
- Money to showOn your own bank statement
- DKK 350 a day, or DKK 500 in a hotel
- Normal decision timeUp to 30, or 45 in exceptional cases
- 15 days
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Embassy of Denmark in India and VFS Global, checked 14 Oct 2026
A tourist visa covers holidays and short visits only. It does not let you work in Denmark unless the Immigration Service has explicitly granted that right, and a stay of more than 90 days needs a residence permit, not a visa.
Where do applicants from Punjab apply?
At VFS Global, the Embassy's official partner in India. Denmark's centres in India are in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune, all open Monday to Friday. Jaipur is the newest: it started accepting Denmark applications on 1 September 2026. For Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh the nearest centre is Chandigarh. Delhi residents use New Delhi.
There is no state-wise jurisdiction. Every file, from every centre, travels to the Embassy in New Delhi. The difference is cost: at any centre outside Delhi you pay a mandatory courier charge for the return of your file from New Delhi to that centre. The transport is not counted in the processing time, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it can take 1 to 2 days.
In Denmark the order of steps matters:
- ApplyVisa first. Register, fill in the form, pay the visa fee, then print and sign the cover letter that ApplyVisa produces.
- Wait for validation. The Embassy asks you to allow up to 24 hours between finishing ApplyVisa and booking. Only then does the VFS appointment calendar open to you.
- Book the appointment. Applications are accepted only with an appointment, and booking one is free.
- Attend in person. Fingerprints are taken unless you gave them for a Schengen visa within the last 59 months. Children under 12 come in but give only a photograph. Remove henna from your fingertips, or let it fade, because it can stop a clear scan.
On ApplyVisa a family can register as a group of up to 8 applicants and pay all the visa fees in one payment. VFS does not prepare applications; it accepts them on the Embassy's instructions.
Status questions go to VFS, which tracks every file. The Embassy's phone lines do not take visa status enquiries, and written visa questions go to its Schengen visa mailbox, delambvisa@um.dk. To see how dates are opening up, check our Denmark appointment availability page.
Which documents depend on your situation?
The common checklist is printed further down this page. What changes from one applicant to the next is the proof behind the money. Denmark's tourist checklist asks every applicant for Indian ITR acknowledgements for the last two assessment years, and then adds:
Salaried
- What the Embassy's checklist adds
- Payslips for the last three months, the employment contract, and a holiday approval or leave letter from your employer
Company owner or self-employed
- What the Embassy's checklist adds
- Certificate of registration of the company, including its GST registration number
Retired
- What the Embassy's checklist adds
- Pension statements for the last three months, and proof of regular income from property or a business
Student
- What the Embassy's checklist adds
- A certificate from the institution where you are enrolled
Sponsored
- What the Embassy's checklist adds
- Proof of sponsorship, a letter from the sponsor, and a copy of the sponsor's photo ID such as a passport, Aadhaar card or driving licence
Travelling with your spouse
- What the Embassy's checklist adds
- A copy of the marriage certificate if your passport does not show your marital status, and a ration card copy where applicable
The daily figure. Denmark publishes its money test. Your original bank statement, in your own name, stamped and signed by the bank and covering three months, must show at least DKK 350 for each day if you stay in a private home, or DKK 500 a day in a hotel, plus the cost of getting home. A 10-day hotel stay means DKK 5,000; 14 days with family means DKK 4,900. The checklist warns that not showing enough may lead to refusal.
Sponsored is not exempt. The statement is required from all applicants regardless of sponsorship. A student whose parents pay still hands in a personal statement next to the sponsor's papers.
Minors. Under-18s need a copy of the birth certificate and copies of both parents' passports, or their signed photo ID. A child travelling with one parent needs the other parent's written consent, certified by a notary, unless the travelling parent has sole custody. A child travelling alone needs notarised consent from both.
Organised tours and cruises. On a package tour, add the travel agency's certificate confirming the booking. If you join a cruise on the way, add the cruise ticket and the payment receipt.
Staying with relatives or friends. That is a different file, built around the host's invitation and proof of their legal residence. The Denmark family visit visa guide covers it.
How much is the Denmark visa fee for Indians?
The visa fee is €90 for adults and €45 for children aged 6 to 11; children under 6 pay nothing. You pay it online on ApplyVisa, at the exchange rate of the day you apply. At VFS you then pay a service fee of ₹2,090 per applicant and, at every centre outside Delhi, a mandatory courier charge of ₹440, both as shown on the VFS Denmark fee tab on 14 October 2026. None of these is refunded if the visa is refused. Our filing fee is shown at the top of this page.
How long does it take, and when should you apply?
Plan for 15 days, counted from the day the Embassy registers your application, not from your VFS visit. VFS says the maximum is 30 days when a case needs further enquiry, and up to 45 days in exceptionally difficult cases. The Ministry puts the ceiling at 45 calendar days whenever a file needs further enquiries or goes to the Danish Immigration Service. If the Embassy needs more information from you or your host, it says it will contact you before the 15 days run out.
When to apply:
- Earliest: 6 months (180 days) before you travel. The Embassy cannot accept a file handed in earlier.
- Latest: the Ministry's rule is that the file should be at the Embassy 15 days before you enter the Schengen area. Add the transport days.
- Peak season: from March to September the Embassy recommends submitting at VFS at least 4 weeks ahead, and short-notice files are not prioritised over those submitted in time.
Appointments can be the real bottleneck. The Ministry warns that because application numbers fluctuate, you may sometimes have to wait several weeks for one, so check the calendar before fixing your dates. Do not buy tickets yet either: the Embassy recommends that you do not buy a plane ticket before the visa is approved.
Why do Denmark visas get refused for Indian applicants?
Denmark decides under the EU Visa Code and its own visa rules, and one Danish rule explains a lot. The Immigration Service sorts visa-required countries into five groups by the risk of overstaying, and India is in group 3. The grouping comes into play when the officer doubts that you will go home. For group 3, the starting point is then a close relationship with a host in Denmark, so a tourist with no host is judged almost entirely on ties at home. These are the refusals that follow, and how a file avoids each one.
A balance below the Danish daily figure
Denmark states the number: DKK 350 a day in a private home, DKK 500 a day in a hotel, plus the trip home. A statement that falls short, or one that clears it only because of a deposit made last week, invites a refusal for insufficient means. Work out the sum for your exact dates and let three months of normal movement in your own account clear it.
A file left incomplete at VFS
If anything is missing, you sign an undertaking and have 3 days, the signing date counting as day one, to bring it. After that the Embassy decides on what it holds. Elsewhere a gap might bring a letter asking for more. In Denmark it can simply bring a refusal.
Doubts that you will return
This is where group 3 bites. If your job, business, property and family in India are not visible in the file, the officer has nothing to set against the doubt. Give the leave letter, the GST registration and business statements, the pension or property papers, and keep the trip in proportion to your leave.
A purpose and plan that do not agree
The Visa Code lets an officer refuse when the purpose and conditions of the stay are not justified, or when the information given is not reliable. Your form, cover letter, hotel bookings, flight reservation, insurance and leave letter should show the same dates and the same cities.
Insurance that stops short
The policy must be valid in every Schengen country, cover at least €30,000 and run from your arrival date to your departure date. The Immigration Service adds that a visa's validity may be shortened if the policy does not cover the whole period.
Every standard Schengen refusal ground, and what each one means, is on our Schengen refusal reasons page.
Tips for a stronger file
- Finish ApplyVisa a day early. The calendar opens only after validation, which can take up to 24 hours.
- Show the arithmetic. In the cover letter, give the nights, where you sleep and the DKK figure that applies, and make sure the statement clears it.
- Explain large credits. An FD maturity, a property sale or a bonus should come with its paper trail.
- Write a real cover letter. Purpose, duration, the names of anyone travelling with you, transport and accommodation. Add a day-by-day plan and sign it.
- Reserve, do not buy. A return flight reservation is what the file needs. If you will move between Schengen countries, add the intra-Schengen flight, train or car-hire booking.
- Buy insurance from the approved list. The Embassy links a list of Indian insurance companies approved by the Schengen states' consulates, and its FAQ sets the minimum at €30,000 or USD 50,000, covering the arrival and departure days. More in our Schengen travel insurance explainer.
- Ask for the visa you need. If you travel often, request a longer multiple-entry visa in field 24. The Embassy decides, but it cannot grant what you did not ask for.
- Plan the passport's return. Choose courier at submission if you want it, because VFS cannot change the return mode later. Otherwise only an immediate family member can collect for you, with a photocopy of their government ID, the original receipt and your authorisation letter.
- Carry an extra copy of your passport ID page. VFS uses it when you collect your passport.
- Read the sticker the day you get it. Check the name, photo, passport number, dates, entries and days. The Embassy corrects its own mistakes and issues a new sticker without an extra fee, but it will not pay for a changed flight, a new ticket or a hotel.
- Mind the grace period. Denmark adds 15 days of grace to the visa's validity, so the "from" and "until" dates are wider than your allowed stay. The number of days in the duration-of-stay field is your limit.
Does a Denmark visa cover Greenland and the Faroe Islands?
No. The Danish Immigration Service says a visa for Denmark or another Schengen country is not valid for entry into the Faroe Islands or Greenland. Your sticker must state that it is valid for them.
You still need only one application. Tell the staff when you hand in your file that you also plan to visit Greenland or the Faroe Islands, and include documents for that part of the trip. Visas for both are issued by Danish missions, so the Embassy in New Delhi handles it with the rest of your file.
Within the Schengen area the visa covers all 29 member countries. Apply to Denmark only if it is your main destination: the country where you will spend the most days, or where the main purpose of the trip lies. With an equal split, apply to the country you enter first.
What can you do if Denmark refuses your visa?
You can appeal or reapply, and the choice is yours.
Appeal. The refusal letter gives the reasons and explains the appeal procedure. If the Embassy refused, you appeal to the Danish Immigration Service no later than 8 weeks after you received the decision, through its contact form or by post. Give the case number, your full name, your nationality and the date of the decision, and explain your grounds. If someone else appeals for you, they may need a power of attorney signed by you. If the Immigration Service itself refused, the appeal goes to the Immigration Appeals Board, also within 8 weeks.
Reapply. The Embassy says you can reapply at any time, with no waiting period, but recommends that you first meet the reasons for the earlier refusal. None of the fees from the refused application is refunded.
If the refusal was about a missing paper or thin funds, a new application with a stronger file is usually quicker. If the officer did not believe a document you had already given, an appeal answers that directly. Check the dates on your letter with our refusal deadline tool and read about reapplying after a refusal. And never overstay: remaining after a visa expires can bring a penalty period of 3 or 5 years, during which you will generally not get a visa to visit Denmark. For other trip types, start at the Denmark country page.
Official sources
- How to apply for a visa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
- Where to apply for a visa or residence permit, 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
- Document checklists, Embassy of Denmark in India
- Short-term visa for private visits and tourist visits, New to Denmark
- Entry to the Faroe Islands or Greenland, New to Denmark
- No to visa: where to appeal, New to Denmark
- VFS Global Denmark India: tourist visa fees and processing
- VFS Global Denmark India: visa application centres
- VFS Global Denmark India: book an appointment
- VFS Global Denmark India: home and news
- European Union adopts more favourable Schengen visa rules for Indians, EU Delegation to India
- Visa Code, consolidated text (EUR-Lex)