PD2 or PD3? The Danish Test Permanent Residence and Citizenship Need

This guide covers ordinary permanent residence under Udlændingeloven §11 (including its pensioner rule) and naturalisation; EU/EEA citizens and some special schemes have separate rules not covered here. Permanent residence: PD2 is a basic condition, and PD3 is one of the four supplementary conditions you can use to meet the “two of four” rule — ordinary applicants reach the 4-year route only by meeting all four, so that route needs PD3; pensioners reach it with PD3 plus active citizenship [official: Udlændingeloven §11; nyidanmark.dk]. Citizenship: PD3 is the general rule, but PD2 is enough on the self-support route: no public help in the last two years and no more than three months in the last nine, a period that can be extended by long spells of unemployment, sickness or maternity benefit [official: circular 9461 §23–24; UIM].

Citizenship processing is paused. On 6 March 2026 UIM said that the processing of certain citizenship applications had been put on hold after the general election was called, and would resume “når der er klarhed over, hvilke betingelser der skal gælde” — once it is clear which conditions will apply [official: UIM news, 6 March 2026]. We found no later notice lifting it (checked 29 September 2026). The language rules below are the published ones; check them again when processing resumes.

SIRI’s own summary says PD2 is linked “fx” — for example — to permanent residence, and PD3 “fx” to citizenship and a number of professional authorisations [official: SIRI, Om prøverne]. The “for example” matters: PD3 also counts for permanent residence.

Nyidanmark.dk sets out permanent residence as a list of basic conditions plus two of four supplementary conditions; meeting all four lets you apply after 4 years of lawful residence instead of 8 [official]. Among the basic conditions is a passed PD2 or a Danish test at the same or a higher level [official].

The four supplementary conditions are [official: nyidanmark.dk, 2026 levels]:

So for most applicants PD3 is a lever, not a gate. If you already meet the work and income conditions, PD2 plus those two is enough. If you meet only one of the others, PD3 is often the most controllable way to get the second. The civic test that competes for the same slot is covered in the Medborgerskabsprøven two-of-four guide.

Pensioners: if you have reached state pension age or receive early retirement, senior or early pension, you are exempt from the work and income conditions, and you can get permanent residence after at least 8 years if you meet one of the other two — active citizenship or Medborgerskabsprøven, or a passed PD3 — and after at least 4 years if you meet both [official: nyidanmark.dk].

The citizenship rules are set by political agreement and the naturalisation circular, not by the Aliens Act. Circular 9461 §24 stk.1 makes it a condition that you document Danish by a passed PD3 or one of the tests in its bilag 3.a [official]. UIM names examples: the folkeskole 9th or 10th grade leaving exam with an average of at least 02 in the Danish disciplines (except orden), or a Danish upper-secondary exam such as stx, hhx, htx, eux or hf [official: UIM].

Stk.2 opens the PD2 route: if you meet the self-support requirement and have not received help under the active social policy act or the integration act for more than 3 months in total in the last 9 years, PD2 (or a test in bilag 3.b) is enough [official: circular 9461 §24 stk.2]. The self-support requirement it points to has an extension: if you received unemployment, sickness or maternity benefit for more than 4 months in the last 2 years, or more than 4 months in total in the last 5, the period in which you must not have received help is extended by the benefit time above 4 months (§23 stk.3) [official]. UIM’s page adds that you must also have received no such help in the last 2 years [official: UIM]. The window is measured when the bill is introduced, so a situation that changes before then changes the answer.

Some applicants are exempt from documenting Danish at all — for example Swedish- or Norwegian-speaking applicants with a leaving exam from a Swedish- or Norwegian-language school, and children under 12 — and applicants with a long-term disability can be put before the Folketing’s naturalisation committee for dispensation, on strict medical-evidence rules [official: UIM]. The whole citizenship sequence, including where PD3 fits in time, is in the Danish citizenship requirements timeline.

The pattern is steep: in November 2023, holders of PD3 passed the citizenship knowledge test about three times as often as holders of PD2 [official: UIM]. That is a correlation, not proof that PD3 causes the difference — the people who reach PD3 differ in other ways too. But it is a practical point for anyone tempted by the PD2 route: the citizenship test itself is written in Danish, and it is hard. Its format is in the Indfødsretsprøven format guide, and the pass rates by sitting in who passes Indfødsretsprøven.

The two written days fall on different dates, but both orals fall in the same 2–15 December 2026 window, on days each provider sets [official: SIRI dates page], and registration for winter 2026 closed on 31 August. So whether both fit in one term depends on registration and your provider’s schedule. We found no rule about that either way, and no rule about switching from one test to the other after registering; ask your provider. PD3’s format is in the written exam guide and the oral exam guide.

For authorisation, the question is not PD2 or PD3 but which grades: STPS asks, as a rule, for PD3 with oral 10, reading 7 and writing 7, which may come from different sittings, and lists exemptions; for doctors and nurses from outside the EU/EEA it is currently not receiving applications because of a quota [official: STPS]. Details, exemptions and a grade tracker are in the self-study, fee and pass-rate guide.