Episode # 39 – Special Edition on Danish Fashion Design. Popular Consumer Brands in Denmark and Mall Interviews

Episode #38 – Special Edition on Fastelavn Tradition in Denmark. An Adorable Guest and New Member

Episode # 37 – Famous Danish Athletes, Sport Clubs, Volunteer Activities, Fashion Design Week and Roligans

Team Update (2)

Dear viewers,

We are excited to welcome 2 new members to the MyDenmarkTV team: Timothy Anderson (Tim) and Silvia Puchovska (Silvia).

Tim will be joining the team as a male co-host and editor. Yeah, our viewers will be seeing more of male presence quite soon and Silvia will help us spread a word about MyDenmarkTV i.e. marketing.

If you are not on our newsletter list or Facebook fan page, you probably don’t know that we announced 2 openings for the role of a co-host (male and female). We were pleasantly surprised to have received so many inquiries. Thanks to all those who’ve contacted us with their applications for the positions. We are still in the process of meeting different candidates. So, we are sure that quite soon you will be meeting new people on our show and we are committed to make the show better and better. No matter what, we have an official goal now: To never miss an episode.

In addition to that many new website features will be released in mid April, 2010. We will share about them in the upcoming months.

Once again, thanks for all your support and we will do everything to make sure to make a smooth transition with all the latest team changes.

Stay tuned!
Vladimir Chen

Team Update (1)

On behalf of the entire MyDenmarkTV team I would like to update all our viewers that Katie Rice is not in our team any longer.

We sincerely thank Katie for her immense contribution to the show and wish her the best of luck.

MyDenmarkTV team

Episode # 36 – Danish Kids, Daycare Tips, Pacifier Tree, Parental Leave in Denmark, Toys and More

Episode #35 – Special Danish Design Edition. Retailer’s And Educational Perspectives

Permanent Residence Permit in Denmark After 7 Years, 1 Month and 1 Week

Permanent residence permit

Sorry for keeping our blog a bit quite lately. This will change.

Ok, on our Twitter I excitedly wrote the other day that I got my permanent residence permit in Denmark after breathing, being, studying, living and working here for more than 7 years now. So, yes I am very excited!!! To tell you the truth, it is hard to believe that I’ve been in this country for almost a quarter of my life now. It seems like yesterday (well almost…) that I touched down on the Danish soil at the Copenhagen airport and took my train to Aarhus (to study).

Why am I saying all this besides the fact that I want to share this exciting news with you? Well, the reason being I want to reflect upon all this time I’ve been in Denmark and share how difficult it may be to get accustomed to a new culture, new people, new ways in schooling/education etc.

Sure, before coming here I was sort of psychologically prepared (at least this is what think) and one can argue it is the most important factor to smoothly settle down in any country. And mindset is good but resources and tools are necessary as well. With only this thought in mind, we’ve built our show because we want anyone who is planning to come to Denmark to experience it as smoothly as possible and make your stay as enjoyable as possible.

Now, I know we’ve shared this with you in Episode 15 some of the general rules and requirements for getting a permanent residence permit, but let me once again reiterate the process based on my own experience. I hope some of you might find it helpful.

• Generally, you can get your permanent residence permit in 7 years of continuous residence in Denmark. (there are some other instances, but those you can read about at www.nyidanmark.dk, whereas here I will explain what I did to get my permit);
• You should have no criminal record. I hope it is obvious;
• Same or similar visa. Let me explain. As explained well in the aforementioned episode, you need to have the same or similar type of visa during your entire stay. E.g. if you have 4 years of student visa majoring in mechanical engineer and right after graduation you get a full-time job as an engineer at Danfoss and have worked for 3 years. Those years will be counted as 7 under your belt. However, if you studied on a marketing manager and then got a job as a journalist (because you have some previous work experience), the chances that they count that as 7 years all together are much slimmer.
• Dansk Prøve 3 or Dansk Prøve 2. Danish language exam is another requirement. You need to pass that exam, ideally within the first 3 years of your stay. The reason being, the Danish education is free only for the first 3 years. If not, they you will have to pay around 500 DKK per half semester (as far as I remember).
• If you are employed you need to submit along with your application a job contract and the letter of employment, where ideally it should say what you do, your duties/responsibilities as well as your strength. It would be perfect if your employer could emphasize the fact why it is you who got hired for the position.
• I applied for my permit half a year before it was 7 years. E.g. if it’s in September that makes it 7 years, it is ok to apply as early as in early February.
• After you’ve submitted your application, it would certainly take some time for them to get to your case. By the time they are processing the case they might ask you to submit a confirmation letter from your current employer or university. I submitted mine very quickly both via email and snail mail.
• It is always good to call them once in awhile. If you know that it has been long since your applied for the permit, you might want to give them a call or better yet, ask your employer to support you.

Some people say rules are getting stricter in Denmark, which makes it more difficult for foreigners. With the show we want to reduce gaps between the rules, people, customs and those who are new to the Danish culture. I hope you find this info helpful and let me know what you’ve experienced in Denmark getting your temporary/permanent permit.

Vladimir

P.S. Don’t forget Episode 35 is coming out live tomorrow (well technically it is already today).

Episode # 34 – Greenland, The Greenlandic House, Culture, Greenlanders and Rasmus Lyberth

Episode # 33 – January Sales, Danes’ View on Crisis, Winter Swimming, Ice Skating and Doctor Jobs for Foreigners