Ikke EU-borger: Ret til dimittend-dagpenge (Non-EU-citizen: Entitled to Graduate-Uemployment Benefits)

Når du som ikke EU-borger bliver færdiguddannet fra de danske musikkonservatorier og andre videregående uddannelser eller afslutter bachelor, kan du, såfremt du er tilmeldt en a-kasse, modtage dimittend-dagpenge i den periode, hvor dit visum giver dig ret til at arbejde 37 timer om ugen. Det vil typisk være op til tre måneder efter endt uddannelse, altså frem til sidst i august. Den nøjagtige dato fremgår af bagsiden af dit studie-VISA.

Efter denne periode vil du som udenlandsk studerende kun have ret til at arbejde 20 timer om ugen i Danmark, og da du således ikke står fuldt ud til rådighed længere, vil du ikke længere være berettiget til at modtage dagpenge.

Etableringskort giver ret til fuldtidsarbejde, når dit VISA udløber

Med et såkaldt etableringskort i hånden, får du dog mulighed for igen at søge arbejde på fuld tid i Danmark. Du kan søge om et etableringskort i op til 12 måneder efter endt uddannelse. Det vil sige, at i den perioden, hvor du ifølge bagsiden af dit studie-VISA må arbejde fuldtid, kan du altså modtage dagpenge på dimittendsats, hvilket betyder, at du får 13.644 kr. pr. måned, eller 15.648 kr. pr. måned, hvis du er forsørger. Når datoen på dit studie-VISA er overskredet, må du kun arbejde max. 20 timer i Danmark, medmindre du altså har fået et etableringskort, der giver dig ret til at arbejde på fuld tid.

Så snart du får etableringskortet, må du imidlertid ikke længere modtage dimittend-dagpenge, da du ifølge reglerne på udlændingeområdet ikke må være på dagpenge eller anden offentlig forsørgelse, når du får dit etableringskort. Det er nemlig et krav, at du har penge nok til at kunne forsørge dig selv det første år af dit etableringsophold i Danmark, og dette skal kunne dokumenteres i form af en udskrift fra din bankkonto eller dokumentation for din løn (i en ansættelseskontrakt), hvis du er i job eller er tilbudt et job.  

Efter 6 måneders dagpengeret har en dimittend mulighed for at skifte status i a-kassen til ikke-dimittend og få beregnet en højere dagpengesats. Når/hvis man får sådan en sats og ikke længere er dimittend, har du igen ret til at få dagpenge, samtidig med at du har et etableringskort. 

Ansøg om etableringskort hurtigst muligt

Dansk Musiker Forbunds a-kasserådgiver, Ann-Mari Nostrup, anbefaler, at du, hvis du ønsker at blive og arbejde i landet, søger om etableringskortet i forbindelse med, at du afslutter din uddannelse, da der er omkring 3 måneders behandlingstid på ansøgningen om at modtage et etableringskort. På den måde vil du have mulighed for at arbejde på fuld tid, umiddelbart efter din ret til fuldtidsarbejde i Danmark, og dermed din dagpengeret, ophører.

Hun anbefaler desuden, at man som international studerende husker at melde sig ind i en a-kasse, og gerne et år inden man bliver færdig, så man har dagpengeret med det samme og undgår den måneds karenstid, der ellers gælder. Man skal søge optagelse i a-kassen senest 14 dage efter den sidste eksamen på studiet for at være dagpengeberettiget en måned efter.   

Hvis man er under 30 og studerende, er medlemskab af a-kassen gratis i op til 5 år. 

I Dansk Musiker Forbund har vi tilsvarende et særligt favorabelt tilbud på medlemskab til studerende og dimittender.

Se mere her: https://dmf.dk/page/medlemskab-studerende 

Book et personligt møde

Udenlandske dimittender opfordres til at booke et personligt møde med Ann-Mari Nostrup, så man, med hjælp fra hende og hendes juridiske kollegaer, kan få helt styr på ens rettigheder og de faldgruber, der er i lovgivningen på området.

English Version:

Non-EU-citizen: Entitled to Graduate-Unemployment Benefits

As newly qualified from a non-EU-country you can receive unemployment benefits until the date where you, according to your student visa, are allowed to work fulltime in Denmark, because in this period you are considered to be fully available for the Danish labour market.

(NB your student residence permit can be revoked when you receive unemployment benefits. We advise people to apply for an establishment card as soon as possible if you are considering staying in Denmark and applying for work for a longer period – contact Danish Musicians’ Union for individual advice.)

When you as a non-EU-citizen become fully-qualified from the Danish Music Academies and other further educations or finish your Bachelor, you can, if you are a member of an unemployment insurance fund, receive graduate-unemployment benefits in the period in which your visa entitles you to work 37 hours a week. It will typically be up till three months after finished education, i.e. till the end of August. The exact date is on the back of your student visa.

After this period, you as a foreign student will only be entitled to work 20 hours a week in Denmark, and since you then will not be fully available for the Danish labour market anymore, you will not be entitled to receive unemployment benefits.

Establishment card entitles you to a full-time job, when your visa expires

However, with a so called establishment card you will be able to apply for full-time jobs in Denmark again. You can apply for an establishment card up till 12 months after finished education. This means that in the period in which, according to the back of your student visa, you are allowed to work full-time, you can receive graduate-unemployment benefits, i.e. 13.644 DKK per month or 15.648 DKK if you are a provider. When the date on your student visa expires, you are only allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours a week in Denmark, unless you have an establishment card, which gives you the right to work full-time.

However, as soon as you receive your establishment card, you are no longer entitled to graduate-unemployment benefits, since you are not allowed to receive unemployment benefits or any other type of public relief when you get your establishment card according to the Danish immigration rules. This is because it is a requirement that you have enough money to provide for yourself during the first year of your stay in Denmark under the establishment sceme, and you must be able to document this with a printout of your bank account or documentation of you salary (in an employment contract),if you are employed or offered a job.

After 6 months on unemployment benefits it is possible for a graduate to change status in the unemployment insurance fund to “non-graduate” and get a higher unemployment benefit rate. When/if you get such a rate and you therefore no longer are a graduate, you will once again have a right to receive unemployment benefits simultaneously as having an establishment card. 

Apply for an establishment card as quickly as possible

Danish Musicians' Union unemployment insurance fund adviser, Ann-Mari Nostrup, recommends that if you wish to stay and work in Denmark, that you should apply for an establishment card while you finish your education, since there is about 3 months processing time for establishment card applications. By doing so you will have the possibility of working full-time shortly after your right to work full-time in Denmark and therefore your right to unemployment benefits ceases.

Furthermore, she recommends that you as an international student remember to sign up in an unemployment insurance fund preferably a year before you graduate, as to insure that you will be entitled to unemployment benefits immediately and avoid the month waiting period, which would normally apply. You must sign up for an unemployment insurance fund at the latest 14 days after the last exam of your education in order to be entitled to receive unemployment benefits a month later.

If you are under 30 years old and a student, your membership of an unemployment insurance fund will be free for up till 5 years. In Danish Musicians' Union we have a corresponding particularly favourable offer on membership for students and graduates.  

Read more here (in Danish): https://dmf.dk/page/medlemskab-studerende 

Book a personal meeting

Foreign graduates are encouraged to book a personal meeting with Ann-Mari Nostrup, in order to get your rights and pitfalls in the relevant laws under control, with help from her and her colleagues in legal. 

Read more about the establishment card here: https://www.nyidanmark.dk/da/Applying/Work/Establishment%20card