Member of Unemployment Insurance Fund (A-kasse) as a graduate

If you do not immediately have a job after finishing your education you may be entitled to receive unemployment benefits.

Have you completed bachelor and not sure about master? Read our article Bachelor and A-kasse.

How much money will you get?
The amount you get depends on whether you have dependent children or not. You have dependent children, if you have the obligation to contribute to a child (or children) under 18 years who are staying in Denmark. Are you EU / EEA citizen, you are considered also as a parent if the child resides in an EU / EEA country. Stepchildren do not count in this context.
If you have dependent children you can get DKK 16,177 pr. month in Unemployment benefits. If you don't have dependent children - then you can get DKK 14,106 pr. month.

Conditions for graduate rights

• You had a permanent address in Denmark no later than one day before the start of your education.
• You are in Denmark no later than 14 days (including weekends) after graduation. This correspondents with the 2 weeks deadline for signing up for A-kasse (see more below).
• You must have completed an education of a duration of at least 1½ year duration (90 ECTS points).
• The education must be public recognized. If you are entitled to receive SU it means its public recognized.
• You must be able to take any job with one day notice (see next section).

Does it matter if you are EEA citizen or a non-EEA citizen?

To get benefits you must have right to work full time in Denmark after graduation. For non-EU citizens this mean that you must have a work permit.

EU citizens can apply for benefits
With an EU residence document you are allowed (without need for work permit) to stay in Denmark and search for job, after you finish your education. In this job-seek period you can apply for unemployment benefits in Denmark if you are unemployed after you have finished your education.

Non-EU citizens needs work-permit
If you have a student residence permit (only non-EU/EAA citizens) in order to participate in and complete higher education in Denmark, you also have a residence permit for 6 additional months after the end of the study. The scheme will provide one opportunity to seek work in Denmark after graduation.

It is important that you understand that international students (coming from other than EEA countries) will not have the same right to get unemployment benefits as danish or EEA-students.
As a non-EEA citizen you are only entitled to benefits if you have a work permit that gives you right to work FULL-time.
The work permit can not be limited to a certain job or a certain amount of hours. A work permit that you have applied for and gotten for a specific job is not sufficient. Neither is a "Student work permit". The 20 hours restriction also apply in the 6 months additional job-seeking period.

Although you are allowed to work full-time in the months june, july and august, it is not allowed with your study-visa to receive Unemployment benefits.
Read our special article concerning non-EEA graduates rights to unemployment benefits.

The 2-week deadline is fixed

If you join an unemployment fund within two weeks of your date of graduation, you will be regarded as a new graduate.
If you do not join an unemployment fund within two weeks, you will only be able to receive benefit once you have been a member of the fund for one year and meet the income requirement (have had an income of at least DKK 254,328 during the last 3 years in total). The 2-week deadline is laid down by the law, and the unemployment funds may not make exceptions to the requirement.
Therefore be aware: this 2-week deadline is extremely important.

It is a good idea to apply to an unemployment fund before you finish your study.
Normally you can apply for membership after the rules for new graduates up to 6 months before ending study.
You will not be charged for membership before you have graduated.
If you do that you will have fulfilled the 2-week rule, but in that case contact your a-kasse when you have graduated and tell them that you are now graduated and want to have the benefits as a new graduate.

How much does it cost?

You can check the prises in our comparison of prices.

How to apply for membership?

Everything is done online. Use links shown below or just click on links/logos around our
site, and you will be directed to online application form at the A-kasse's website.
If you are not directed directly to online application form, then at the A-kasse website choose
menu often called "Bliv medlem" or "Tilmeld dig her".
If possible choose membership type for new graduates (in danish "medlem som nyuddannet"
or "medlem som dimittend"). If not possible to choose, just remember to mention in
your application form that you are applying for membership under the special rules for new graduates.
After have filled out the online application form you will receive mail-confirmation from the A-kasse.

Which A-kasse should you choose?

You will get exactly the same (financial) benefits no matter what A-kasse you choose to become member of.
Your unemployment benefits is payed/secured by the Danish State.

What about access to legal help?
A-kasse membership only (mainly) gives you right to benefits ("dagpenge"). However it can be a good idea also to pay for Union membership, especially as a foreigner in Denmark. With Union membership you can get help with for example your employment contract, or help in case you have some legal disagreements with your employer.

If you decide that you want both A-kasse and trade union, there are two good (and cheap) options, MA A-kasse+DM (for long-term higher education) and "Det faglige Hus" (for short-term and medium-term higher educations).

In DM you can get Union membership for DKK 20 per month the first year after graduation. In "Det faglige Hus" union costs DKK 69 per month.

Read more about A-kasse+Union membership and see our comparison of the different offers.

Popular A-kasser for new graduates

A-kasse	For whom	Price per month 2023 Price per month 2023	Typical education	Has an office in these cities	Members dev. in 2022/ Members as of 01/07/22	Sign Up online/ Read more
FTF A-kasse	All edu.	DKK 472	medium-term higher education	Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg, Herning, Kolding and Næstved	+0.1% 149,930	(ad link) Sign Up online about FTFa
Min A-kasse	All edu.	DKK 490	IT graduates and sales / marketing	Aalborg, Aarhus, Fredericia, Næstved, Copenhagen and Odense.	-1.0% 88,112	(ad link) Sign Up online about Min A-kasse
MA A-kasse	All edu.	A-kasse DKK 502, Union (DM) DKK 20/month first year	Graduates from University	Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg, Odense	-0.2% 80,451	(ad link) Sign Up online about MA A-kasse
Ase A-kasse	All edu.	A-kasse DKK 514, Union DKK 74/month (97/month for self-employed)	Self- employed, Entrepreneur- edu.	Copenhagen + meeting places by appointment	-2.0% 136,666	(ad link) Sign Up online about ASE
DFH A-kasse	All edu.	A-kasse DKK 485, Union DKK 69/month	Short-term and medium-term higher edu.	Esbjerg, Kolding, Herning, Aarhus, Aalborg, Odense, Ringsted, Copenhagen and Hillerød.	+6.3% 168,215	(ad link) Sign Up online about DFH

In Denmark you are free to choose which fund (A-kasse) you wish to belong to, but many people choose the fund that is traditionally associated with their degree course.

3 A-kasser that have many graduates

"MA A-kasse" admits everyone as members regardless of education. Previously, MA was mostly for humanists and scientists, but is today an A-kasse for everyone with a higher education, primarily university graduates. No matter what job you get, you can always remain a member of MA A-kasse.

Min A-kasse works closely with PROSA (trade union for IT professionals) and Business Danmark (trade union for sale/marketing) and therefore knows the labor market for IT professionals and business/sale closely.

Sign Up for Min A-kasse online

If you have completed an IT education, whether it is at a university, business school, business academy or other, you can become a member of the trade union PROSA, and together with membership in Min A-kasse you will stand strong in your field, and gain access to a number of attractive membership benefits.

Sign Up for Min A-kasse online

If you have completed an education in sales/marketing at minimum short-term level, you can become a member of the trade union Business Danmark, and in the first 6 months the membership fee is reduced (DKK 83/month). Together with membership in Min A-kasse, you will stand strong in your field, and gain access to a number of attractive membership benefits.

Sign Up for Min A-kasse online

However, Min A-kasse admits everyone as a member regardless of education, and you can always remain a member of Min A-kasse regardless of what job you get.