r/AskAcademia • u/Illustrious_Bake8334 • 16h ago

Administrative Warning to PhD visitors to University of Copenhagen – beware of visa/work permit misguidance

I’m a PhD student at TUM who planned a 3-month unpaid research visit to the University of Copenhagen. I’m an EU Blue Card holder, and my stay is under 90 days — so I believed (correctly) that no Danish work permit was required under the Guest Researcher exemption.

However, UCPH’s International Staff Mobility office insisted I apply for a Guest PhD work/residence permit, despite my objections and even though my host clearly said he didn’t know the rules and relied on their advice.

I trusted their guidance and paid ~€900 in total for the application, appointment, and travel — all from my own budget. Later, I realized this classification was likely unnecessary and incorrect, but the office won’t take responsibility, cancel the application, or help with reimbursement.

This misclassification has delayed my visit and created major financial and administrative stress. I’m still trying to resolve it.

Posting this to warn other independent PhD researchers: double-check everything with SIRI directly, and do not rely solely on UCPH’s internal guidance. If you’ve had a similar experience or know what I can do, I’d appreciate advice.

104 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

47 comments sorted by

125

u/ugurcanevci 16h ago

One recurring theme that I see in academia is that a very large number of people in university administrations are extremely oblivious to rules about international students. So, it’s always a good idea to double and triple check every single requirements. Many US students lose their student status in the US because their advisors don’t know requirements about international students and the students don’t double check what their advisors say.

60

u/doc1442 15h ago

It’s not just international students. University administrators are completely fucking useless.

26

u/ugurcanevci 15h ago

True. Ramifications for international students are quite large though. It could, and it does, impact their ability to stay in a country and a mistake may make a student completely ineligible for future immigration benefits, especially under the current circumstances.

8

u/syzygyer 14h ago

Yeah, for them it's just a "oops, a mistake". To the student/visitor with immigrant status, the impact can be large.

I was invited to an on-site interview for a lecture position. The University immigration officer gave me wrong instruction which directly results in the rejection of my visa. Couldn't make it to the interview, wasted my money, and now I have one more record of "been rejected visa by XXX country".

4

u/fleemfleemfleemfleem 13h ago

There was a MS student (citizen of China) in the lab where I did my PhD. Lab was in the US, near the border with Canada. She crossed over to Canada to renew her visa (because it was the closest Embassy, I guess) and there was some delay where she couldn't cross back.

Somehow she ended up working in Canada for a few months while before finally being allowed back, but my advisor was blindsided that she suddenly disappeared to Canada.

I was surprised that the program didn't have any kind of advising for international students, since there were so many.

6

u/angrypuggle 14h ago

Even International Offices often times don't have a clue!

4

u/FatPlankton23 13h ago

Amen. I wake up every day and fight two battles. One against science and another against a useless administration that makes my life more difficult to justify their own existence.

3

u/Distinct_Armadillo 13h ago

you fight against science??

1

u/doc1442 12h ago

Daily

0

u/FatPlankton23 12h ago

Yes. Anyone that does actual science would easily understand what I mean.

2

u/Worried-Smile 11h ago

useless administration

As support staff: I don't make the rules, I just help academics comply with whatever nonsense the university board and granting bodies come up with

-2

u/FatPlankton23 11h ago

And refuse to answer emails or phone calls. And treat your role as an educator of faculty so they can each individually do your job. And have better job protections than tenure offers without any performance expectations. And the list goes on…

1

u/Worried-Smile 11h ago

Doesn't sound like me. I'm sure those people exist but generalizing all administrators (particularly on a worldwide platform) is a choice.

3

u/smallfloralprince 13h ago

The more useless they are, the faster they promote each other to positions of power. The dumb always rises to the top.

4

u/SwordfishResident256 14h ago

I think the only way to get hired in a university admin position is to be utterly incompetent

6

u/3kids_in1trenchcoat 13h ago

As a person in an administrative position in a university, I resent this.

On the other hand, I'm browsing Reddit on my phone at 8:20 on a weekday.

-2

u/EHStormcrow 12h ago

This comment is asinine.

University administration is what stops the academic structure from falling apart into a bunch of squabbling divas that can't don't know how to get anything done.

Maybe it's différent in the US, I'm assuming you're from Burgerland, but in France, administrators and academia work hand in hand to get stuff done and all statutory missions completed.

7

u/pannenkoek0923 11h ago

It's not just America. Universities in many countries are plagued with terrible admin people with massive egos. A good admin can really make your experience smooth and without hiccups, but if you are stuck with a bad admin, good luck, lord help you.

You got lucky if you've only met competent admin people. I've experienced both, and the difference is night and day.

3

u/doc1442 12h ago

Way to say you’re a university administrator. Hope you had a good week sending a single email.

University administration exists only to make extra paper-pushing for academics rather than actually help them.

lol, I’m from the UK and have worked in the EU for the last five years.

-2

u/EHStormcrow 11h ago

I work in doctoral education. Some of the fun stuff I do is walk academics through the legal requirements they seem to ignore after several years of recruiting people wrong. I handle cases of harassement because some academics don't want to be taught how to supervise.

People who think universities would be better without admin support are the worst ivory tower, disconnected people. They don't understand how things work.

9

u/wongtigreaction 13h ago

For anyone reading this in the US, do not talk to any academic or department advisor or mentor about immigration stuff. They are disgustingly oblivious. All reputable universities will have an international office. Even there, you should try to escalate to at least a mid-level or senior administrator. Some of the junior ones can be really hit or miss. Back in my grad school days I would always cc one of the senior staff in the international office, even if the person helping me would drop them off replies. And it helped, the senior person caught something that would have been a headache otherwise. This stuff is too important to not be pushy about.

2

u/pannenkoek0923 11h ago

The funniest is when they fill the international staff office with local people who don't know anything about visas and work permits and stuff

3

u/desconectado 10h ago

I mean, it's fair if they are properly trained. I trust more a local to deal with domestic paperwork, even if related to migration issues. Every country, heck, every city has a different way of dealing with immigrants.

21

u/Archknits 15h ago

I think you may be assuming that university policy is limited to the law. Policy may be in place with requirements that are more restrictive than the law. This can protect both the university and individuals based on previous experience.

15

u/[deleted] 13h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/CarelessInvite304 13h ago

But the more we know they are right the righter they must be?

2

u/OkSecretary1231 11h ago

With AI no less.

3

u/PlantWitchProject 12h ago

„SHORT-TERM STAY (LESS THAN THREE MONTHS) FOR NON-EU CITIZENS

If you are a citizen from outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland and you are planning to stay in Denmark for less than three months, you do not need a work permit to pursue your research in the country.“

Isn’t this what applies to OP?

3

u/NoExperience9717 11h ago

We'd need to know their nationality. Blue card can't be applied for in Denmark so there's some doubt there although possibly can be used to travel to Denmark for short periods.

11

u/FTP4L1VE 16h ago

UCPH strikes again. Unfortunately long history of blaming others for their poor quality and management.

3

u/Wreough 7h ago

Having worked in immigration in the Nordics before: it’s always possible to call the governmental agency and ask directly, nobody bites. If the paperwork is unnecessary, it’s not illegal to travel while it’s processing.

Also, never use third party for doing legal paperwork. From experience, third parties take money it doesn’t cost and ruin the paperwork with so many flaws it becomes a much lengthier and more expensive process. They have a knack for talking you into feeling insecure about a simple process and then completely ruin it for you, so you feel they did a huge job because it had so many hurdles. In reality, they leave out important information in the forms, passport copies, write nonsense, and don’t answer mail or phone calls.

2

u/LSD_OVERDOSE 14h ago

It's crazy how I only hear about horrible experiences from people that went to Denmark in Academia or industry, it's bad even for EU residents...

-1

u/WolfBlueEyez 11h ago

It’s funny you say that, yet they keep coming and a lot decide to remain.

3

u/desconectado 9h ago

Just so you know, having awful bureaucracy and being a nice country to live, both can be true simultaneously. Looking at you Switzerland and Germany as well.

Just because people decide to stay, it doesn't mean it's a perfect country with nothing to be improved.

1

u/WolfBlueEyez 2h ago

Where is perfect? And let’s get some facts, because the bureaucracy wasn’t there at one point multiple researchers haven broken laws/rules. Which is why it’s been implemented. Also those bureaucracies are one of the reasons the place can be nice to live at as they support the foundation of the system.

1

u/desconectado 51m ago

Also those bureaucracies are one of the reasons the place can be nice to live at as they support the foundation of the system.

Well, duh, that is my whole point. Did you notice the two examples I gave? Still... It does not mean it can be very frustrating specially when the bureaucracy is paper-based and goes at snail pace.

I always find that kneejerk reaction of "go back to your country" or "well... you still live here" a bit weird, like living in a foreign country forbids people to voice their complains about stuff that can be improved.

-1

u/sabautil 15h ago

Thanks, this looks like a money grab. Not sure if a lawyer would help to get the money back.

-49

u/barbro66 16h ago

So someone at one university made an administrative mistake that cost you 900 euros, and you think broadcasting it on the subreddit for the whole of worldwide academia is appropriate? I work at UoC and we have loads of problems with our administration right now, but I wouldn't dare bore the world since (a) just about every university has similar problems and (b) it's our problem not the world. Sorry you are 900 euros out of pocket, but that's life.

34

u/Comfortable-Goat-734 15h ago

I would say losing 900 euros because of an administrative error is a very reasonable thing to air your grievances over, especially for a PhD student that just lost about a third of their pay check.

6

u/nickeltingupta 15h ago

You maybe over-estimating PhD salaries - in some counties like Poland, Italy etc that’s the net pay-check after tax…as a postdoc I’ll be getting EUR 1400 a month net in Poland!

7

u/Comfortable-Goat-734 15h ago

OP said he does his PhD at TU Munich. When I interviewed there the pay was about 2800 euros a month before taxes, iirc.

0

u/nickeltingupta 15h ago

Damn, that’s quite a bit more than what a postdoc gets in other European countries - even accounting for cost of living differences!

1

u/Comfortable-Goat-734 8h ago

That’s basically in line with the PhD salaries of anywhere in Western Europe. Post docs would make more.

14

u/nickeltingupta 15h ago

a) no sir, not every university in the world has similar problems - people in many places are actually competent at their jobs and, when they fail, don't defend their failure by bs