How to Change Your Phone Region When Moving to the Nordics

The single most frustrating tech problem expats hit in their first week: you arrive in Denmark, your employer tells you to download MitID (the national digital ID app), and the App Store or Google Play says "not available in your region."

This happens because essential Nordic apps — MitID, MobilePay, BankID, Vipps, NemSMS — are geo-restricted to their local stores. Your phone thinks you're still in India, the UK, or wherever you came from. Here's how to fix it.

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Why this matters in the Nordics specifically

Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland run on apps that don't exist anywhere else:

Country	Apps you can't live without
Denmark	MitID, MobilePay, Rejsekort, e-Boks
Sweden	BankID, Swish, Kivra
Norway	BankID, Vipps
Finland	Suomi.fi, mobile bank apps

MitID is the most urgent. You need it to log into SKAT (tax), your bank, the municipality, e-Boks (official letters), and dozens of other services. Without it you're locked out of the Danish digital system.

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iPhone / iPad (iOS) — Change your App Store country

Step 1 — Spend or move your balance

Apple won't let you switch countries if you have any App Store credit balance. Check: Settings → [Your Name] → Media & Purchases → View Account → Apple ID Balance.

If you have balance, spend it on apps or gift it. You cannot transfer it.

Step 2 — Change country

1. Open Settings
2. Tap your name at the top
3. Tap Media & Purchases
4. Tap View Account (authenticate with Face ID if prompted)
5. Tap Country/Region
6. Tap Change Country or Region
7. Select Denmark (or Sweden / Norway / Finland)
8. Tap Agree on the terms

Step 3 — Add a payment method (or skip it)

You'll be prompted to add a payment method. Your options:

• Add a Nordic card — a Wise or Revolut card with a Danish billing address works well before you have a local bank account
• Choose "None" — you can tap None to skip. You can still download free apps. You'll need to add a local card before buying anything.

Important: You can only change country once every 90 days. If you've changed recently, you'll have to wait or use the workaround below.

Download MitID now

Once your region is Denmark, search for MitID in the App Store. It should appear immediately. You'll also find MobilePay, e-Boks, Rejsekort, and DSB (trains).

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Android — Change your Google Play country

Google Play ties your country to your payment method, not just a setting. This makes it slightly more involved.

The standard method (if you have a local SIM)

1. Open Google Play Store
2. Tap your profile photo (top right)
3. Tap Settings
4. Tap General → Account and device preferences
5. If you've been in Denmark long enough (Google detects this via your SIM/IP), you'll see an option: Switch to the Denmark Play Store
6. Tap Continue
7. Add a Danish payment method (Wise, Revolut, or local card)

Google's catch: You can only switch country once per year, and Google usually requires you to have been in the new country for a few weeks before offering the switch. If you just arrived, the option may not appear yet.

Workaround — Create a second Google account for Danish apps

This is the fastest solution when you've just arrived:

1. On your phone go to Settings → Accounts → Add account → Google
2. Create a new Google account (or use an existing one you haven't set up in any country yet)
3. Before adding any payment method, go to Play Store, switch to this new account, and open Settings → Country — it will let you pick Denmark
4. Download MitID, MobilePay, and other Danish apps with this account
5. Keep your main Google account as-is for your other apps

You can switch between accounts in the Play Store by tapping your profile photo.

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Apps to download immediately after switching region

Denmark

• MitID — digital identity (mandatory for almost everything)
• MobilePay — national payment app, used by everyone
• e-Boks — receives all official government letters digitally
• Rejsekort — public transport card (bus, Metro, S-tog)
• DSB — national rail tickets
• Min Sundhed — health records and GP appointments
• 1813 (Region H) — medical helpline app for Copenhagen area

Sweden

• BankID — digital identity (equivalent of MitID)
• Swish — peer payments
• Kivra — digital mailbox for official letters

Norway

• BankID — digital identity
• Vipps — payments and digital ID in one app

Finland

• Suomi.fi — government services portal
• Your bank's app (OP, Nordea, S-Pankki) — all have strong mobile auth

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Common problems and fixes

"MitID is not available in your country" after switching → Close the App Store completely, wait 2 minutes, reopen. Apple's servers sometimes take a moment to register the region change.

Google Play still showing old country → Clear Google Play Store cache: Settings → Apps → Google Play Store → Storage → Clear Cache. Restart the app.

Can't switch because it's been less than 90 days (iOS) → Create a new Apple ID specifically for your Nordic apps. Use a throwaway email, set country to Denmark from the start. Sign in to the App Store with this ID to download local apps, then switch back to your main ID.

Wise card not accepted as payment method → Make sure the billing address on your Wise account is set to your Danish address. Update it in the Wise app under Profile → Personal details.

Apps downloaded but won't open (region mismatch) → This happens when an app is downloaded in one region and updated from another. Delete and reinstall from the Danish store.

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One thing to do right now

If you haven't changed your region yet: do it before you go to Borgerservice for your CPR registration. You'll need MitID active on your phone within days of getting your CPR number, and setting it up requires the app to already be installed.

The whole process takes under 5 minutes on iOS. Android takes slightly longer if Google hasn't detected you in Denmark yet — use the second-account workaround in that case.