Miscellaneous Information
Increased numbers of residence permits.
One of the main functions of the Icelandic Directorate of Immigration is issuing residence permits for foreigners intending to reside in Iceland. In the period 1990 to 2001 the numbers of residence permits increased steadily and reached a record number in the year 2001, when 6515 residence permits were issued.
The numbers of residence permits decreased between the years 2001 and 2002 to 5848, or by 667 residence permits. This was the result of a decreased demand of the labour market in the year 2002. In 2003 the number of issued permits decreased again to 5135 or by 713 permits. This was related to the decrease in the year 2002, as renewals decreased correspondingly.
However, there has been a steady increase in residence permits being issued since the year 2003. In 2004, 6042 residence permits were issued and in the year 2005, 9331 residence permits were issued, an increase of 54%. This significant increase is also obvious looking at applications received. In 2004, 8616 applications for residence permits were received, but in the year 2005 a total of 12620 applications for residence permits were received. This is an increase of 46%.
The Directorate has already received 4180 applications for residence permits in the first three months of the year 2006. This indicates that applications for residence permits will still increase this year. It is noticeable that the greatest increase has been in issuing joint residence and work permits, but this trend corresponds to the current trend in the Icelandic labour market.
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