News

Appointments remain necessary at Directorate‘s front desk

In order to provide quick and efficient services to our customers, the Directorate’s front desk in Dalvegur 18 will remain open only to those who have an appointment.

Appointments were introduced as a response to social distancing measures and restrictions on gatherings due to Covid-19, however, the arrangement has been well-received and will therefore remain unchanged despite the easing of restrictions on gatherings.

The arrangement makes it possible for us to distribute visits in the Directorate evenly throughout opening hours, thus ensuring that individuals, who have made an appointment, i.e. for having their picture taken for a residence card or for other urgent errands that cannot be resolved by other means, will be assisted as soon as they arrive.

At the same time, greater emphasis will be placed on the Directorate’s telephone 444 0900 and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. services. Applicants and other customers are encouraged use these means to contact the service center for assistance.

Practical information for applicants

There is a lot of useful information on the Directorate’s website, i.e:
- Who needs a residence permit and who needs a visa
- Information on the requirements for residence permits and visas
- Application forms
- Answers to frequently asked questions
- What applications are being processed
Applications and other documents can be sent by mail or delivered to a drop box in the Directorate’s lobby (from 8 to 16 on week-days)
- Documents delivered to the drop box should be in an envelope with the applicants name and ID number/date of birth
Payment information, account number and ID number of the Directorate of Immigration, are at the bottom of the Directorate’s website
The Service Center provides assistance via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and telephone +354 444 0900
- Mondays to Thursdays between 9 and 14 and Fridays between 9 and 12
Appointments, i.e. for having your picture take for a residence card, can be made by calling +354 444 0900.

Expedited processing of residence permits based on work resumes

The Directorate of Labour now resumes the processing of applications for work permits after having postponed the issuance of new work permits and suspended expedited processing temporarily due to the effect of Covid-19 on the Directorate’s operations (see here).

This means that the Directorate of Immigration can expedite the processing of applications for residence permits based on work anew as of June 2, 2020.

Permission to stay without a residence permit or visa extended until July 1

Foreigners situated in Iceland who are unable to return to their home countries due to travel restrictions, quarantine or isolation are allowed to stay in Iceland without a residence permit or visa until 10 August 2020, according to a new temporary provision of the Regulation on foreigners, that has already taken effect.

An earlier permission, added to the Regulation on foreigners with a temporary provision in the beginning of April, has thereby been extended by a month.

To whom does the temporary provision apply?

The provision applies to foreigners who stayed in Iceland before the introduction of travel restrictions on 20 March 2020, on the basis of:

a residence permit, which has now expired or expires before he/she can leave the country,
a visa, which has now expired or expires before he/she can leave the country,
being visa exempt, but will have stayed longer than 90 days in the Schengen Area before he/she can leave the country.

To whom does the temporary provision not apply?

The provision does not apply to foreigners who were in illegal stay before 20 March 2020 and does not prevent an expulsion on that or other basis in accordance with the provisions of the Foreigners Act.

Do I need to ask for a permission to stay longer in Iceland?

No, you do not need to ask for a permission to stay longer in the country. The amendment to the regulation gives everyone who it applies to an automatic right to stay longer in the country without a residence permit or a visa.

How long can I stay?

Foreigners in this situation are asked to leave the country as soon as possible, by 10 August 2020 at the latest.

Restrictions on non-essential travel prolonged until 15 June

The Minister of Justice has announced that travel restrictions that came into effect on March 20 will be extended until 15 June 2020, in accordance with the EU Commission recommendation to the Schengen Member States.

The scope of travel restrictions remains unchanged. Foreigners, who are neither EU/EEA nor EFTA nationals, continue not to be allowed to enter Iceland unless they can demonstrate that their travel is essential.

Further information on to whom the travel restrictions apply and who is exempt from them can be found in a previous article on the Directorate’s website.

Individuals arriving in Iceland from countries defined with high risk of infection must still undergo a 14-day quarantine from their day of arrival, however, professionals and others traveling to Iceland for work may be eligible for modified quarantine. Border control at the internal borders has therefore been extended according to the decision of the Ministry of Justice.

According to the government’s announcement, no later than 15 June 2020, travelers are expected to be given a choice between a two-week quarantine or being tested for the virus upon arrival, or otherwise proving that they are free of coronavirus infection.

Longer deadline to apply for student permits

The Directorate of Immigration will make every effort to process all applications for student residence permits before the start of the autumn semester. In view of the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, the deadline for applying for student permits has been extended by a month.

The Directorate can only guarantee that an application will be processed in time, if it is submitted before July 1st and is accompanied by all necessary supporting documentation.

We cannot guarantee that applications that are submitted after the deadline will be processed before the start of the semester, even if all necessary documentation are submitted.

What can you do to accelerate the processing of your application?

Make sure you submit all the necessary supporting documents with your application, a list of the required supporting documents is available here.

Make sure the supporting documents you submit meet the Directorate’s documentation requirements.

In particular, make sure the criminal record certificate you submit was issued by the highest authority competent to issue such certificates in the respective country. The certificate must state that the information in the certificate stems from national databases, not only databases in certain areas (for example, in certain regions or states of a country). For students from the US this means that an FBI criminal record certificate is required, students from Canada must submit an RCMP certificate and students from Thailand must submit a certificate issued by the Royal Thai Police.

Make sure your means of support is satisfactory and that you submit sufficient documentation on your secure means of support.

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