Application for health insurance

Those who move their legal domicile to Iceland generally have to wait 6 months to become insured. These persons are therefore uninsured for the first six months and, in the meantime, pay full fee for health services.

Exceptions to waiting periods

If you come from another Nordic country

To speed up the processing, we request that you submit a copy (front and back) of a valid European Health Insurance Card with your application.

If you come from an EEA country, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, the UK or Switzerland

Individuals moving to Iceland from an EEA country, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, the UK or Switzerland must submit an application for health insurance in order to be able to be insured with health insurance within 6 months of registration of domicile.

If individuals have been insured in a public scheme in their previous country of residence, they will be insured with health insurance once a reply has been received from the previous country of residence. Others go to the 6 month waiting period.

To apply

The following do not need to apply

If one of the following applies to you, it is unnecessary to apply for health insurance. You will automatically be insured with health insurance after either the six-month waiting period or immediately if the first item applies to you.

• Moved back to Iceland from one of the Nordic countries within twelve months of moving abroad. You will automatically be insured with health insurance when a legal domicile has been registered in Iceland.

• Imported to Iceland from outside the EEA. You will automatically be insured with health insurance six months after registered as domicile in Iceland.

• You did not have health insurance in the previous country of insurance or only had private insurance. You will automatically be insured with health insurance six months after having registered a legal domicile in Iceland.

• You are a citizen of a country outside the EEA. You will automatically be insured with health insurance six months after having registered a legal domicile in Iceland.

Private insurance is commonly purchased by individuals until the right to public health insurance becomes effective.

Medical exemptions

There are medical exemptions in place where you may be entitled to health insurance without meeting all the requirements. Exhaustive exemptions are listed here:

The Health Insurance Administration may make exemptions from the condition in Article 10(1) of the Health Insurance Act, No. 112/2008, on periods of residence before a person becomes health insured, in the following cases:

• In cases of sudden illness, essential services are available.

• In the case of a student who has moved his/her legal domicile from Iceland during the study period for study abroad and moves back to Iceland within six months of graduation.

• In the case of renal patients requiring regular treatment by kidney transplant or a patient requiring supplemental oxygen. The exemption only covers the said treatment.

• In the case of a person suffering from a life-threatening illness who moves to Iceland for permanent residence, provided that the person has previously been resident in Iceland for at least 20 years and has no close relatives. The same applies to a child under the age of 20 who is suffering from a life-threatening illness and who moves to Iceland with parents or a parent who meets the above conditions for residence.

• In the case of a person who has left a Member State of residence due to armed conflict or circumstances of comparable severity, such as natural disasters, the Health Insurance Administration may make an exemption in respect of necessary healthcare services.