Foreign tourism operators with operations in Iceland

The Icelandic Tourist Board, the Icelandic Transport Authority and the Directorate of Labour have published informational brochures for foreign tourism operators with operations in Iceland:

License to operate in Iceland for passenger transport

Licensees with a license from a country within the EEA may drive with passengers for business purposes in Iceland if they have a Community licence from their country of origin. This applies only to buses, cars for 9 or more passengers, and is according to European regulation EC nr. 1073/2009

Persons who carry out commercial passenger transportation on cars that are for 8 or less passengers must apply for an operating licence from the Icelandic Transport Authority according to Icelandic laws and submit appropriate documents from their home country. The documents must be submitted in English and must be translated by a certified translator if originally in another language. See further conditions for an operating licence.

There are two types of permits for cars registered for 8 or less passengers:

• Permits related to travel services

  tu: passenger cars registered for 8 or less passengers. intended for trips of at least half a day and a safety plan must be submitted to the Tourist Board

• Permit for specially equipped cars: Cars registered as off-road vehicles (and have a tyre size of at least 780 mm diameter) for 8 or less passengers

One of the conditions of a license is that the legal domicile of the operator is registered within the European Economic Area and therefore parties outside the EEA cannot be issued such a license in Iceland. Those parties that cannot obtain a license to operate a passenger transportation service as a result of this can hire a person with an operating license to handle the driving. A list of license holders is available here.

The driver must have the appropriate driving licence at all times, to be able to drive with a passenger for business purposes or with a code 95 in a driving licence.

If an applicant intends to use rental cars, they must have a valid license inspection and an appropriate license label in the windscreen. If an applicant intends to use cars with foreign registration numbers, the car must undergo a license inspection at an inspection post in Iceland, confirmed by the Icelandic Transportation Authority at the end of the application process.

You can read more about business licenses here