According to the United Nations Human Rights Declaration, it is a fundamental human right to apply for protection from your home country. However, if you already have a residence permit in another country, the Directorate of Immigration is not obligated to process your application for international protection.

This means that your case would be put into a process that involves determining whether Iceland or the country you already have a permit to stay in is responsible for your application for protection. In an interview with the Directorate of Immigration, the main reason for why you do not think you can stay in the country you already have a permit to stay in would be examined.

The Directorate of Immigration will also contact that state and collect information about your residence permit. If it becomes clear that that state is responsible for your application for protection and agrees to process it, you would be required to leave Iceland and return to that state, as long as there are no strong reasons to process your application in Iceland.