No, a residence permit card is not a travel document and is therefore no substitute for a passport. It is, however, necessary to carry it with you when travelling abroad to show that you are authorised to stay in the Schengen Area and to come back to Iceland.

A residence permit card is a confirmation that a foreign national has a residence permit in Iceland, and can be used to travel in and out of the Schengen Area. A foreign national with a valid residence permit may travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days over a period of 180 days.

Schengen member states are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Please note that the United Kingdom is not part of the Schengen Area.