Residence permit on humanitarian grounds
Rights and obligations
A humanitarian permit can be granted for up to one year.
If the holder of the permit stays abroad for more than three consecutive months, the residence permit can be revoked. A foreign national’s residence permit is automatically revoked if his/her domicile, which was registered in Iceland, has been registered abroad for a period of three months.
Even though the residence permit has been revoked, it is possible to apply for a renewal, if this is done within the validity period of the previous residence permit and the reasons for doing so recommend it.
Right to work
The residence permit entails the right to work in Iceland without a work permit.
Right to renewal
You must apply for a residence permit renewal before your permit expires.
A residence permit on humanitarian grounds may only be renewed if the original reasons for granting the permit have not changed. This means that upon processing an application for renewal, the Directorate of Immigration must make a new assessment of the conditions under which you received a humanitarian permit.
If the requirements for a humanitarian permit are still fulfilled, your permit will be renewed. If the Directorate of Immigration considers that the requirements are no longer fulfilled, you will be invited to an interview where you will receive information about your options for applying for a residence permit on another basis. If you meet the conditions of the permit you apply for, you will be authorized to stay in Iceland. If you do not apply for another residence permit, or do not meet the conditions of the permit you apply for, you will be invited to an interview concerning the possible withdrawal of your humanitarian permit.
The revocation of your humanitarian permit will affect the rights of your family members to stay in Iceland, if they have a residence permit based on family reunification with you.
You can appeal a decision to revoke your humanitarian permit to the Immigration and Asylum Appeals Board.
Right to family reunification
A residence permit on humanitarian grounds does not grant the right to family reunification until after it has been renewed twice.
The permit confers the right to family reunification for the holder's
children under the age of 18, if the holder has custody of them,
Exemption from renewal requirement
If there are compelling reasons of fairness, due to urgent care considerations, an exemption may be granted from the requirement that your residence permit must have been renewed twice before your family member applies for family reunification with you.
Urgent care considerations may apply if you, on whom the right to family reunification is based:
were the caregiver for your spouse before you left your home country, or
you have a child in your home country who is in immediate danger, who is there without a guardian, or who is suffering from a serious illness.
With the application, documents must be submitted to confirm that urgent care considerations are present. If the application is based on the applicant's illness, it is not sufficient to submit a medical certificate; it must also be established that the applicant does not have access to healthcare services in their home country. It is not enough that the service in the home country is of lower quality or costs money.
When assessing whether circumstances are urgent, consideration is given to how long you, on whom the right to family reunification is based, have been separated from the applicant and whether the applicant has had another caregiver in the meantime.
Right to permanent residence
The permit can be a basis for a permanent residence permit.
Please note that one of the conditions of a permanent residence permit is that you have not resided abroad for more than 90 days in total each year during the period of validity of the residence permit, counting from the date of issue of the permit.
Service provider
Directorate of Immigration