On 18 June, Alþingi passed amendments to the Foreign Nationals Act and the Act on the Employment Rights of Foreign Nationals, transferring responsibility for processing applications and issuing work permits from the Directorate of Labour to the Directorate of Immigration. The amendments will enter into force on the day following their publication in the Official Gazette, which is expected to take place within a few weeks of their passage by Alþingi.

Any work permit applications that have not been processed by the Directorate of Labour before the amendments enter into force will be handled by the Directorate of Immigration once the amendments take effect. Until the amendments enter into force, the Directorate of Immigration does not have the legal authority to process work permit applications and is therefore unable to respond to inquiries concerning individual cases related to such applications. Applicants, employers, and other interested parties are therefore requested to refrain from submitting inquiries regarding work permits until the amendments have taken effect and further information has been published on the Directorate’s website.

The transfer of responsibilities is expected to have a temporary impact on application processing times and response times to inquiries while new procedures are being established. The Directorate of Immigration asks applicants and other stakeholders for their understanding during this transition period and thanks them for their patience as the legislative changes are implemented.

Students will become exempt from work permit requirement

Once the new legislation takes effect, students will no longer be required to obtain a work permit in order to work in Iceland. Students who do not currently hold a valid work permit may not begin working until the legislation has entered into force. The effective date will be announced on the Directorate of Immigration’s website.