For your residence permit to be renewed you must continue to meet the requirements for your previous permit. For example if you have a student permit you must still be enrolled for study and if you have a permit as a marital spouse you must still be married.
Requirements everyone must fulfill
Applicants must demonstrate that they have secure means of support for the period they wish to reside in Iceland. Secure means of support means that they have the ability to financially support themselves independently. Evidence of means of support must be in a currency registered by the Central Bank of Iceland.
The Directorate of Immigration may obtain tax returns and documents from tax authorities in confirmation of this.
Amount
The minimum amount required as secure means of support is:
239.895 ISK for individuals per month.
383.832 ISK for married couples per month.
119.948 ISK additionally for family members 18 years of age or older per month.
The amount corresponds to the basic amount of financial assistance from the City of Reykjavík, see rules on financial assistance (in Icelandic). The amounts are based on income before taxation.
Duration
A foreigner’s means of support must be secure for as long as the residence permit is valid. This means that if a residence permit is issued for one year, secure means of support for one year must be demonstrated.
Exemptions from the condition of secure means of support
The requirement of secure means of support may be waived, if financial support has not been secure over a short period of time due to unemployment, accident or ill health, or comparable reasons, such as receiving social assistance for a few months or maternity benefits, and also if compelling reasons of fairness so recommend. The Directorate of Immigration determines whether an exemption regarding secure means of support will be granted.
An applicant requesting an exemption from the requirement must submit a statement with the application, as well as documents supporting the request, for example, a medical certificate.
Note that this exemption is only granted upon renewal of a residence permit – not when applying for a first residence permit.
The condition of secure means of support does not apply to holders of residence permits on grounds of international protection or for humanitarian reasons. They do not have to demonstrate secure means of financial support and social assistance has no effect on their application.
Exemptions from the condition of independent means of support
All applicants for a residence permit must prove secure independent means of support, except in the following instances:
For a child under the age of 18, provided for by a parent or legal guardian residing in Iceland, there is no need to demonstrate independent financial support.
For persons 18 years or older,
who have held a continuous residence permit in Iceland since they were children,
are studying or working in Iceland,
live with a parent and
are neither married nor cohabiting,
the minimum amount of funds required is 50% of the regular amount for an individual (119.948 ISK per month), in addition to the amount of funds that a parent or legal guardian has to demonstrate for themselves and other family members.
Applicants must demonstrate independent funds if they are working and not studying. An applicant studying may be a dependant of a parent.
The spouse of an Icelander or a foreign national does not need to demonstrate independent funds. Due to the maintenance obligation between marital spouses under the Marriage Act, it is enough that one party in a marriage demonstrates sufficient funds for both.
Note that cohabitation is not equivalent to marriage in this respect. There is no maintenance obligation between cohabiting spouses. A cohabiting spouse must therefore demonstrate independent funds.
For parents aged 67 or older, dependent on their child/children in Iceland, the minimum amount of funds required is 50% of the regular amount for an individual (119.948 ISK per month), in addition to the amount of funds needed to support other adults in the household.
How to demonstrate sufficient funds
Applicants can use any of the means listed below to demonstrate secure means of support and different means can also be combined, for example income and/or bank balance.
Employment contract or self-employment income
Applicants can submit original employment contracts or demonstrate earned income by submitting a pay-as-you-earn tax statement (withholding tax) or issued invoices, stamped by the tax authorities.
If an applicant is financially dependent on another individual, the equivalent documents of that individual can be submitted.
Payslips
Applicants can submit last three months' payslips. Printouts from an online bank are satisfactory, otherwise employer confirmation is required. The pay-as-you-earn tax must have been paid on the wages and the Directorate of Immigration examines the tax register in confirmation.
If an applicant is financially dependent on another individual, the payslips of that individual can be submitted.
Guaranteed regular payments
Applicants can submit confirmation of regular payments for instance payments from the Social Insurance Administration in respect of invalidity, unemployment benefits, rental income and grants received by the applicant, e.g. for research.
Disposable funds
Applicants can submit bank statements showing their account balance, in Iceland or abroad. The amount must be in an internationally acknowledged currency that can be changed into a currency registerd witht the Central Bank of Iceland and be withdrawn to use for support.
The statement must be confirmed by the bank itself and in its original. A printout from an online bank is not sufficient confirmation.
If an applicant is financially dependent on another individual a bank statement of that individual cam be submitted.
Student grant or loan
Applicants can submit a confirmation of a grant for studies or a student loan from the relevant credit institution or grant provider.
Student loans or scholarships must be in an internationally acknowledged currency that can be changed into a currency registerd witht the Central Bank of Iceland and be withdrawn to use for support.
What means cannot be used to demonstrate sufficient funds
Payments in the form of social assistance by the state or a municipality.
Maintenance by a third party, other than in the exemptions mentioned above.
Assets other than bank balances, for example real estate.
Dividends on enterprises, interest or other payments for which a release is not guaranteed.
The applicant must come to the Directorate of Immigration or a District commissioner’s office outside of the Reykjavík metropolitan area to have his/her photograph taken for the residence permit card. The applicant must bring his/her passport to prove identity.
The photograph is necessary for the issuance of a residence-permit card and to finalize the granting of a residence permit. An appointment must be made at the Directorate of Immigration or you can drop in at an office of a district commissioner if you are outside of the Reykjavík metropolitan area.
Requirements for certain permits
To renew a student permit you must
still be enrolled in full studies (30 ECTS per semester)
show satisfactory academic performance, where required
Full studies
If enrollment in full studies cannot be shown for a period of one year in advance because enrollment has not been declared open (for example when the study begins in January and ends in December), the Directorate of Immigration will request information from the relevant school about continued enrollment when such information becomes available.
An applicant is seen as having enrolled when the tuition or registration fees have been paid, and is enrolled in full studies according to a confirmation by the relevant school. If the applicant is not enrolled in continued studies after the first term the residence permit will be withdrawn.
Satisfactory academic performance
First renewal
Upon first renewal applicants’ academic performance is considered to be satisfactory if they have completed 75% of full study during the academic year (i.e. at least 44 ECTS in total in an academic year). An academic year refers to two consecutive terms effective as of the beginning of study. The results of the last two terms shall be added together, either the fall term leading into the spring term or spring term leading into the fall term.
Subsequent renewals
The applicant must have shown satisfactory academic performance in instances where this is required. Each university has its rules regarding what is considered as satisfactory or acceptable academic performance.
Schools rules on satisfactory academic performance upon subsequent renewals
University of Iceland: No formal requirement is made for students to finish a certain number of ECTS per semester or academic year. The residence permit is generally renewed for one year at a time, except when the applicant intends to begin continued study in the second term of the school year. In such an instance the applicant’s residence permit will be renewed for six months and then a new permit shall be applied for when it is clear that the enrollment requirements for continued study are met.
Reykjavík University: No requirement is made regarding satisfactory academic performance upon subsequent renewals.
University of Akureyri: If an applicant has completed 75% of his/her full studies in the school year, the academic performance is deemed as satisfactory.
Bifröst University: No requirement is made regarding satisfactory academic performance upon subsequent renewals.
Icelandic Film School: If an applicant has completed 26 ECTS during a term the academic performance is considered as satisfactory.
The Agricultural University of Iceland: If an applicant has completed 50% of study during the academic year, the academic performance is considered as satisfactory.
The Icelandic Academy of the Arts: No requirement is made regarding satisfactory academic performance upon subsequent renewals.
Keilir Academy: No requirement is made regarding satisfactory academic performance upon subsequent renewals.
Hólar University College: No requirement is made regarding satisfactory academic performance upon subsequent renewals.
Kópavogur College: The following criteria apply regarding academic performance upon subsequent renewals. At the end of the:
- 3rd term the student must have completed at least 55 credits,
- 4th term the student must have completed at least 75 credits,
- 5th term the student must have completed at least 95 credits,
- 6th term the student must have completed at least 115 credits,
- 7th term the student must have completed at least 135 credits,
- 8th term the student must have completed at least 155 credits,
- 9th term the student must have completed at least 175 credits,
- 10th term the student must have completed at least 200 credits.
Students who show slow progress in their studies are not guaranteed continued enrollment.
Exemptions from requirement of academic results
The residence permits of masters and doctorate students who are working on their final projects may be renewed even though no credits have been earned during the period of the residence permit. Furthermore, deviating from the requirement on satisfactory academic performance in the instance of general students is permissible in instances of unforeseeable external circumstances, for example accidents or serious illness.
A residence permit on the basis of work can only be renewed after the Directorate of Labor has granted a work permit. An application for a work permit is sent with the electronic renewal application to the Directorate of Immigration which forwards it to the Directorate of Labor.
Expert seeking employment
A residence permit on the basis of work requiring expert knowledge may be renewed for up to one year from the date of unemployment or the time the employment-termination period has passed, to enable the holder of such a permit to find new employment on grounds of his/her expert knowledge.
A residence permit may be renewed for a student who has completed a university degree in Iceland for up to three years from the date of graduation in order to seek employment on the basis of his/her expertise.
When issuing a residence permit for students seeking employment, it is required that the student in question have completed at least 60 ECTS of study and graduated with a formal degree. However, if the programme amounts to less than 180 ECTS, the student in question must generally have completed a previous undergraduate programme, either in Iceland or abroad. Undergraduate study at university level generally refers to a 180 ECTS programme completed with a formal degree, such as BA, BS, BEd or BFa, or a comparable programme.
A permit for a child may be renewed even though the child has turned 18. The person must be
studying or working in Iceland,
living with its parent/parents and
neither married nor in cohabitation.
Service provider
Directorate of Immigration