Residence permit for students

Requirements

All applicants for a residence permit must

prove their identity with a valid passport
give correct information about their purpose of stay in Iceland
meet the following basic requirements

Applicants must demonstrate that they have secure means of support for the period they wish to reside in Iceland. To have secure means of support means that you are able to financially support yourself independently.

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.

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.

The following is not considered secure means of support

Payments in the form of social assistance, by the state or municipality (other than housing compensation (húsnæðisbætur)). If an applicant has received such compensation and is unable to demonstrate satisfactory support through other means, a residence permit will be rejected.
Alimony payments and child allowance, since their purpose is to support a child.
Support by a third party, in other instances than stated above.
Assets other than bank-account balances (for example real estate) and dividend from companies, interest or other payments that cannot be reliably expected to be available for payment.
Cash is not considered as satisfactory confirmation of support.

An insurance certificate must be submitted, confirming that the applicant has taken out (purchased) a health insurance

that is valid in Iceland,
for at least six months from the date of the registration of the applicant's legal domicile in Iceland,
with a minimum coverage of ISK 2,000,000.

Six months after registering your legal domicile with Registers Iceland you will be automatically covered by the national health insurance.

When applying for a residence permit no matters may exist that could cause the applicant being denied entry or stay in Iceland.

This means that you may not have

during the past five years, served a prison sentence abroad or been sentenced there to punishment for conduct which under Icelandic law would be subject to imprisonment of longer than three months
been sentenced for a punishable offence in Iceland, or to be subject to security measures for conduct liable to imprisonment, for longer than three months or have been sentenced to imprisonment more than once in the past three years

Special requirements for applicants for student permits

You must be 18 or older.

A residence permit for general students applies to individuals who intend to engage in undergraduate, graduate and post graduate (doctorate) programmes at an Icelandic university.

The student must be enrolled in full-time studies in Iceland, confirmed by a certificate or letter from the relevant educational institution. Full-time studies is defined as 30 ECTS per semester. An exemption from the condition of full-time studies may be granted, for example due to the organization of the study program, based on a request from the school concerned.

A post graduate (doctorate) student who studies at a foreign university that is in collaboration with an Icelandic university may be granted a student residence permit.

A post graduate (doctorate) student who receives a salary from the university may also apply for a residence and work permit on the basis of a collaboration agreement. Note that a residence permit on grounds of a collaboration agreement cannot be the grounds for permanent residence permit.