Applicants for Icelandic citizenship can now register for an Icelandic test at mimir.is.
Next tests take place in:
Last day to register is 1 November.
The Icelandic government has approved the Refugee Committee's proposals for responding to the emergency in Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover.
Among the proposals is that the Icelandic government will assist Afghans who have the right to family reunification or who have already obtained a residence permit in Iceland to enter the country. This applies to both individuals who have family ties here as well as individuals who intend to start studies here.
In addition, the processing of applications for family reunification with Afghans, as defined in the Act on Foreign Nationals, will be given priority.
A residence permit based on family reunification can be granted to the closest relative of a person who resides in Iceland and has the right to family reunification.
A right to family reunification have:
The closest relative according to the Act on Foreign Nationals is
Special rules apply to unaccompanied children living in Iceland on a residence permit based on international protection. They alone have the right to family reunification with the following relatives:
As the above shows the right to family reunification is limited to the nuclear family. Other family members or relatives such as adult siblings, nieces, nephews, or parents under the age of 67 are not entitled to a residence permit based on family reunification.
The Directorate of Immigration asks those who wish to submit applications to familiarize themselves with who may be entitled to family reunification before applying.
Recent restrictions on the issuance of residence permit cards have now been lifted.
To obtain a residence permit card, the Directorate of Immigration must have a photo of the residence permit holder in its systems that was taken within the last six months.
You can book an appointment to have your photo taken at noona.is. It is necessary to provide an Icelandic telephone number together with your name and date of birth / ID number when booking.
When attending a photo shoot, it is important to present a passport. Please remember to tell staff to which address the card shall be sent to ensure that it arrives at the right place when ready.
Alþingi passed a law on the granting of Icelandic citizenship on June 13. The law does not take effect until the day after its publication in the Official Gazette.
The Directorate of Immigration has no information on when the law will be published, but previous laws on the granting of Icelandic citizenship were published four to six weeks after they were passed in parliament. It is therefore likely that the law will not take effect before mid-July.
Once the Act has entered into force, the Directorate will prepare a letter of confirmation for those applicants who were granted Icelandic citizenship and send them to Registers Iceland. Only when the Icelandic citizenship has been registered in the National Registry, which can take Registers Iceland a few days, can applicants apply for an Icelandic passport with an office of a district commissioner.
Alþingi sends a letter of refusal to those who were not granted Icelandic citizenship. The decision on granting was entirely in the hands of Alþingi therefore the Directorate of Immigration cannot answer why a particular applicant was not granted Icelandic citizenship.
Photos for residence cards can now be taken after being suspended yesterday due to technical reasons. You can make an appointment for having your picture taken here.
Work is underway to introduce new residence permit cards at the Directorate of Immigration planned for use next July. Until the new cards have been introduced the issuance of residence cards will remain limited.