Resident and work permits

Rules regarding rights to residency and work in Iceland must be taken into consideration before a worker is posted to Iceland. The right to a reside and work in Iceland depends on the worker’s citizenship. 

Workers who are citizens of an EEA state, an EFTA state or the Faroe Islands, are free to live and work in Iceland.  Click here for a list of these states.  However, if the worker is a citizen of a state outside of the European Economic Area, of an EFTA-state or the Faeroe Islands,other regulations apply. The general rule is that third-country nationals are required to hold residence and work permits to be able to work in Iceland.

Of this resident and work permit requirement general rule is one exemption, which can be called the 90-day exemption. According to the Icelandic law, a citizen outside of the EEA, an EFTA-state or the Faeroe Islands, is allowed to reside and work in Iceland for up to 90 days of each calendar year, providing that following criteria are met:

• The posted worker is in fact an employee of a service provider from the EEA or an EFTA-state,
• And the posted worker holds a valid work permit in the state that he is posted from.

To be able to determine if the 90-day exemption applies to the third-national employee, it is necessary to contact the Directorate of Labour before deployment and submit a confirmation from the relevant authorities of the work permit and its validity.

If the requirements of the 90 day exemption are not fulfilled or if the working days exceed 90 days for one calendar year, it is necessary to apply for both residence and work permits. Residence permits are issued by the Directorate of Immigration, visit their web-site here. Work permits are issued by The Directorate of Labour, click here for further information.