Iceland Iceland — entry & visa requirements

Visa-free for many nationalities, visa required for others

Max stay: 90 days in any 180-day period (authority block notes 15–90 days depending on passport)

Short answer

Iceland follows the Schengen rules: many nationalities can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, while others must obtain a short-stay visa before travelling. Applications are lodged with an Icelandic embassy or an application centre abroad, usually in person, and a complete file takes roughly two weeks. The archived official sources quote a visa fee of EUR 90 (EUR 45 for children aged six to twelve); the authority block gives EUR 300 as its headline official fee, which in the archived official sources appears as the appeal fee.

Max stay

90 days in any 180-day period (authority: 15–90 days depending on passport)[5]

Visa application fee

EUR 90; EUR 45 for children aged 6–12[9]

Processing time

about two weeks for a complete application[9]

Where to apply

Icelandic embassy or an application centre abroad[9]

Sparse archive — being expandedMuch of the archived material concerns residence permits, protection cases and work rather than visits, and the authority block's stay and fee figures (15–90 days depending on passport; EUR 300 headline fee) differ from the 90-days-in-180 and EUR 90 short-stay visa fee stated in the sources.

Who can enter Iceland visa-free

Iceland applies the Schengen entry rules, so whether you need a visa depends on your nationality. EEA/EFTA nationals may visit with a valid travel document or an accepted identity card, and travellers who already hold a residence permit from another EEA/EFTA country do not need an Icelandic visa. Our official archive does not reproduce the full list of visa-exempt nationalities.

Travellers who need a visa must hold a valid one unless they are exempt or hold a residence permit issued by another EEA/EFTA country.[5]
EEA/EFTA citizens visiting Iceland must carry a valid travel document or identity card accepted at the border, valid beyond their stay.[5]
Citizens of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden are exempt from the travel-document requirement between Iceland and those countries, but airlines may still require documents.[5]

Not included in this section: Residence-permit revocation deadlines, collective-protection and Ukraine-related rules, and work or au pair material were left out because they concern residents and workers, not visitors.

How long you can stay

Non-EEA/EFTA visitors who meet the entry conditions may stay in the Schengen area, including Iceland, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Certain nationalities may stay up to three months longer than that under bilateral agreements. Extensions are possible only within these limits and only for short-validity visas.

Non-EEA/EFTA citizens must meet the stated conditions to stay in the Schengen area, including Iceland, for up to 90 days in a 180-day period.[5]
Under bilateral agreements, citizens of some countries may stay in Iceland up to three months beyond the 90 days allowed in the Schengen area.[5]
A visa whose period of validity is shorter than 90 days may be extended, but a visa issued for 90 days cannot be extended.[11]
Generally a visa may not be extended so that the stay exceeds 90 days in a 180-day period.[11]
To obtain an extension, the holder must show serious personal reasons that justify extending the validity or authorised stay.[11]

Not included in this section: The 15-day deadline attached to revoked residence permits in the archived 'visa-exempt by stay length' table was excluded because it concerns permit holders rather than visitors.

How to apply for a visa

Visa procedures vary by embassy or application centre, so check the website of the mission handling your case before you start. Applications are normally handed in in person, and a complete file is usually decided in about two weeks. Embassies decide most visas themselves, but some cases are forwarded to the Directorate of Immigration.

Application procedures differ depending on where you apply, so examine the website of the relevant embassy or application centre for guidance.[9]
It is generally necessary to hand in a visa application in person.[9]
If all required documentation is submitted and nothing further is needed, processing a visa takes approximately two weeks.[9]
Many embassies use service providers, so documents may be handed in at an application centre even though the embassy evaluates the case and issues the visa.[9]
All visa inquiries must be directed to the appropriate embassy or consulate.[9]

Not included in this section: Citizenship application fees, residence-permit revocation rules and the waiting-time note about not contacting the Directorate were excluded or moved to other tabs.

Documents and requirements

Applicants must meet the basic requirements; if they do not — for example the requirement of secure means of support — the application is refused unless an exemption is authorised under the Foreign Nationals Act, and exemptions are assessed case by case. our archive cover only part of the document list.

If you do not meet the basic requirements, such as secure means of support, your application is refused unless the Foreign Nationals Act allows an exemption.[3]
Exemptions from permit requirements are evaluated individually in every case.[3]
You must have a valid visa unless you are exempt from the visa requirement or hold a residence permit issued by another EEA/EFTA country.[5]
EEA/EFTA visitors must carry travel documents or accepted identity cards that remain valid beyond their stay in Iceland.[5]
The sources raise the question of how long a passport must be valid for a tourist visit to Iceland, but no answer is archived.[5]

Not included in this section: Ukraine departure evidence, collective-protection conditions, passport-safekeeping rules for protection applicants and alien's passport fees were left out because they do not apply to ordinary visitors.

Fees

Fees depend on the application type. The archived official sources give a short-stay visa fee of EUR 90 for adults and EUR 45 for children aged six to twelve, and a EUR 300 appeal fee; the authority block quotes EUR 300 as its most frequently cited official fee. Receipts must accompany paper applications and must identify both payer and applicant.

The fee for a visa application is EUR 90, and EUR 45 for children aged six to twelve.[9]
The authority block quotes EUR 300 as the most frequently cited official fee; in the archived official sources that figure appears as the appeal fee payable by bank transfer.[7]
A receipt of payment must accompany a paper application or it will be returned by regular mail; the same applies to applications not paid in full.[6]
The receipt should show the payer's name and date of birth or ID number, the recipient, the applicant's name and date of birth, the amount and the payment date.[6]
Your bank may charge commission on international transfers and may deduct it from the amount sent if it is not paid separately.[6]

Not included in this section: Work-permit (80,000 ISK), working-holiday (40,000 ISK), citizenship and alien's passport fees were excluded because they are not visitor visa fees.

Entry visas and the border

If you need a visa to enter Iceland, the Directorate of Immigration sends a request for an entry visa (D-visa) to the relevant embassy. Icelandic missions in London, New Delhi, Beijing and Washington D.C. are named, together with Danish or Norwegian embassies issuing entry visas on Iceland's behalf, often through service-provider offices.

For applicants who need a visa, the Directorate of Immigration sends an entry visa (D-visa) request to the appropriate embassy, including the Icelandic embassies in London, New Delhi, Beijing or Washington D.C.[12]
Danish or Norwegian embassies may issue entry visas on Iceland's behalf.[12]
If your country of residence is not on the published list, the Directorate and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will look for a way to issue your entry visa.[12]
Several listed locations are handled through VFS Global offices working with Danish or Icelandic embassies in the region.[12]

Not included in this section: The unparsed embassy-and-city fragments were summarised as general guidance instead of being reproduced as a misleading list.

Notices and waiting times

The archived notices deal mainly with residence permits and protection cases rather than short visits, so they are of limited use to tourists. The only general guidance archived concerns waiting times and contact with the Directorate of Immigration.

If an application has not been processed within the usual time frame, there is no need to contact the Directorate of Immigration.[2]
The Directorate contacts the applicant or their representative if an application is incomplete or if further documentation is needed.[2]
The sources contain no notices specific to short-stay visitors; the deadlines listed there relate to residence permits.[2]

Not included in this section: Residence-permit application deadlines in May 2026, refugee permit renewals, student permit scheduling and appeal-suspension rules were excluded as they do not concern visitors.

Legal basis and who decides

Immigration to Iceland is handled by the Directorate of Immigration, a government agency operating under the Ministry of Justice. Its work is governed by the Foreign Nationals Act, the Icelandic Nationality Act and the Regulation on Foreigners, and the legislation on foreign nationals sets out the right to enter and reside in Iceland.

The Directorate of Immigration operates under the Ministry of Justice in accordance with the Foreign Nationals Act, the Icelandic Nationality Act and the Regulation on Foreigners.[15]
The legislation on foreign nationals governs the right to enter and reside in Iceland, and anyone who is not an Icelandic citizen is treated as a foreigner.[15]

Not included in this section: The protection-related articles of the Foreign Nationals Act and the Ukraine collective-protection conditions were left out because they are a separate route from visitor entry.

Official downloads

17 documents · grouped by how they are used1 file as ZIP ≈837 KB

The attachments are mainly embassy-specific checklists and forms used for short-stay visa applications, plus one checklist for visa extensions. The remaining files belong to residence, au pair and family permit processes, or are statistical background, and are not needed for a visit.

PDF

T lfr i rsins 2018 EN

Application form A-101 for a work permit only; not required for a visit.

BackgroundVisa information8 pp837 KBenT__lfr____i___rsins_2018_EN.pdf

[33]

Official sources

36 citations · 9 unique pages · 1 official domains

Coverage is uneven: the sources explain Schengen stay limits, application routes, fees and embassy handling of entry visas, but they do not list the visa-exempt nationalities in full and say nothing about passport validity rules for tourists.

Numbers match the markers in the text above; click a marker to jump here. Groups are collapsed by domain - click a heading to expand. A source cited more than once keeps a single number.

island.is9 URLs · cited 36 times

2island.is/en/o/directorate-of-immigration/waiting-timecited 3×
3island.is/en/refusal-of-residence-permitcited 2×
5island.is/en/entry-requirements-to-icelandcited 9×
6island.is/en/o/directorate-of-immigration/feescited 3×
7island.is/en/visa-refusal-appeal-procedures
9island.is/en/get-a-visacited 9×
11island.is/en/apply-for-visa-extensioncited 3×
12island.is/en/embassies-issuing-entry-visascited 4×
15island.is/en/o/directorate-of-immigration/about-directoratecited 2×

Popularity rank #48 (score 18.01). This page was written by an AI from the official material listed above and adds no facts from outside it; visa rules change, so always confirm on the official portal before you apply.