A permanent residence permit is applied for digitally online. The processing fee must be paid in the last step of the online procedure for the application to be submitted.
You must have an electronic certificate to fill out your application, see electronic certificate registration sites.
The application does not need to be completed in one session; fill-in can be paused and continued when convenient within the next 60 days.
Before applying
It is important that you familiarize yourself with
Please note that family members of EEA/EFTA nationals acquire the right to permanent residence in Iceland without applying for a permanent residence permit.
If you have already been granted a permanent residence permit, you do not have to apply again when your residence card expires, see rights and obligations.
Application deadline
You must apply for a permanent residence permit before your current residence permit expires.
You are not entitled to a permanent residence permit if you apply without having a valid residence permit. Such an application will be rejected. At that point, you can submit a new application for a first residence permit, but you might not be allowed to stay in the country when applying and while it is being processed.
Waiting time
It takes much longer to process an application for a permanent residence permit than to renew a residence permit. Information on processing time and what applications are being processed at the moment is available on our website on waiting time.
It is not possible to say with certainty when an application for a permanent residence permit will be processed or whether the permit will be granted or refused. It is in the best interest of applicants to have a valid residence permit until an application for a permanent residence permit has been processed, even if this means that they need to apply for a residence permit renewal at the same time or after applying for a permanent residence permit.
Processing fee
The fee for an application is 22.000 ISK
Payment for the application must be made in the last step of the online application procedure in order to submit the application. Do not pay for an online application with a bank transfer.
Laws and regulations
Permanent residence permit is granted on the basis of Article 58 of the Foreign Nationals Act.
Regulation on Foreign Nationals, No. 540/2017 (in Icelandic).
Service provider
Directorate of Immigration