Visas in Reykjavík

Good to Know

• Most nomads from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, NZ, Japan, and similar visa-exempt countries can simply show up with a valid passport — no pre-approval currently needed, but that changes once ETIAS launches (expected Q4 2026).
• Your 90 days in Iceland are not separate from the rest of Europe — any days spent in France, Germany, or other Schengen countries in the same 180-day window count against the same 90-day total.
• If you're doing an Icelandair stopover en route to/from North America, those stopover days still count toward your 90-day Schengen allowance.
• There's no visa-on-arrival option and no general tourist eVisa — if your nationality isn't visa-exempt, you must get a Schengen visa before you fly.
• Wanting to stay longer than 90 days as a remote worker requires a residence permit process through the Directorate of Immigration — you cannot just extend a tourist stay.
• The income bar here is unusually high — roughly ISK 1,000,000/month for a single applicant, higher than almost any other European digital nomad visa, so this route mainly suits senior/high-earning remote professionals.
• This visa is non-renewable: once your 90–180 days are up, you must leave and can't reapply for another Icelandic long-term visa for 12 months, so it works best as a defined-length stay rather than an open-ended base.
• Because visa holders typically stay under 183 days, they usually avoid becoming Icelandic tax residents and aren't taxed locally on their foreign remote income — but they also don't get a kennitala (ID number), which makes everyday things like opening a local bank account harder.
• The whole application is paper-based (mailed or hand-delivered to the Directorate of Immigration in Kópavogur) — there's no online submission portal, so budget extra time for postage and processing.
• If you're an EU/EEA/EFTA citizen, you don't need this visa at all — you can already live and work in Iceland freely under free-movement rights.