There Is No Investor Permit and No Self-Employment Permit: Working for Yourself in Iceland Is Prohibited Unless You Are Exempt From Needing a Work Permit at All
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of France on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
195 exceptions recorded across 74 countries · none match France to Iceland · Residency through investment
Iceland has no residence permit that money buys and no permit for running your own business. The Foreign Nationals' Right to Work Act 97/2002 lists the temporary work permits that exist - expert knowledge, shortage of staff, athletes, special reasons, family reunification, students, specialists under a service or cooperation contract, a new employer, and agreements with other states - and every one of them presupposes an employer and a signed employment contract. Section 6(3) then says in terms that a foreigner may not work in Iceland as a self-employed person unless he is exempt from the work-permit requirement under that Act, and section 50(2) of the Aliens Act repeats it. The exemptions in section 22 are by status, not by capital: nationals of the EEA states, of the EFTA states and of the Faroe Islands under the agreement between Iceland, Denmark and the Faroese Home Rule; people who were Icelandic citizens from birth and lost it; and the foreign spouses and cohabiting partners of Icelandic citizens holding a marriage-based residence permit, among others. So the only way to run a business in Iceland as a foreigner is to be inside one of those categories, and for most of the world that means the EEA. No amount of investment changes the answer, because no provision mentions an amount.
At a glance
- Investor residence permit
- None in chapters VI to X of the Aliens Act, and no investment amount anywhere in either statute
The grounds of residence are sections 61 to 79. The temporary work permits are sections 8 to 18 of the Foreign Nationals' Right to Work Act. Neither list contains an investment or business category.
- Self-employment
- Prohibited unless you are exempt from the work-permit requirement
Section 6(3) of the Foreign Nationals' Right to Work Act, and section 50(2) of the Aliens Act in the same words.
- Who may be self-employed
- Nationals of the EEA states, the EFTA states and the Faroe Islands, and the other statuses listed in section 22
Section 22(a) of the Foreign Nationals' Right to Work Act names the EEA Agreement, the EFTA Convention and the agreement between the Government of Iceland and the Government of Denmark and the Home Rule of the Faroe Islands.
- Agency work
- No work permit may be granted for work at a temporary-work agency
Section 7(2) of the Foreign Nationals' Right to Work Act. It is the only outright exclusion of a sector in the Act.
Requirements
- Exemption from the work-permit requirement under section 22 of the Foreign Nationals' Right to Work Act, which is the only route to self-employment
- In practice, nationality of an EEA state, an EFTA state or the Faroe Islands, or one of the other listed statuses
- For an EEA or EFTA national: the ordinary conditions of chapter XI of the Aliens Act, which treat self-employment and employment alike
In detail
The Faroe Islands are inside the Icelandic labour market
Section 22(a) names three instruments, and the third is not the EEA Agreement or the EFTA Convention. It is the agreement between the Government of Iceland and the Government of Denmark together with the Home Rule of the Faroe Islands - the free-trade agreement the two signed in 2006. The Faroes are in neither the Union nor the EEA, and Iceland reaches them separately, in the same subsection that carries free movement. The same islands appear again in section 7(1)(a), where the labour-market test asks whether staff can be found in Iceland, the EEA, the EFTA states or the Faroe Islands. No other country in this corpus treats the Faroes as part of its own labour market by statute.
Against the other Nordic countries
Denmark's only business route is a panel reading your plan inside a quota of seventy-five a year, with no investment threshold. Sweden has no investor permit and asks only that you can run the business and support yourself. Finland splits the decision between a regional agency that judges the business and the immigration service that grants the permit, again with no amount. Iceland is the fourth variant and the strictest: there is no route at all. The question a reader asks - how much do I need to invest - has an answer in none of the four, but in Iceland it has no route to attach to either.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of France
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«Útlendingi er óheimilt að starfa hér á landi sem sjálfstætt starfandi einstaklingur nema hann sé undanþeginn kröfu um atvinnuleyfi samkvæmt lögum þessum.»Our translation - not official
A foreigner may not work in this country as a self-employed person unless he is exempt from the work-permit requirement under this Act.
About this source
The consolidated collection of Icelandic Acts, published under section 9 of the Act on Stjornartidindi and the Legal Gazette 15/2005. The minister is responsible for publishing it and a three-member editorial board appointed for five years at a time oversees it, one member nominated by the Speaker of Althingi; it is hosted on the parliament's own site. Each edition carries a number and a date - the one read here is Utgafa 158a, Islensk log 1. oktober 2026 - and an Act is served at a pinned address of the form https://www.althingi.is/lagas/<edition>/<year><number>.html, with /lagas/nuna/ as an always-latest alias. Every Act's header prints the date it came into force and a Breytt med line naming every amending Act with its own commencement. Amending Acts are worked into the parent Act, new Acts are added and repealed Acts are removed at each update. Passages inserted or substituted by a later Act are printed inside square brackets with a numbered footnote naming the amending Act and section, and repealed provisions are printed as an ellipsis with the same kind of footnote, so the page shows what has gone as well as what is there. Treaties given the force of law are printed in full as schedules, which is how the EEA Agreement and the Nordic Convention on Social Security are readable in Icelandic inside the statute book. The parliament separately serves each Act as passed at https://www.althingi.is/altext/stjt/<year>.<number>.html.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The lagasafn is a statutory consolidation and it is still subordinate to the gazette: section 9(1) of Act 15/2005 says that where the lagasafn text and the text published in Division A of Stjornartidindi diverge, the Stjornartidindi text governs. It must not be cited as the authentic text. It is a snapshot and not a running text - the Um lagasafn page says it is updated as a rule three times a year, at the start of the year, in spring and in autumn, with the edition numbered by legislative session and lettered a, b or c - so an Act passed since the edition date is simply not in it, and the site keeps a separate Nylega samthykkt log page for those. The square-bracket convention means a figure substituted by a later Act is printed inside brackets with a footnote marker beside it, so the number is in the collection but is not quotable as a clean sentence; the amending Act's own text has to be used instead. The collection publishes Acts only: regulations are at island.is/reglugerdir and are a different publisher. It says nothing about how an agency applies an Act - no subsistence amount, no fee, no processing time and no country list is in it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Eftirtaldir eru undanþegnir kröfu um atvinnuleyfi:»Our translation - not official
The following are exempt from the work-permit requirement:
The list that follows is by status. No item in it turns on capital, investment or business activity.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The consolidated collection of Icelandic Acts, published under section 9 of the Act on Stjornartidindi and the Legal Gazette 15/2005. The minister is responsible for publishing it and a three-member editorial board appointed for five years at a time oversees it, one member nominated by the Speaker of Althingi; it is hosted on the parliament's own site. Each edition carries a number and a date - the one read here is Utgafa 158a, Islensk log 1. oktober 2026 - and an Act is served at a pinned address of the form https://www.althingi.is/lagas/<edition>/<year><number>.html, with /lagas/nuna/ as an always-latest alias. Every Act's header prints the date it came into force and a Breytt med line naming every amending Act with its own commencement. Amending Acts are worked into the parent Act, new Acts are added and repealed Acts are removed at each update. Passages inserted or substituted by a later Act are printed inside square brackets with a numbered footnote naming the amending Act and section, and repealed provisions are printed as an ellipsis with the same kind of footnote, so the page shows what has gone as well as what is there. Treaties given the force of law are printed in full as schedules, which is how the EEA Agreement and the Nordic Convention on Social Security are readable in Icelandic inside the statute book. The parliament separately serves each Act as passed at https://www.althingi.is/altext/stjt/<year>.<number>.html.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The lagasafn is a statutory consolidation and it is still subordinate to the gazette: section 9(1) of Act 15/2005 says that where the lagasafn text and the text published in Division A of Stjornartidindi diverge, the Stjornartidindi text governs. It must not be cited as the authentic text. It is a snapshot and not a running text - the Um lagasafn page says it is updated as a rule three times a year, at the start of the year, in spring and in autumn, with the edition numbered by legislative session and lettered a, b or c - so an Act passed since the edition date is simply not in it, and the site keeps a separate Nylega samthykkt log page for those. The square-bracket convention means a figure substituted by a later Act is printed inside brackets with a footnote marker beside it, so the number is in the collection but is not quotable as a clean sentence; the amending Act's own text has to be used instead. The collection publishes Acts only: regulations are at island.is/reglugerdir and are a different publisher. It says nothing about how an agency applies an Act - no subsistence amount, no fee, no processing time and no country list is in it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Ríkisborgarar í aðildarríkjum samningsins um Evrópska efnahagssvæðið, stofnsamnings Fríverslunarsamtaka Evrópu og samnings milli ríkisstjórnar Íslands annars vegar og ríkisstjórnar Danmerkur og heimastjórnar Færeyja hins vegar og aðrir útlendingar sem falla undir reglur framangreindra samninga, með þeim takmörkunum sem þar greinir og nánar skal kveðið á um í reglugerð.»Our translation - not official
Nationals of the states party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, to the Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association and to the agreement between the Government of Iceland of the one part and the Government of Denmark and the Home Rule of the Faroe Islands of the other part, and other foreigners covered by the rules of those agreements, with the limitations stated there and as further provided by regulation.
About this source
The consolidated collection of Icelandic Acts, published under section 9 of the Act on Stjornartidindi and the Legal Gazette 15/2005. The minister is responsible for publishing it and a three-member editorial board appointed for five years at a time oversees it, one member nominated by the Speaker of Althingi; it is hosted on the parliament's own site. Each edition carries a number and a date - the one read here is Utgafa 158a, Islensk log 1. oktober 2026 - and an Act is served at a pinned address of the form https://www.althingi.is/lagas/<edition>/<year><number>.html, with /lagas/nuna/ as an always-latest alias. Every Act's header prints the date it came into force and a Breytt med line naming every amending Act with its own commencement. Amending Acts are worked into the parent Act, new Acts are added and repealed Acts are removed at each update. Passages inserted or substituted by a later Act are printed inside square brackets with a numbered footnote naming the amending Act and section, and repealed provisions are printed as an ellipsis with the same kind of footnote, so the page shows what has gone as well as what is there. Treaties given the force of law are printed in full as schedules, which is how the EEA Agreement and the Nordic Convention on Social Security are readable in Icelandic inside the statute book. The parliament separately serves each Act as passed at https://www.althingi.is/altext/stjt/<year>.<number>.html.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The lagasafn is a statutory consolidation and it is still subordinate to the gazette: section 9(1) of Act 15/2005 says that where the lagasafn text and the text published in Division A of Stjornartidindi diverge, the Stjornartidindi text governs. It must not be cited as the authentic text. It is a snapshot and not a running text - the Um lagasafn page says it is updated as a rule three times a year, at the start of the year, in spring and in autumn, with the edition numbered by legislative session and lettered a, b or c - so an Act passed since the edition date is simply not in it, and the site keeps a separate Nylega samthykkt log page for those. The square-bracket convention means a figure substituted by a later Act is printed inside brackets with a footnote marker beside it, so the number is in the collection but is not quotable as a clean sentence; the amending Act's own text has to be used instead. The collection publishes Acts only: regulations are at island.is/reglugerdir and are a different publisher. It says nothing about how an agency applies an Act - no subsistence amount, no fee, no processing time and no country list is in it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Útlendingi er óheimilt að starfa hér á landi sem sjálfstætt starfandi einstaklingur nema viðkomandi sé undanþeginn kröfu um atvinnuleyfi samkvæmt lögum um atvinnuréttindi útlendinga.»Our translation - not official
A foreigner may not work in this country as a self-employed person unless he is exempt from the work-permit requirement under the Act on the right of foreign nationals to work.
About this source
The consolidated collection of Icelandic Acts, published under section 9 of the Act on Stjornartidindi and the Legal Gazette 15/2005. The minister is responsible for publishing it and a three-member editorial board appointed for five years at a time oversees it, one member nominated by the Speaker of Althingi; it is hosted on the parliament's own site. Each edition carries a number and a date - the one read here is Utgafa 158a, Islensk log 1. oktober 2026 - and an Act is served at a pinned address of the form https://www.althingi.is/lagas/<edition>/<year><number>.html, with /lagas/nuna/ as an always-latest alias. Every Act's header prints the date it came into force and a Breytt med line naming every amending Act with its own commencement. Amending Acts are worked into the parent Act, new Acts are added and repealed Acts are removed at each update. Passages inserted or substituted by a later Act are printed inside square brackets with a numbered footnote naming the amending Act and section, and repealed provisions are printed as an ellipsis with the same kind of footnote, so the page shows what has gone as well as what is there. Treaties given the force of law are printed in full as schedules, which is how the EEA Agreement and the Nordic Convention on Social Security are readable in Icelandic inside the statute book. The parliament separately serves each Act as passed at https://www.althingi.is/altext/stjt/<year>.<number>.html.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The lagasafn is a statutory consolidation and it is still subordinate to the gazette: section 9(1) of Act 15/2005 says that where the lagasafn text and the text published in Division A of Stjornartidindi diverge, the Stjornartidindi text governs. It must not be cited as the authentic text. It is a snapshot and not a running text - the Um lagasafn page says it is updated as a rule three times a year, at the start of the year, in spring and in autumn, with the edition numbered by legislative session and lettered a, b or c - so an Act passed since the edition date is simply not in it, and the site keeps a separate Nylega samthykkt log page for those. The square-bracket convention means a figure substituted by a later Act is printed inside brackets with a footnote marker beside it, so the number is in the collection but is not quotable as a clean sentence; the amending Act's own text has to be used instead. The collection publishes Acts only: regulations are at island.is/reglugerdir and are a different publisher. It says nothing about how an agency applies an Act - no subsistence amount, no fee, no processing time and no country list is in it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
This is an absence recorded from two closed lists read in full: the grounds of residence in chapters VI to X of the Aliens Act, and the temporary work permits in sections 8 to 18 of the Foreign Nationals' Right to Work Act. The stored reading of the Aliens Act carries sections 1 to 125 with no gaps.
The full text of section 22 beyond points (a) to (c) was not read line by line. What is claimed here is that no item in it turns on capital or business activity, which rests on reading the section's own heading and its opening list.
Nothing published by Utlendingastofnun, Invest in Iceland or any ministry was read. If an administrative practice exists for business founders it is not visible from the statutes.
Company law is a separate question from immigration law. Nothing here says whether a foreigner may own an Icelandic company; it says whether a foreigner may work in one as a self-employed person.
- consolidatesLog um atvinnurettindi utlendinga, 2002 nr. 97 10. mai
Lagasafn, Althingi · consolidated to 2026-10-01
About this source
The consolidated collection of Icelandic Acts, published under section 9 of the Act on Stjornartidindi and the Legal Gazette 15/2005. The minister is responsible for publishing it and a three-member editorial board appointed for five years at a time oversees it, one member nominated by the Speaker of Althingi; it is hosted on the parliament's own site. Each edition carries a number and a date - the one read here is Utgafa 158a, Islensk log 1. oktober 2026 - and an Act is served at a pinned address of the form https://www.althingi.is/lagas/<edition>/<year><number>.html, with /lagas/nuna/ as an always-latest alias. Every Act's header prints the date it came into force and a Breytt med line naming every amending Act with its own commencement. Amending Acts are worked into the parent Act, new Acts are added and repealed Acts are removed at each update. Passages inserted or substituted by a later Act are printed inside square brackets with a numbered footnote naming the amending Act and section, and repealed provisions are printed as an ellipsis with the same kind of footnote, so the page shows what has gone as well as what is there. Treaties given the force of law are printed in full as schedules, which is how the EEA Agreement and the Nordic Convention on Social Security are readable in Icelandic inside the statute book. The parliament separately serves each Act as passed at https://www.althingi.is/altext/stjt/<year>.<number>.html.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The lagasafn is a statutory consolidation and it is still subordinate to the gazette: section 9(1) of Act 15/2005 says that where the lagasafn text and the text published in Division A of Stjornartidindi diverge, the Stjornartidindi text governs. It must not be cited as the authentic text. It is a snapshot and not a running text - the Um lagasafn page says it is updated as a rule three times a year, at the start of the year, in spring and in autumn, with the edition numbered by legislative session and lettered a, b or c - so an Act passed since the edition date is simply not in it, and the site keeps a separate Nylega samthykkt log page for those. The square-bracket convention means a figure substituted by a later Act is printed inside brackets with a footnote marker beside it, so the number is in the collection but is not quotable as a clean sentence; the amending Act's own text has to be used instead. The collection publishes Acts only: regulations are at island.is/reglugerdir and are a different publisher. It says nothing about how an agency applies an Act - no subsistence amount, no fee, no processing time and no country list is in it.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source