Iceland Took Visas Out of the Aliens Act in May 2026 and Gave Them Their Own Statute, Which Implements the Visa Code and Not the Visa List
Iceland is not in the European Union, so Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 does not reach it as Union law. It reaches it as a development of the Schengen acquis under the 1999 association agreement between the Council of the European Union and Iceland and Norway, which recital 35 of the Regulation says in terms. On 12 May 2026 a new Act, logum vegabrefsaritanir nr. 37/2026, took the visa provisions out of the Aliens Act and put them in a statute of their own under the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Article 4 of that Act states the rule in eleven words - a foreigner needs a visa to come to the country, subject to article 8 - and article 8 exempts Nordic citizens, nationals of the other Schengen states, holders of a residence permit issued by a Schengen state, and family members of EEA, EFTA and Icelandic nationals who hold a valid residence card. The list of nationalities is in neither article: article 21 says the Act implements Regulation (EC) 810/2009 and Regulation (EC) 767/2008 and names no visa-list instrument at all, and article 8(4) leaves further exemptions to a ministerial regulation. For the length of a free stay the Aliens Act and the Visa Act disagree in form: the Visa Act defines a visa as up to 90 days in any 180-day period from first entry to the Schengen area, while section 49 of the Aliens Act says simply that other foreigners may not stay longer than 90 days from arrival, with time in any other Schengen state counted as time here.
At a glance
- Free stay without a visa
- 90 days from arrival, with time in any other Schengen state counted as time in Iceland
Section 49(1) of the Aliens Act. It is written as 90 days from entry rather than as 90 days in any 180-day period; the rolling window appears in Icelandic law in the definition of a visa in article 3(13) of the Visa Act.
- What a visa is, in Icelandic law
- Permission for transit or an intended stay in the Schengen states for up to 90 days in any 180-day period from the first day of entry
Article 3(13) of logum vegabrefsaritanir nr. 37/2026.
- Nordic citizens
- Exempt from the visa requirement, and may stay without a residence permit
Article 8(1) of the Visa Act and section 49(2) of the Aliens Act. Neither provision names the four countries or attaches a condition to the right.
- Union instruments the Visa Act says it implements
- Regulation (EC) 810/2009 and Regulation (EC) 767/2008, and no others
Article 21. Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, which carries the two annexes deciding who needs a visa, is not among them.
- Passport validity beyond the visa
- At least 90 days
Article 9(1)(a) of the Visa Act. Article 9(1)(b) separately requires authorisation to travel back valid at least one month beyond the visa.
- Deadline to appeal a refusal
- 30 days from the date of the decision, to the uskurdarnefnd aritanamala, with a fee
Article 17 of the Visa Act. The appeal must be written and reasoned and must be in Icelandic, and the case is struck out without a decision on the merits if the fee is not paid in time.
- How the Regulation reaches Iceland
- As a development of the Schengen acquis under the 1999 agreement associating Iceland and Norway with it, not as Union law
Recital 35 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806. Iceland is not a Member State and the Regulation's operative articles speak of Member States.
Requirements
- A travel document recognised for entry to Iceland and the other Schengen states, valid at least 90 days beyond the visa
- A visa, unless article 8 of the Visa Act or a regulation made under it exempts you
- Authorisation to travel back to your home country or another state, valid at least a month beyond the visa
- Sufficient means for the stay and for the journey back, and a stated purpose of the stay
- Valid medical-cost and repatriation insurance
- No alert in the Schengen Information System for the purpose of refusing entry, and no ground of removal under sections 98, 99 or 106 of the Aliens Act
In detail
The statute that carries the rule is five months old
Until May 2026 visas were sections 19 to 22 of the Aliens Act. Act 37/2026 repealed section 20 outright, and the lagasafn now prints sections 19, 20 and 22 as an ellipsis with a footnote naming the Act that emptied them. What replaced them is a free-standing statute of 23 articles with its own minister - the Minister for Foreign Affairs, where the Aliens Act belongs to the Minister of Justice - its own appeal body, and its own steering group reporting annually. Anything written about Icelandic visas before 12 May 2026 describes a statute that no longer exists.
The list of nationalities is in neither Act
Article 4 says a foreigner needs a visa. Article 8 lists four exemptions by status rather than by nationality: Nordic citizens and Schengen nationals, holders of a Schengen residence permit or provisional permit, and family members of EEA, EFTA and Icelandic nationals resident here who hold a residence card under section 90 of the Aliens Act. The fourth paragraph of article 8 then says the minister shall set further exemptions by regulation, and article 20(3) repeats that the regulation is to cover exemptions. So the two annexes that actually decide the question for most travellers are not in Icelandic primary legislation at all, and article 21 does not claim them: it names the Visa Code and the VIS Regulation and stops. The regulation made under article 8(4) was not read for this record.
Ninety days from arrival, not ninety in any one hundred and eighty
Section 49(1) of the Aliens Act counts from arrival. The 180-day window exists in Icelandic law, but in the Visa Act's definition of what a visa is, not in the Aliens Act's statement of how long you may stay without one. Sweden does something similar and writes three months into chapter 2 section 5 of its Aliens Act; Denmark writes the rolling window out in full in section 3(1); Finland writes neither and points at the Schengen Borders Code. Iceland is the fourth pattern: the figure is in both statutes and expressed differently in each.
Administrative law is switched off for a visa decision
Article 9(4) disapplies chapters IV to VII of the Administrative Procedure Act 37/1993 to proceedings and decisions under the Visa Act, and article 9(6) provides that a decision refusing, annulling or revoking a visa need not be signed in a personally identifiable way. What is left is the appeal in article 17: thirty days, in writing, reasoned, in Icelandic, with a fee paid at the same time, to a three-member board whose members must qualify for appointment as district judges. Article 17(1) also limits the board to the material that was before the original decision-maker, so new evidence cannot be put in on appeal.
Exceptions by origin
Three Months on an Identity Card, Six If You Are Looking for Work, and Nordic Time Is Not Counted Against You
Neither the Visa Act 37/2026 nor section 49 of the Aliens Act decides the position of an EEA or EFTA national. Chapter XI does. Section 83(1) lets anyone presenting a valid passport or identity document come without any special permission and stay up to three months from arrival, so long as the stay does not become an unreasonable burden on the social assistance system. Section 83(2) gives six months instead to someone seeking work, and to that person's family members. Section 83(3) then adds the sentence that belongs to Iceland alone: a stay in another Nordic country is not deducted from the period of stay - the opposite of what section 49(1) does to a third-country visitor, whose time anywhere in the Schengen area counts as time in Iceland. Separately, article 8(1) of the Visa Act exempts Nordic citizens and nationals of the other Schengen states from the visa requirement outright.
- A valid passport or national identity document
- That the stay does not become an unreasonable burden on the social assistance system
- For the six months: evidence that the stay is for the purpose of seeking work
What the law says
«Útlendingur þarf að hafa vegabréfsáritun til að mega koma til landsins, sbr. þó 8. gr.»Our translation - not official
A foreigner must hold a visa in order to be allowed to come to the country, subject however to article 8.
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
«Heimild gefin út af íslenskum stjórnvöldum, eða fyrir þeirra hönd, til gegnumferðar um eða fyrirhugaðrar dvalar á yfirráðasvæði Schengen-ríkjanna í allt að 90 daga eða skemur á 180 daga tímabili frá fyrsta komudegi til yfirráðasvæðis Schengen-ríkjanna.»Our translation - not official
A permission issued by Icelandic authorities, or on their behalf, for transit through or an intended stay in the territory of the Schengen states for up to 90 days or less in a 180-day period from the first day of entry into the territory of the Schengen states.
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
«Norrænir ríkisborgarar eru undanþegnir áritunarskyldu sem og ríkisborgarar annarra aðildarríkja Schengen-samstarfsins.»Our translation - not official
Nordic citizens are exempt from the visa requirement, as are citizens of the other states party to the Schengen cooperation.
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
«Lög þessi fela í sér innleiðingu á eftirfarandi reglugerðum Evrópusambandsins sem settar eru til innleiðingar þjóðréttarlegra skuldbindinga samkvæmt Schengen-samstarfinu:»Our translation - not official
This Act implements the following regulations of the European Union, made to implement obligations in international law under the Schengen cooperation:
The two listed are Regulation (EC) 810/2009 on the Community Code on Visas and Regulation (EC) 767/2008 on the Visa Information System. Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 is not listed.
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
«Útlendingi sem þarf vegabréfsáritun til landgöngu er ekki heimilt að dveljast hér á landi lengur en áritunin segir til um nema sérstakt leyfi komi til. Öðrum útlendingum er óheimilt án sérstaks leyfis að dveljast hér lengur en 90 daga frá komu til landsins. Dvöl í öðru ríki, sem tekur þátt í Schengen-samstarfinu, telst jafngilda dvöl hér á landi.»Our translation - not official
A foreigner who needs a visa to enter may not stay in this country longer than the visa provides for, unless a special permission is obtained. Other foreigners may not, without special permission, stay here longer than 90 days from arrival in the country. A stay in another state taking part in the Schengen cooperation counts as a stay in this country.
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
«Norrænum ríkisborgurum er heimilt að dveljast hér á landi án dvalarleyfis.»Our translation - not official
Nordic citizens are permitted to stay in this country without a residence permit.
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
«As regards Iceland and Norway, this Regulation constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Agreement concluded by the Council of the European Union and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the latters' association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis»The sentence continues by locating the Regulation in point B of Article 1 of Council Decision 1999/437/EC. Neither the agreement nor the Decision was read for this record.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«As the Agreement on the European Economic Area ( 4 ) exempts nationals of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway from the visa requirement, those countries should not be included in the list in Annex II.»This is the other direction of travel: why an Icelandic passport needs no visa for the Union, rather than why a third-country passport needs one for Iceland.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Nationals of third countries listed in Annex II shall be exempt from the requirement set out in Article 3(1) for stays of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period.»About this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
Neither Annex I nor Annex II of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 is reproduced here, and neither is in Icelandic law.
The ministerial regulation made under article 8(4) of the Visa Act, which carries the further exemptions from the visa requirement, was not located and not read. Article 22(2) keeps the old regulations made under the Aliens Act in force until new ones are issued, so what applies today may still be a regulation written for the repealed sections.
Nothing published by Utlendingastofnun or by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was read for this record. Everything here is from the two Acts and from the Union instrument.
The 1999 agreement associating Iceland and Norway with the Schengen acquis, and Council Decision 1999/437/EC, were not read. What this record says about how the Regulation reaches Iceland is the Regulation's own description of it.
- consolidatesLog um vegabrefsaritanir, 2026 nr. 37 4. 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
- consolidatesLog um utlendinga, 2016 nr. 80 16. juni
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
- consolidatesRegulation (EU) 2018/1806, as published in the Official Journal
EUR-Lex, Publications Office of the European Union
About this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source