Work Permit and Education permit?

Nope -- If you're already in Iceland, then there is no need for any additional student permit. Tuition is CHEAP at Uni. of Iceland -- it's only 45.000 ISK (you do the conversion; that's the only fee you have to pay for an entire year for most BA/BS, MA/MS, or PhD programs.

Best of luck with your move!

That price is incredible! Only strengthens my desire to move there! Thanks so much!

What?!  That's unbelievable!

I am getting concerned. I have been on www.utl.is alot trying to figure out what i need to do to get a residence permit. It seems like there is an overwhelming amount of things to fill out and hope get approved.

From what I gather, I will be given a C-D visa once my residence permit is approved. Is that right? Are there any people that moved to Iceland from the US not for school that can tell me what I need to do excactly now that I have gotten my passport? What forms I need and who I need to bring them to?

I am not moving there for any specific reason, I think that is the main problem. I dont have a specific skill that they might need. and i dont want to leave it up to chance that they might need me for a specific job. So what can I do to get all of my stuff in order. I need to feel comfortable about my trip before I get my plane ticket.

Please help!

If you want to be in Iceland legally for longer than the Schengen allowance, you need to have a reason so you can do the paperwork.

if not school and you're not coming to join the Icelandic national handball team, usually people get a visa for family reunification (but I've heard the paperwork is extremely difficult for this) or to work.  Work visas are separated between those for skilled workers or those who're doing jobs that Icelanders don't want to do.

Back in the day (pre-kreppa) I came on my Schengen allowance and managed to get a job during that time by networking. Then I had to leave the country because the rules require you to not be in Iceland when the application is processed, apply for a Schengen entry visa, and then once I was in Iceland I got the actual residence permit.

utl.is does state that there's this longer-than-90-days tourist visa but I don't know anyone on that type or how complicated it is to get.

The idea behind all these visas is pretty basic. They want to have control over who comes in and make sure that nobody gets in who'll end up draining the system of resources. So you've got to prove you've got funding to support yourself and have a reason to be in Iceland, as well as a place to stay.

With all that said, the only thing I did before I left the US was get my criminal recordt, and make a lot of copies of a passport photo since I needed it for quite a few applications.  Everything else I did in Iceland since it was easier that way. It's hard to find a place to live if you're not there, it's hard to find a job if you're not there.

Based on how uncertain you seem about how what visa will suit you best, why don't you just come for some of the 90 days you're allowed as an American in Schengen territory and see if you can figure out where you fit?  I would just advise against  overstaying that if you're serious about living in Iceland long term. I know a guy who's right now stuck in the UK because he stayed like a week longer than he was supposed to and was caught at a border. Not a good way to start your application process.

So,
You suggest that I don't really apply for anything until I get there? Sounds good accept I dont really have the money to leave and come back when they make me leave for processing. There has to be a way. I might just attend school there.

if you're that short on money, are you sure you'll manage the minimum fund requirements? Students also have to prove they've got the money to afford study (not just the registration fee, but enough for other living expenses)

info here:
http://www.utl.is/english/residence-permits/support/

I'm not saying to come without applying is the best way for you, but it is an option you have if you're totally not sure what else you can do and want to get your foot in the door. Iceland is a place that operates on personal connections in a way that I simply could not understand until I moved there. If you find one person who's willing to aid your campaign for something, everything becomes much easier.

Jobs, housing, and everything in between are definitely easier to acquire in Iceland if you know locals. It's such a close community that a personal reference counts for a lot.

I really figured I would have all of my Visa and permit info ready to go by the time I bought my ticket. It seems to me like that isn't really possible now.

Really really a downer. I suppose I will apply for anything that I can and hope for the best. Leave in August as planned and make as many friends as I can and if I have to leave three months from the time I get there then I guess I have to leave. It would be nice if there was a way to just get a Visa. A normal Visa that just needs to be renewed.

Hi,

I am considering working in Iceland. I am in the process of interview with my potential employer (done via telephone call since I am not in Iceland).

As stated in this forum, I also have read that it takes about 90 days to process work/residence permit. I am now working outside Iceland. If I am accepted to work in Iceland, do I really need to wait at least 90 days first before I actually can enter Iceland and work there? It will take a quite long time :-( How does it work normally? Can the company in Iceland guarantee/give sponsorhip to me to enable to enter Iceland immediately (well, with a Schengen Visa at least) and start working there, and while I'm there, then the work and residence permit will be processed, without me leaving Iceland first?

Fossil: what happens is that once the application has been submitted here, you have to wait (outside of Iceland since I'm assuming you're applying as a non-EEA citizen based on your location).

Once the application is approved in Iceland, they send a Schengen visa to the embassy nearest to you that handles Schengen visas (in my case this was the Danish consulate in NYC). You'll either have to go there or apply by mail. Once you've got the Schengen visa in your passport, you can enter Iceland and complete the rest of the paperwork here.

I went through this process in 2005 and it took a little less than six weeks for everything. My application was submitted in mid July and I returned to Iceland at the end of August.

As far as I'm aware they haven't changed the rules that you must apply from outside the country, and unless you have special inside connections to someone I don't think a company would be able to get around this rule. I think it's so if the application is denied they don't have problems with people staying anyway. Also, keep in mind that if you don't have the approved application, you won't be able to get a kennitala (national ID), and without that you can't open a bank account (and therefore probably can't get paid).

90 days is really not that long when you're planning a major international move though. as I recall it went by pretty quickly.

Hi ECS,

Thanks for your explanation. What concerns me is how I can get smooth migration from my current company to the new one (in Iceland). My current company has a rule of 1 month notice for resign. I guess most of us will submit it if we have already signed a deal with new companies.

For your case, when you signed that deal, did it tell you when you are accepted to start the work? Was it 90 days after you started to process your work visa? I just want to avoid a situation where I sign the deal, give 1 month notice period to current company, and then 1 month later, the work visa is not finished yet, and I dont work anywhere (possibility no salary also?)

Btw, when you mentioned you returned to Iceland at the end of August, it means that you had been in Iceland already previously?

Hi,

My company was flexible about when I was starting in Iceland and I wasn't working elsewhere at the time. I had good contact with the HR representative of the company, he just called me when it was approved and I finished the Schengen visa work before flying to Iceland.

I'd come to iceland as a tourist in order to find the job so I was here when I started the paperwork, then returned to my native country to await the approval.

why can't you just apply and then wait a few weeks before giving notice? If this is happening over the summer I suspect the Icelandic company would be pretty relaxed on start dates. Unless it's a tourist operation, things are pretty quiet here in July and August, especially if the company has many European clients.