Two weeks to the medical, 90 days to complete everything, six months to public health insurance — your first month in Iceland is about starting the right clocks in the right order.
Overview
Iceland front-loads its compliance: the medical examination (where applicable) must happen within two weeks of arrival, and the photo appointment, notification of residence and medical must all be completed within 90 days of the permit being granted or the permit is never issued. Get the sequence right and the rest cascades automatically — the Directorate of Immigration itself asks Registers Iceland (Þjóðskrá Íslands) to register your legal domicile and allocate your kennitala, the ID number that unlocks banking, payroll, tax and electronic ID (rafræn skilríki). Your residence permit card is ready about five days after the order-confirmation email and is collected wherever you were photographed. Two slower clocks run in the background: public health insurance through Sjúkratryggingar Íslands starts six months after domicile registration (your mandatory private policy bridges the gap), and EEA arrivals with prior public insurance can apply to transfer rights and shorten the wait. EEA/EFTA citizens skip the permit machinery entirely but must register with Registers Iceland if staying beyond three months. This page sequences the first month; procedures verified against island.is, skra.is and sjukra.is as of June 2026.
Week 1 — Trigger the Machinery
- Book the photo appointment immediately: At the Directorate of Immigration in Kópavogur appointments are booked through noona.is; outside the capital area, District Commissioners' offices take the photo. Bring your passport to confirm identity.
- Submit the notification of residence: Form A-269 (Registers Iceland) records where you are actually staying — it is one of the three conditions for the permit to be issued.
- Book the medical examination now: Where applicable it must take place within two weeks of arrival, at a healthcare centre (heilsugæsla). Slots can be scarce — call in your first days, and bring your private insurance details since public cover has not started.
- Keep every receipt and envelope: The registered-mail date on any Directorate correspondence sets legal deadlines; your photo-appointment date typically anchors your domicile registration date, which in turn starts the six-month health-insurance clock.
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See Paid Plans →Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do in my literal first week in Iceland?
Three things, in parallel: book the photo appointment for your residence card (via noona.is for the Directorate of Immigration in Kópavogur, or at a District Commissioner's office outside the capital), submit the notification of residence (form A-269), and book the medical examination at a healthcare centre — the medical must happen within two weeks of arrival where it applies. Those three items are the legal conditions for your permit to be issued at all, and all must be done within 90 days of approval. Everything else — kennitala, card, bank, tax — flows automatically from them.
How long until I get my residence permit card, and do I need it?
Once you have completed the photo appointment, notification of residence and medical examination, the permit is issued and the card ordered. You receive an email when the order is placed, and five days later the card is ready for collection at the same place you were photographed. It is your physical proof of the right to reside and work, useful at borders and occasionally with employers and banks. If you fail to complete the three issuance steps within 90 days of approval, no card ever comes — the permit is simply not issued.
Do I need to go to Registers Iceland myself to get my kennitala?
Not if you hold a residence permit: the Directorate of Immigration sends the request for your legal domicile registration to Registers Iceland once your issuance steps are complete, and the kennitala is allocated as part of that. EEA/EFTA and Nordic citizens, who need no permit, do deal with Registers Iceland directly — registering their legal domicile (required beyond three months' stay) is what generates their kennitala. Either way, verify afterwards that your registered address is correct, because the domicile registration date starts your six-month health-insurance clock.
How do I see a doctor during my first six months?
Through your mandatory private insurance. Public cover from Sjúkratryggingar Íslands only begins six months after your legal domicile registration, which is why the permit application required a policy valid in Iceland with at least ISK 2,000,000 in cover for that window. Healthcare centres (heilsugæsla) will treat you as a private payer — keep receipts and claim from your insurer. If you moved from an EEA state, Greenland or the Faroe Islands and were publicly insured there, apply through island.is to transfer your insurance rights; that can shorten or eliminate the waiting period.
Can I start working straight away?
If you came on a work-based permit, your right to work exists once both the work permit (Directorate of Labour) and residence permit (Directorate of Immigration) are in effect — which they must be before you arrived, since first-time permits are granted before travel. Practically, your employer needs your kennitala to run payroll and pay into an Icelandic bank account, so completing the issuance steps quickly is also a payday issue. EEA/EFTA citizens may work from day one without any permit. Remember that if a pending application is refused, any interim work authorisation lapses immediately.
Which digital accounts should I set up in my first month?
Rafræn skilríki first — the electronic ID issued via your bank or the Auðkenni app — because everything else authenticates through it. Then your island.is account, which is the single portal for government self-service: checking your registration details, applications to Sjúkratryggingar, and the instant digital criminal record. Then online banking with your new Icelandic account, and your Skatturinn profile so tax withholding and the personal tax credit run correctly. Set them up in that order; each one depends on the previous, and all of them depend on the kennitala.