Icelandic passport

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Icelandic passport
The front cover of a first-generation Icelandic biometric passport issued from 2006–2019
The biodata page of an Icelandic biometric passport
Type	Passport
Issued by	Iceland
First issued	1 June 1999 (machine-readable passport) 23 May 2006[1] (biometric) 1 February 2019 (current version)
Purpose	Identification
Eligibility	Icelandic citizenship
Expiration	10 years from date of issue (adults, 2018)
Cost	13000 ISK (adults aged 18–66 years; regular application) 26000 ISK (adults aged 18–66 years; urgent application) 5600 ISK (children below 18 years, elderly aged 67 years and above, disabled people; regular application) 11000 ISK (children below 18 years, elderly aged 67 years and above, disabled people; urgent application)[2]

Icelandic passports are issued to citizens of Iceland for the purpose of international travel. Beside serving as proof of Icelandic citizenship, they facilitate the process of securing assistance from Icelandic consular officials abroad (or public officials in the mission of another Nordic country in case an Icelandic consular official is absent).^[3][4]

The passport allows for the freedom of movement in any of the states of EFTA^[5] and the EEA. This is because Iceland is a member state of EFTA, and by virtue of it also being a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) and part of the Schengen Area. For travel within the Nordic countries no identity documentation is legally required for Nordic citizens due to the Nordic Passport Union.

History[]

A new design was put into circulation in May 1987.^[6] It featured a dark blue (near-black) cover, laser-printed pages, and a laminated information page.

The first machine-readable Icelandic passports were introduced on 1 June 1999,^[7] having a blue cover, a machine-readable strip and improved security features. A hard-plastic page with a biometric chip was added in May 2006,^[8] and the validity was temporarily shortened from ten years to five. In June 2013, the chip was relocated to the back cover and the validity restored to ten years.^[8]

A new Icelandic passport design was introduced on 1 February 2019, featuring a slightly enlarged Icelandic coat of arms and sans-serif wording on the front cover.^[9]

Physical Appearance[]

Icelandic passports are blue, with the Icelandic coat of arms emblazoned in the centre of the front cover. The words "ÍSLAND" (Icelandic), "ICELAND" (English) and "ISLANDE" (French) are inscribed above the coat of arms and the words "VEGABRÉF" (Icelandic), "PASSPORT" (English) and "PASSEPORT" (French) are inscribed below the coat of arms. Icelandic passports have the standard biometric symbol at the bottom.^[10]

Vegabréf literally means "road letter", a word historically used in Scandinavia meaning internal passport.

Identity Information Page[]

The biodata page of the previous machine readable version

The Icelandic passport includes the following data:

• Photo of Passport Holder
• Type (PA)
• Code (ISL)
• Passport No.
• Surname
• Given Names
• Nationality
• Height
• Date of Birth
• Personal code number
• Sex
• Place of Birth
• Date of Issue
• Date of Expiry
• Authority

The information page ends with the Machine Readable Zone.

Different spellings of the same name[]

Personal names containing the special Icelandic letters (ð, þ, æ, ö) are spelled the correct way in the non-machine-readable zone, but are mapped in the machine-readable zone. ð becomes D, þ becomes TH, æ becomes AE, and ö becomes OE.
Letters with accents are replaced by simple letters (e.g., é → E). This follows the standard for machine-readable passports.

Languages[]

The data page/information page is printed in Icelandic, English and French.

Visa free travel[]

Visa requirements for Icelandic citizens

  Iceland

  Freedom of movement

  Visa not required

  Visa on arrival

  eVisa

  Visa may be obtained online or on arrival

  Visa required prior to arrival

Visa requirements for Icelandic citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Iceland. As of 3 April 2020, Icelandic citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 180 countries and territories, ranking the Icelandic passport 11th in the world in terms of travel freedom (tied with Latvian and Slovenian passports) according to the Henley Passport Index.^[11]

As a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Icelandic citizens have freedom of movement to live and work in other EFTA countries in accordance with the EFTA convention.^[12] Moreover, by virtue of Iceland's membership of the European Economic Area (EEA), Icelandic citizens also enjoy freedom of movement within all EEA member states. The Citizens’ Rights Directive^[13] defines the right of free movement for citizens of the EEA,^[14] and all EFTA and EU citizens are not only visa-exempt but are legally entitled to enter and reside in each other's countries.

Other identity documents[]

Inside Iceland and the other Nordic countries, an Icelandic identity card or driving licence is usually sufficient for personal identification. They do not state citizenship and therefore are not usable in most cases as travel documentation outside of the Nordic countries. The Icelandic identity card is called "Nafnskírteini" ("name certificate"). Most people do not have it and use driving licences instead.

See also[]

• Visa requirements for Icelandic citizens
• Passports of the EFTA member states

External links[]

• EU legislation: Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 of 15 March 2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement

References[]