Your first weeks in Iceland

Kennitala, legal domicile and residence status are connected, but they are not the same thing, and which comes first depends on your immigration route.

• Nordic citizens register their address with Þjóðskrá Íslands (Registers Iceland) and can live and work here without a permit.
• EEA and EFTA citizens apply to Registers Iceland, and that registration covers both legal domicile (lögheimili) and the Icelandic ID number (kennitala).
• Everyone else normally receives the kennitala through the residence-permit process with Útlendingastofnun, and registers legal domicile afterwards.

Check your own steps with Þjóðskrá Íslands and Útlendingastofnun, or read our residency page.

Many things need each other: the bank wants a kennitala, electronic ID needs a bank or phone, and logins need a phone number. This order works for most people.

1. 1
   Get an Icelandic phone number.

   Codes for banks and logins come by text message.

2. 2
   Get your kennitala.

   Through Þjóðskrá (EEA) or your residence permit (others). If you start work first, your employer can ask for a system ID number (kerfiskennitala, say: KERF-is-KEN-ni-tah-la).

3. 3
   Register your legal domicile (lögheimili, say: LURG-hay-mi-li).

   Only where you really live. Your three-month wait for public health insurance starts here.

4. 4
   Open a bank account.

   Bring your passport, kennitala and work contract.

5. 5
   Get electronic ID (rafræn skilríki, say: RAP-rine SKIL-ree-ki).

   On your own phone, through your bank or phone company. After this, most offices are online.

Your bank or office may ask for steps in a different order. Ask them before you visit.

• Registration and kennitala, in the order that belongs to your route. Only register your legal domicile where you really live and where the owner agrees.
• Electronic ID (rafræn skilríki) in your own name and on your own phone. Almost every office and bank uses it.
• A bank account, which you will normally need your kennitala and identification for.
• Tax. Iceland uses a personal tax credit (persónuafsláttur). Skatturinn issues your tax card digitally, and you tell your employer whether and how to use the credit, so tax is taken at the right rate. See taxes.
• Your collective agreement and your union. Find out which collective agreement covers your job and which union represents that work. The collective agreement sets minimum pay and conditions whether or not you join. Membership can give you additional representation, funds and benefits. See work rights.
• Health cover. When you move your legal domicile to Iceland, the general waiting period before you are insured here is currently three months. People transferring insurance rights from certain countries may be covered sooner. Check your own case and stay covered until then. See healthcare.
• The emergency number is 112. It works for police, ambulance, fire and rescue.

• Getting around. The city bus is strætó (say: STRY-toh). You do not need cash: the Klappið app (say: KLAHP-ith) sells and shows your ticket. Outside the capital, buses run less often, so check the timetable the night before. Winter walking is easier with shoe spikes (mannbroddar, say: MAN-brod-dar). How to find your bus and your stop.
• Where you sleep at first. A short room, a hostel or a room in a shared flat is normal while you look for a rental. Where people look for a home.
• Food shops. The lower-cost supermarket chains are Bónus, Krónan and Nettó. Kiosks and petrol-station shops are open late but cost much more. Shops close earlier than in many countries, and earlier again on Sundays and public holidays.
• A pharmacy. A pharmacy is an apótek (say: AH-poh-tek). Many medicines need a prescription, but painkillers, cold medicine and children's fever medicine are sold over the counter. Find the nearest one before you are sick.
• A doctor. Your first stop is the local health centre, the heilsugæsla (say: HAYL-su-gyes-la), chosen by where you live. Nurse advice by phone is available around the clock on 1700. For a real emergency, call 112.
• Water and heating. Cold tap water is drinking water and needs no filter. Hot water comes from the ground and can smell of sulphur; that is normal.
• Post and parcels. Deliveries usually go to a parcel box or a pick-up point, not to your door. Make sure your name is on the letterbox and the doorbell.
• Your neighbourhood. In your first week, find four places on a map: the supermarket, the apótek, your heilsugæsla, and the nearest swimming pool (sundlaug, say: SUND-loyg).

• Residency: registration, kennitala and permits
• Starting out: pay, rooms and the first winter
• Where to meet people in Iceland
• Money: banking, pensions, sending money home