Working in Iceland for short or long periods can be a great way to discover the country, it's culture and get to know the people. It's also a good way to decide wether you want to settle down and become an Icelandic citizen. Obtaining a work permit can either be easy or very hard depending on your situation.
Iceland is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA). All nationals / passport holders of EEA member countries do not require permits to work in Iceland. The EEA countries are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Eire, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Detailed Information for EEA nationals wanting to work in Iceland are available from the Directorate of Labour. You can also see more information here.
Other foreign nationals must obtain a work permit and a residence permit. According to Icelandic foreigner work permit laws, a work permit can only be applied for by an Icelandic employer on behalf of a foreign national or by the foreign national himself. The Icelandic employer can obtain three kinds of permits:
A foreign national (Outside the EEA) can apply for three types of work permits:
The key criteria for issuing work permits to foreign nationals are; The expertise and or skills required for the role are not available in Iceland, There is a shortage in the labour market which can't be met with local labour force or other special circumstances, such as family relations (Spouse is an Icelandic national) or other humanitarian reasons. In the main, in order to obtain a work permit you must have work. It is therefore the employer who usually applies for the work permit. The best approach is therefore to look for work in Iceland through the net or friends and/or relatives. Once you have found work and the employer is willing to apply for the permits, you have to wait and hope for the best. To give you an idea of what is involved, we have translated one of the application process charts made available on the Directorate of Labour website. This process chart outlines the process which an employer can expect when applying for a time limited work permit for a foreigner. See here.
Almost all of the Icelandic recruitment agencies web sites are in Icelandic. You could try to send them E-mail or use the free web translation service at Intertran. It may help you get the gist of things. I've highlighted the ones which are in English.
Iceland doesn't have any special immigration programs. The only way to become an Icelandic immigrant is to apply for refugee status under the UN Convention or apply for work and obtain work and residence permits. Once you have resided and worked in Iceland for 3 years or more, you can apply for the unlimited, unrestricted work permit.
The general rule for foreigners is that once you have resided in Iceland for 7 years or more, you can apply for Icelandic Citizenship. There are exceptions to this rule, which cover children born in Iceland, children where one parent is Icelandic, foreigners who are married to Icelandic spouses, citizens of the other Scandinavian countries and refugees. The Icelandic Citizenships Laws in English can be viewed here. If you require further information or would like to enquire, you can contact the Directorate of Immigration on their E-mail address of utl@utl.is.