Icelandic passport

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.
As of 2023, 94.9% of Icelandic citizens possess an Icelandic passport. The only other official document issued by the Icelandic government stating Icelandic citizenship is the Icelandic identity card.
The passport allows for the freedom of movement in any of the states of EFTA and the EU/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 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

In medieval times, while under the control of other Scandinavian powers, internal passports were required for certain individuals. The first legal instance of internal passports, then called Reisupassi or passi, were issued from 1781 for certain individuals travelling between regions of Iceland. In the 19th century, the role of internal passports was questioned, progressively unenforced, and were officially repealed in 1907.
International passports have been issued since at least the early 1900s for travel but were uncommon, usually issued by the Reykjavík Police and consisted of a stamped photograph attached to a folded piece of paper. By the 1930s a standard international passport booklet was issued, in accordance with League of Nations standards, with a blue cover.
From 1929, a 'Nordic Travel Document' was also issued, for use only in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. They were cheaper than regular passports but were uncommon due to lax passport requirements in the Nordic countries and their issuance ceased at the outbreak of WWII.

Occupation passports

In 1941, during the British occupation of Iceland of the Second World War, emergency laws were introduced requiring domestic identification. From 1942 until 1945, a simplified paper card version of passports, essentially acting as identity documents, were issued by Icelandic police to all residents, who were required to carry them at all times. The design was different from international passport booklets, being a simple blue printed paper card with a photograph. The requirement to bear them at all times was abolished after the occupation.

Post-1950

Some further iterations of Icelandic passports continued after WWII. Icelandic identity cards began to be issued in 1965. A new design was put into circulation in May 1987. It featured a dark blue cover, laser-printed pages, and a laminated information page.
The first machine-readable Icelandic passports were introduced on 1 June 1999, including a new cover design, lighter blue colour, laminated biodata page and improved security features. In 2004, 81% of Icelandic citizens had a passport.
The first biometric passports were introduced in May 2006, with a middle hard-plastic page 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 was restored to ten years.
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, as well as a thinner top-laminate on the biodata page. They are manufactured by the Polish Security Printing Works in Poland.

Physical Appearance

Icelandic passports are blue, with the Icelandic coat of arms emblazoned in the centre of the front cover. The words "ÍSLAND", "ICELAND" and "ISLANDE" are inscribed above the coat of arms and the words "VEGABRÉF", "PASSPORT" and "PASSEPORT" are inscribed below the coat of arms. Icelandic passports have the standard biometric symbol at the bottom.
Vegabréf, the Icelandic word for passport, literally means "road letter", which was the Scandinavian word for internal passports when such existed in Scandinavia.

Identity Information Page

The Icelandic passport includes the following data:

Photo of Passport Holder
Type
Code
Passport No.
Surname
Given Names
Nationality
Height
Date of Birth
Icelandic Identification Number
Sex
Place of Birth
Signature
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 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. 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 are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Iceland. As of April 5 2025, Icelandic citizens have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 182 countries and territories, ranking the Icelandic passport 10th in the world in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley Passport Index.
As a member of the European Free Trade Association, Icelandic citizens have freedom of movement to live and work in other EFTA countries in accordance with the EFTA convention. Moreover, by virtue of Iceland's membership of the European Economic Area, Icelandic citizens also enjoy freedom of movement within all EEA member states. The Citizens’ Rights Directive defines the right of free movement for citizens of the EEA, and all EFTA and EU citizens are not only visa-exempt but are legally entitled to enter and reside in each other's countries. The Icelandic ID card alone can also be used to exercise free movement rights within the EEA and EFTA.