On 25 March 2001, Iceland became a signatory to the Schengen agreement that allowed citizens from the Schengen area and the European Union member states to travel within any country in the Schengen area without a visa. For one to travel to Iceland without a special visa, you must posses the common Schengen Visa. This goes for any country belonging to the European Union or Schengen territory. 

Requirements for Visa Free Travel to Iceland:


Being a signatory to the Schengen agreement, Iceland allows citizens from the Schengen countries and the European Union member states to travel to the country without a special visa. However, one must fulfill the following conditions in order to be accorded visa free travel to Iceland:

i) One must possess valid travel documents that are accepted by the travel authorities in Iceland. This will include a valid passport or a national identity card. Citizens from European Union member states do not require a passport to travel to Iceland their national Identity card is the only sufficient document. On the other hand, Canadians, Japanese, Australians and citizens from the united States must provide a valid passport to be allowed access to Iceland.

ii) Any one wishing to travel to Iceland visa free, must substantiate their reason to travel to Iceland. The purpose of the visit and the intended period of stay must be documented.

iii) The travelers must be in a position to raise the necessary amount of money to pay for the travel ticket together with the return ticket.

Additionally, one must have enough amount of money to be used during his/her stay in Iceland. The amount of resources needed to facilitated the travel to Iceland will depend on the purpose of the visit and the intended period of stay.

iv) Most importantly one must not be in the sanction list maintained by the European Union and the United Nations.

v) One must also be cleared and verified and not considered undesirable by the Schengen Information System (SIS).

vi) Finally, one should not have been banned from entering Iceland or banned from re-entering Iceland by any court in the country.

If a traveler meets the above conditions he/she can be allowed to travel visa free to Iceland. The visa free travel system allows visitors to stay for a period not exceeding 90 days (3 months) in any period of six months in Iceland. One can choose to stay for the entire 90 days or can opt to break the stay into several periods amounting to the maximum 90 days.

Visa Free Travel Exemptions:

Apart from the citizens of the European Union member countries, the Schengen area and other exempt countries such as the United States, Australia, Japan and Canada; citizens with diplomatic passports are also exempt from visa requirements. Holders of diplomatic passports, official passports and service passports that are issued by Turkey, South Africa,Pakistan and Russia are also exempt from the obligation of getting a visa to travel to Iceland. Consequently, they are allowed to travel visa free to Iceland, however, they must meet the above mentioned conditions.

To ensure effective verification and validation of visa free travel to Iceland, a central travel database is maintained that contains all the necessary information that validates whether one can travel visa free to Iceland.