Surge Of Applicants Causing Student Enrolment Difficulties At Icelandic Universities

This year, applications for student visas in Iceland were up by 40% from 2024, according to the Directorate of Immigration (Útlendingastofnun). The Grapevine has been contacted by phone and email regarding difficulties for international students that seemed greater than in past years. The connotations for some students may be that they will not be able to enrol in classes for the autumn semester.

According to the Directorate of Immigration, this is not due to any policy changes with regards to the application process of foreign students who want to study in Iceland saying that “No changes have been made to the application process for students or to the processing of residence permits on the basis of studies.”

However, applications for a residence permit on the basis of studies have increased significantly since last year. “Between March 1 and August 1, 2024, 535 applications for a first residence permit for the autumn semester were received, while during the same period this year the number was 744 — which equals about a 40% increase,” according to the Directorate of Immigration. This presumably is slowing down the processing of some applications.

Furthermore, 283 applications were submitted after June 1 this year, even though the deadline for such applications with supporting documents is on that date, according to the Directorate of Immigration’s website.

The Directorate of Immigration also pointed out that “Applicants for residence permits must submit a variety of documents with their application, and it is the institution’s role to review each case on an individual basis. Processing time for applications varies and depends primarily on how complete the submitted documents are. In many cases, additional documents must be requested or the documents reviewed in more detail, which extends the processing time.”

The delay may cause issues with these students’ enrolments, based on what courses or programmes they are planning to attend, since many courses and programmes have already started as of August 18. In addition, those students who also need a visa to travel to Iceland cannot apply for one until their residency permit has been processed. The visa application process itself takes time, which may potentially cause further delays for some students.