Doing It Right, Getting Wronged: International Students’ Plans Of Studying In Iceland Fall Through

The Grapevine recently reported that applications for student visas in Iceland had increased by 40 percent since last year, and that many of those students were – due to no fault of their own – having difficulties in having their resident permits processed by the Directorate of Immigration. It has now been reported that some of those students, whose residence permits had not been issued, have received notification from the University of Iceland saying that their enrolment has been revoked due to the fact that they do not yet have a residence permit.

A 40-percent increase sounds like a lot, but is it?

Both the University of Iceland and the Directorate of Immigration have stated recently that no policy change has occurred since last year with regards to the reception of foreign students. Instead the problems these students have been experiencing in terms of their applications have been explained by a 40-percent increase in such applications since last year, and the fact that 38 percent of those applications were sent in after the aforementioned June 1 deadline.

While a 40-percent increase sounds like a lot, the numbers behind the percentages are low. The increase amounts to an additional 209 applications from last year. Not a high number in itself. However, according to statistics from the Directorate of Immigration, the increase mainly stems from three countries: Nigeria, Pakistan and Ghana, with a combined total 304 applicants. This is a significant increase from last year, where a total of 142 applications came from those countries; in 2022, these countries resulted in only a total of 24 applications. During those same four years between 2022-2025, the number of applicants from other countries tended to stay similar, between 110 and 130 for the USA, just below 20 for the UK and Japan, for example. With the total number of applications remaining rather similar in the previous few years, this spike in applications from just three countries does beg the question why? And why now?

“The increase mainly stems from three countries: Nigeria, Pakistan and Ghana, with a combined total 304 applicants. This is a significant increase from last year, where a total of 142 applications came from those countries; in 2022, these countries resulted in only a total of 24 applications.”

TikTok trends or spillover from Finland?

The reason for this exponential increase in applicants from Nigeria, Pakistan and Ghana, has recently been laid at the feet of TikTok content creators by the local media. This seems to hold some merit, with two such content creators – who seem to be in the business of advising individuals on applying to universities abroad – with more than 110,000 and 200,000 views each on their reels talking about studying in Iceland. This becomes a question of scale: when used to such a low overall number of applicants, a trending TikTok reel might actually go a long way towards increasing applications to Icelandic universities by a few hundred from last year.

This year, Finnish universities started charging tuition fees ranging from 8.000 to 20.000 EUR for students from outside the EU/EEA. This effectively makes Iceland the last Scandinavian country to not charge such fees, and this may contribute to the increased number of applicants to Icelandic universities.

Unique to the University of Iceland

The Directorate of Immigration points out that 38 percent of the applications arrived after the June 1 deadline the Directorate sets for applications of residency because of university studies. The fact that many applications were turned in late is because, in many cases, the students in question didn’t get a confirmation on their university enrolment until so late in May that meeting the June 1 deadline became impossible, as the appropriate paperwork takes time to procure, and furthermore the paperwork has then to be physically mailed to Iceland – the June 1 deadline is arrival in Iceland, not a postmark date.

The Grapevine reached out to The University of Reykjavík to ask when enrolment was usually announced to students applying from outside the EU/EEA. They stated enrollment has usually been announced “at the latest in late April or at the beginning of May, but often sooner, if nothing is missing from the application.” Out of the 15 students who applied for MA studies at the University of Reykjavík for this semester, all but two got their residence permit without issue, according to the same source.

All roads lead to the University of Iceland when trying to get to the bottom of why so many students were unable to meet the June 1 deadline. In many of the emails The Grapevine has received from disappointed applicants, it comes to light that enrollment confirmations from that institution were often not being received until very late in May. Whether this was generally a problem for all applicants from outside the EU/EEA is unclear and The Grapevine is still waiting for the University of Iceland to clarify that.

Do everything right, yet get nowhere

The result is that there are students who followed the application process from applying for university studies in Iceland, to being accepted, to applying for residency permit, and if applicable to applying for a visa, all by the book. Yet, by no fault of their own, will not be studying in Iceland this winter. Regardless of all the reasons as to why this may have happened, this is their situation. The Grapevine has received numerous emails from people in just such a situation, from different countries, applying to different disciplines, including biotechnology, environmental studies, computer science, etc. Most tell a tale of receiving confirmations on enrolment too late to be able to meet the June 1 deadline. All have received notifications from the University of Iceland that their enrolment has been revoked because they are yet to receive a residency permit. These individuals are distraught and disappointed, having done all in their power – and in all cases having spent their own money – to go through the application process as thoroughly by the book as they were able to, yet finding themselves going nowhere.