Valur Grettisson, the editor-in-chief of the Reykjavík Grapevine and Josie Anne Gaitens, the cultural editor, met up with the American social media creator Kyana Sue Powers in the latest Grapevine Podcast, The Icelandic Roundup.
Kyana Sue applied for hundreds of jobs when living in Iceland, and finally got one, only to lose it again almost immediately in the pandemic. She ended up creating her own consulting company after she blew up on social media, creating travel content for hundreds of thousands to see.
Now she faces deportation, as ÚTL (the Directorate of Immigration) has rejected her residency permit in Iceland because they don’t acknowledge her talents when it comes to online marketing on TikTok as well as Instagram, that she does not have special education in the field of social media, and that the Icelandic workforce was being protected.
She is now feeling the effects of the strong rules about immigration between the EU and the US on her own skin and is fighting for her future in Iceland.
You can listen to The Icelandic Roundup via Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Buzzsprout, with other platforms becoming available in the coming weeks.
Thank you to Lava Car Rental and The Lava Centre for sponsoring this episode of The Icelandic Roundup.
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