No, The Government Will Not Pay You To Marry An Icelander

A widely-circulated hoax article is making claims that has provoked bemusement and bewilderment on Icelandic social media.

Over at least the past week now, numerous Icelandic women on Facebook have attested to being practically spammed with friend requests from non-Icelandic men that they do not know. It turns out that this may be linked to this article, which makes the following claim:

“Perhaps the most prominent of our attention the story that it’s because of the high proportion of females than males have resorted government of that country to the solution is to grant $ 5,000 per month per immigrant marries Icelandic, and that the priority in this resolution will go to North Africa’s population”

In case you were in doubt, everything about this claim is false.

First of all, the latest population data actually shows slightly more men than women in Iceland, with 1,007 men for every 1,000 women in general; in Reykjavík, there are 985 men for every 1,000 women, but in the countryside the ratio is 1,129 men for every 1,000 women.

Second, the Icelandic government absolutely does not have any kind of grant in place for immigrants who marry Icelanders, regardless of gender.

As such, if you do want to marry an Icelander, you should do so without the expectation of a cash payout, because none will be forthcoming.