Guide: Work in the Faroe Islands
If you are thinking of applying for a job in the Faroe Islands there are a number of things to consider, including job-seeking, taxation, social security and working conditions. Below is a checklist of the most important things to be aware of if you are planning to work in the Faroe Islands.
Work permit
If you are a citizen of a Nordic country (Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden or Aaland), you can live and work in the Faroe Islands without having to apply for a work and residence permit. If you are a citizen of any other country, you must apply for a residence permit. You can read more about this on the Info Norden web pages.
Seeking work
You can find information about applying for work in the Faroe Islands on the web pages of Info Norden.
Seeking work in the Faroe Islands while on unemployment benefits from your home country
If you are receiving unemployment benefits in another country, you may be able to continue to receive these for up to three months while you look for work in the Faroe Islands. You can read more about this at the Info Norden website.
Tax
When you start working in the Faroe Islands, you will need a tax card and a Faroese personal identity number (P-number).
You can log on to Borgaragluggin, the electronic solution of the Faroese tax agency TAKS, to obtain an overview of your tax situation. To do this, you will need to use the Faroese electronic ID system, Samleikin.
You can read more about this at taks.fo.
Social security
If you move to the Faroe Islands to work, you will normally be covered by Faroese social security. In some situations, you may be covered by the social security of another country – for example if you have been posted abroad, or if you also work in countries other than the Faroe Islands.
Being ‘covered by social insurance’ in a country means that there are rules in that country that apply to you in such areas as:
If you work or live in other Nordic countries
In certain situations, you will need to pay special attention to your tax situation and where you are socially insured. These are:
- If you live in the Faroe Islands and work in another Nordic country
- If you live in another Nordic country and work in the Faroe Islands
As a rule, you are covered by the social security system of the country in which you work. If you work in two Nordic countries, you will generally be covered by the social security of the country in which you live if more than 25% of your working time is in that country. Otherwise, you will be covered by the social security of the country in which you do most of your work. Please note that special rules apply if you work in both the Faroe Islands and Denmark, or in the Faroe Islands and Greenland. If you are in doubt about which country's social security you are covered by, you can contact Almannaverkið (Faroe Islands Social Services).
If you work in two countries, please note that your employers in both countries must, as a general rule, pay social security contributions to the country in which you are socially insured.
You can find information about tax matters on the TAKS website.
You can also find information about taxation in the Nordic region at Nordisk eTax, which is a collaboration between the tax authorities of the Nordic countries.
Trade unions
You can read about trade unions in the Faroe Islands on the web pages of Info Norden.
More information
Please fill in our contact form if you have any questions or if you have encountered an obstacle in another Nordic country.
NB! If you have questions regarding the processing of a specific case or application, or other personal matters, please contact the relevant authority directly.