Importing vehicles to Iceland

Importing vehicles

No more than 30 days are to elapse between the arrival of the person moving to Iceland and the vehicle he/she intends to import.  The Directorate of Customs then grants a temporary registration for one month, during which the owner must register the car with the Road Traffic Directorate (Umferðastofa).

Persons who intend to stay in Iceland for a year or less, for work or travel, are allowed to import a car registered abroad without paying import duties if certain conditions are met.

There is occasion to point out, however, that:

• A person with permanent residence/legal domicile in Iceland is not permitted to import vehicles with a foreign registration to the country temporarily.
• A person with a permanent residence abroad who does not have a registered domicile in Iceland may import vehicles with a foreign registration to Iceland. If this person registers a domicile in Iceland within 12 months of his/her arrival in the country, the vehicle must be customs cleared or exported from Iceland before the domicile registration takes place.
• Vehicles with Icelandic registration numbers can be returned to Iceland without payment of import duties, provided that duties have not been refunded on export or the vehicle has undergone work abroad.

The Icelandic Transport Authority issues Icelandic licence plates. The Directorate of Customs calculates other fees that have to be paid for the vehicle. All further information is available on the website of the Directorate of Customs and on the website of the Icelandic Transport Authority.

Further information is available on the website of Iceland Revenue and Customs or by phone +354 4421000