Yesterday the Icelandic parliament, Alþingi took up for debate a bill to grant Icelandic citizenship to 31 foreign individuals. The people come from 20 different countries, the oldest, Elena Karelina was born in 1947 in the Soviet Union, and the youngest, Olga Yakovlyeva in 1996 in the Ukraine. In total 11 of the 31 were born in Europe, most in Eastern Europe. The other 20 come from, among other places, Sudan, Ghana, Haiti, Afghanistan, Columbia and China.
According to the 1952 law on immigration applicants for Icelandic citizenship must fulfill various requirements to be considered eligible, among others to have lived in Iceland for seven years. Applications are handled by the Directorate of Immigration.
However, if in urgent cases or when applicants don't fulfill some of the requirements they can appeal to parliament for a review of their case. Parliament then reviews these cases twice each year. After reviewing the applications a parliamentary committee submits a list of people who should be granted citizenship. This year Alþingi has already granted 30 people Icelandic citizenship.
Applications and grants of Icelandic citizenship to Parliament since 2012
| Year | applications | granted |
| 2012 | 130 | 75 |
| 2013 | 92 | 38 |
| 2014 | 103 | 57 |
| 2015 | 111 | 81 |
| 2016 | 112 | 61 (30) |
Yesterday the Icelandic parliament, Alþingi took up for debate a bill to grant Icelandic citizenship to 31 foreign individuals. The people come from 20 different countries, the oldest, Elena Karelina was born in 1947 in the Soviet Union, and the youngest, Olga Yakovlyeva in 1996 in the Ukraine. In total 11 of the 31 were born in Europe, most in Eastern Europe. The other 20 come from, among other places, Sudan, Ghana, Haiti, Afghanistan, Columbia and China.
According to the 1952 law on immigration applicants for Icelandic citizenship must fulfill various requirements to be considered eligible, among others to have lived in Iceland for seven years. Applications are handled by the Directorate of Immigration.
However, if in urgent cases or when applicants don't fulfill some of the requirements they can appeal to parliament for a review of their case. Parliament then reviews these cases twice each year. After reviewing the applications a parliamentary committee submits a list of people who should be granted citizenship. This year Alþingi has already granted 30 people Icelandic citizenship.
Applications and grants of Icelandic citizenship to Parliament since 2012
| Year | applications | granted |
| 2012 | 130 | 75 |
| 2013 | 92 | 38 |
| 2014 | 103 | 57 |
| 2015 | 111 | 81 |
| 2016 | 112 | 61 (30) |
