Easier to buy foreign currency in Iceland from 1 January

Photo: Iceland Monitor/Árni Sæberg

From 1 January next year, the general public in Iceland will no longer be required to produce proof of foreign travel abroad in order to withdraw foreign currency at banks.

Under new legislation recently passed by the Icelandic parliament (‘Alþingi’) on lifting capital controls, the requirement to present a travel ticket in order to buy foreign currency at Icelandic banks will be dropped at the end of this year.

Capital controls were put in place in Iceland in the aftermath of the financial crash of 2008 and have been in place ever since.

The new legislation also permits:

  • pre-payment of foreign loans;
  • investment in financial instruments issued in foreign currencies (up to an equivalent of ISK 30 million);
  • purchase of one real-estate property abroad per calendar year;
  • unlimited subsistence costs for individual stays abroad.

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