Fake driver’s licenses mailed to Iceland

Customs officers at Keflavík International Airport intercepted 43 counterfeit foreign identity documents sent to Iceland by mail during 2023 and 2024 — the vast majority of them fake driver’s licenses.

According to officials, 16% of the identity documents sent by express mail in 2023 turned out to be forgeries. That figure rose to 19% in 2024.

Bypassing driving lessons

The aim of using forged foreign driver’s licenses is typically to begin driving immediately upon arrival in Iceland or to exchange the counterfeit licenses for Icelandic ones, bypassing the legal requirement for driving lessons.

According to Eiríkur H. Sigurjónsson, a police inspector and ID document expert at the Identity Document Investigation Unit of the Suðurnes Police, many of the forgeries are high-quality and difficult to detect, though awareness within the system has increased significantly.

Examiner raised the alarm

As recently reported by mbl.is, the District Commissioner’s Office admitted that non-EEA nationals had successfully exchanged forged licenses for valid Icelandic driver’s licenses. Staff were often ill-equipped to detect the fakes, especially when the exchange was made legally permissible after six months of residence in Iceland.

Those exchanging foreign licenses for Icelandic ones must pass written and practical exams, but are not required to take driving lessons.

Not easy to spot

“It’s not easy to detect forgeries,” says Sigurjónsson. “If you present a fake document to an authority where the staff have no experience identifying such forgeries, the chances of success are much higher.”

The case came to light when a driving test supervisor noticed that a large number of applicants showed little to no actual driving ability, despite having presented valid-looking foreign licenses.

Immediate driving was the goal

In response, the District Commissioner in the capital area has increased cooperation with document experts at the Suðurnes Police. So far in 2024, 18 foreign driver’s licenses submitted for exchange have been sent for analysis — two were confirmed as fake. In 2023, five out of ten documents examined were forged, and both licenses examined in 2022 were also fake.

Eiríkur notes that almost all intercepted forgeries over the past two years have been driver’s licenses. Very few attempts have been made to send fake passports or other documents through the mail.

Around 620 requests per year

The identity document lab at Keflavík Airport is equipped with specialized equipment to analyze and authenticate ID documents. In 2023, 24 agencies and institutions requested assistance from the lab; 23 did so in 2024, and 13 have already submitted requests this year. The lab handles approximately 620 document verification requests annually.

On average, around 5% of the documents analyzed are confirmed to be forgeries.

The Suðurnes Police’s Identity Document Investigation Unit is staffed by three full-time ID experts and one part-time educator who provides training and public outreach.