Identification number - kennitala
In Iceland, persons and enterprises are issued a unique identification number which is recorded in the national register and register of enterprises.
Individuals are identified with the ID numbers in the national registry system. There are two types of personal ID number registered in the national registry i.e. system ID No. and personal ID No. The system ID No. and the personal ID No. look the same but don’t provide the same rights.
ID numbers are composed of ten digits. The first six of these are the individual’s date of birth in the format DDMMYY. The seventh and eighth digits are randomly chosen when the ID number is allocated, the ninth is a check digit (modulus (11)) and the tenth indicates the century of the individual’s birth: ‘9’ for 1900–1999, ‘0’ for 2000 and beyond. ID number are often written with a hyphen following the first six digits, e.g. 120174-3389.
System ID number
Individual is registered in the system ID register which is a centralised register that is disseminated to Icelandic legal entities on the assignment of a system ID No. The purpose of the system ID No. is to provide public authorities with a unique number in order to differentiate between individuals and in order to be able to exchange information about the individuals for an example due to tax payments.
The assignment of a system ID No. is not equivalent to a residence permit in Iceland and does not grant any rights in Iceland such as payments from the social security system or other such rights. Staying in Iceland without final registration, i.e. legal domicile registration, can be illegal. Further information in English, Polish and Russian.
Only Icelandic legal entities can apply for a system ID No. Registers Iceland does not charge legal entities when applying for system ID No. for a foreign individual.
Personal ID number
Personal ID numbers are issued at birth to all children born in Iceland and Icelandic citizens born abroad. Personal ID numbers are also assigned to all individuals who register their domicile in Iceland. When domicile is registered in Iceland a personal ID number is assigned in the national register, or in cases where individual is already registered in the system ID register, the system ID no. is moved from register of System ID No. to the National register. Entitlement to public services and assistance is generally dependent on having a registered legal domicile. It is therefore recommended that individual register their legal domicile as soon as possible.
Personal ID number i.e. register of domicile in Iceland is free and can only be assigned by Registers Iceland. In cases where individual is not a citizen of the Nordic countries or EEA/EFTA then the Directorate of Immigration applies for ID number and registration of domicile in Iceland to Registers Iceland.