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Comment by mataug | Hacker News Reader

Having visited Iceland previously, I'd love to work there over the summer.

> you can show a foreign income of ISK 1,000,000 per month or ISK 1,300,000 if you also apply for a spouse or cohabiting partner.

> you do not need a visa to enter the Schengen area

Unfortunately this ^ disqualifies me, despite meeting the income requirements, since I need a visa to enter the Schengen region. This seems to be an odd requirement, they are already issuing a visa, why require people to have powerful passports as well ?

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I think it's because Iceland can't issue long-term visas due to the Schengen-agreement, only short term tourist visa or full residency.

Contrary to popular belief, at least within the Schengen-area, it's hard to immigrate into the Schengen-area from the outside.

No third world countries.

Iceland is expensive, it would be very unkind to let someone live there for an extended time yet not be able to enjoy a good quality of life.

They already have an income requirement. How does this contribute to better enjoying a good quality of life?

Also discussed in this subthread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35344437. My take (having been there two weeks and done all the tours and seen all the things) is that you'd need (less than?) half of that income requirement for a normal comfort level that I also have in my home country (currently Germany).

It's not a cheap country but 7k/month as "minimum income" is not a requirement out of necessity or kindness.

I'm from Honduras and don't need a Schengen visa. Many other poor countries can also get in without one

Probably the reason is more political and cultural than economic.

FWIW, the origin of "third world" is political, being the NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries the first and second. The poverty implication came later.

Is a visa needed to enter Spain from any Spanish-speaking country? (Spain is in Schengen)

Yeah, Finland and Switzerland are 3rd world countries, in the Schengen, but not developing countries.

Did ya’ll get your daily well actually out of the system?

Guess I'm the exception to this rule, then. Although I don't live in my home country anymore, my third world country passport is allowed.

You are misinformed, the list is mixed:

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/who-needs-schengen-visa/

Because Iceland is a member of the Schengen zone. It's possible to travel between countries in the Schengen area without going through border control (although I don't know about the specifics of travelling to/from Iceland).

That was part of my earlier point, they are already issuing a visa, and a visa to Iceland is a Schengen Visa. This seems to imply that they only want nationals from certain countries.

Contrast this with Spain's digital nomad program, where they don't require someone to have a powerful passport, all they seem to care about is having a job outside spain.

https://prie.comercio.gob.es/en-us/paginas/teletrabajadores-...

I traveled from US to Iceland to France without knowing this and honestly thought I somehow bypassed customs when I got to France. So, this is correct you can go from Iceland to other Schengen zone countries without any checks (I didn't show my passport or do customs at all)

This is essentially just a way for people from the Americas to legally work from Iceland for a few months.

Or Australians... or Malaysians... or Japanese...

Or Brits, presumably just the 75% that did not vote to reduce their right to live and work in dozens of countries

Iceland is not in the EU either.

Iceland is in the EEA meaning EU citizens can work there without a permit for upto 3 months

that's CAD 10k per month, not pocket changes indeed.

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