Re-acquisition under original §7 (transitional restoration)

Act 100/1952 §18 (introduced by L. 11/2020 art [§18 insertion] EIF 2020-04-01) creates a specific restoration pathway for persons who lost Icelandic citizenship under original §7 (automatic loss upon acquisition of foreign citizenship). The provision allows such persons to petition UTL to restore their Icelandic citizenship, subject to fulfillment of the §12 residency requirement (dvalarskilyrði) [pins: + +].

The core conditions under §18:

1. Loss under original §7: the applicant must have lost Icelandic citizenship specifically because they acquired foreign citizenship during the period when original §7's automatic-loss mechanism was operative (i.e., before L. 9/2003 EIF 2003-07-01)

2. UTL petition: unlike the declaration routes (§3, §4), §18 is a petition-based route requiring UTL consideration rather than a pure entitlement-based declaration

Who is within scope

This route is specifically designed for:

• Icelandic citizens who emigrated before 2003 and naturalized in a receiving country (e.g., Canada, USA, Denmark, Sweden), thereby automatically losing Icelandic citizenship under old §7
• Their children who may have been affected derivatively
• Individuals who may not have realized they lost citizenship because of the automatic nature of the loss mechanism

This route is NOT applicable to:

• Persons who lost citizenship under §12 (age-22 automatic loss for those born abroad) — those persons use IS-DSC-RE-ACQUISITION-2Y-01 (§4) or IS-NAT-06 (§8(1) item 5)
• Persons whose loss occurred for reasons other than §7 automatic-loss

Temporal scope

The loss must have occurred while original §7 was operative — i.e., before L. 9/2003 EIF 2003-07-01. Persons who acquired foreign citizenship after 2003-07-01 did not lose Icelandic citizenship under §7 (as L. 9/2003 removed the automatic-loss rule) and therefore are not within §18's scope [pins: +].

• Þjóðskrá historical extract confirming former Icelandic citizenship
• Evidence of foreign citizenship acquisition that triggered §7 automatic loss (e.g., naturalization certificate from receiving country + approximate date)
• Evidence confirming acquisition occurred before 2003-07-01
• Evidence of §12 dvalarskilyrði fulfillment (current lögheimili in Iceland, or equivalent connection)
• Identity documents (current passport)
• Any family connection documents if restoration is sought on derivative basis

1. Research eligibility — confirm that citizenship was lost specifically under original §7 (not §12 or other mechanisms); obtain Þjóðskrá records showing former IS citizenship

2. Petition to UTL — file petition under §18 with supporting documentation

3. §12 dvalarskilyrði documentation — provide evidence of current or intended lögheimili in Iceland, or other connection

4. UTL review — UTL reviews the circumstances of the original loss (to confirm §7 applicability) and assesses §12 satisfaction

5. UTL decision — restoration confirmed or declined

6. Þjóðskrá registration — upon positive decision, citizenship status restored and kennitala updated

§18 petitions are not publicly benchmarked by UTL with a separate waiting-time indicator. Processing time is likely comparable to general naturalization review (17-18 months as of 2026-04-29 for naturalization) but the petition character of §18 (as opposed to the automatic declaration routes) means it falls within UTL's discretionary review queue [pins: +].

• UTL petition fee: per UTL gjaldskrá
• No language test requirement (language test is a §9 naturalization condition, not a §18 restoration condition)
• Þjóðskrá registration: standard fee

• L. 9/2003 EIF 2003-07-01 — removed the automatic-loss-upon-foreign-acquisition mechanism; this is the causal reform that §18 addresses
• L. 11/2020 EIF 2020-04-01 — introduced §18 transitional provision for those who lost under old §7

Pending reforms