Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Statistics Iceland Borgartúni 21a 105 Reykjavík Iceland
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
14 October 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
14 October 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
14 October 2025
3.1. Data description
Data collection on the residence permits (RESPER) statistics contains statistical information based on the principles stated in the Union legislation on migration Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 as amended by the Regulation (EU) 2020/851 and the Commission Regulation (EU) No 216/2010 implementing the categories of reasons for residence permits.
The main RESPER data collection based on Article 6 of the Migration Statistics Regulation
First residence permits,
Residence permits issued on the occasion of changing the immigration status or reason to stay,
Residence permits valid at the end of the year,
Long-term residence permits valid at the end of the year,
Long-term permits issued during the year.
Statistics collected on voluntary basis
Residence permits issued for family reunification with beneficiaries of protection status.
3.2. Classification system
See table 3.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Migration and asylum – Residence permits statistics.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
See table 3.4. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
3.5. Statistical unit
Number of persons. For RP5 and RP5AS individuals can be counted more than once if they change their reason to stay over the reference year more than once.
3.6. Statistical population
See table 3.6. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
3.7. Reference area
Iceland
3.8. Coverage - Time
See table 3.8. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Number of persons.
Calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Act No. 163/2007 on Statistics Iceland and Official Statistics.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
The Directorate of Immigration in Iceland delivers the source data, collected by them, annually to Statistics Iceland. The data sharing is mandatory regulated by the Act No. 163/2007, on Statistics Iceland and Official Statistics.
Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Act No. 163/2007, on Statistics Iceland and Official Statistics.
8.1. Release calendar
Data on first residence permits are scheduled to be released every year. Publications will be announced and scheduled in Statistics Iceland’s advance release calendar eight days before planned date of publication in accordance with the institution´s rules of publication.
Statistics Iceland only grants access to confidential data for certified scientific research purposes or for collaboration with international institutions within the European Statistical System (ESS). Strict conditions have been put into place for access to confidential data in both cases. Before access is authorised, direct identities are removed from the data and indirect identities are either removed or concealed as is possible while maintaining the utmost data security. It is possible to apply for access to Statistics Iceland´s micro-data online: Data for scientific research - Statistics Iceland (statice.is).
See "Eurostat guidlines on residence permits statistics" in annexes.
11.1. Quality assurance
Once the tables have been processed, they are sent to the Immigration Office, our contact there reviews the results and approves before it is sent to Eurostat.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Statistics Iceland has its own quality management system which is based on the principles of the European statistical cooperation (European-statistics-code-of-practice) and the UNECE business process model in statistical production (GSBPM; generic statistical business process model).
In general, it can be said that the data meets the quality standards required by Principles 11 – 15 in statistical reporting. The statistics are intended to fulfill the needs of users (Principle 11) regarding the number and nature of residence permits granted in Iceland. These are highly accurate data (Principle 12) with little or no uncertainty, for example no sampling error in the numbers, making it possible to make inferences based on a small number of groups in the data set with a high degree of certainty. Until now, the timeliness of the data has been poor (Principle 12), but Statistics Iceland is currently working to improve timeliness so that it complies with Eurostat's requirements. The consistency and comparability of the data is good (principle 14) as the data are based on international standards and definitions. The aim is always to produce data that are comparable over time as well as comparable with the data of other member states of the European Statistical System. Principle 15 on the accessibility and clarity of the data is fulfilled as numerical content is clearly presented in web tables that users can access free of charge.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The statistics collected under the Regulation 862/2007 are widely used in official publications and by a wide range of users at national, European and International level. The Residence permits statistics produced are regularly used by national administrations, academic researchers and civil society groups working on a wide range of topics including the integration of immigrants, the development and monitoring of national asylum and immigration procedures, and the projection of the future population and labour force.
At European level, the main users of Residence permits statistics are Eurostat and DG Migration and Home Affairs. These statistics are used in several publications of the Commission, as well as in the preparation of regular reports, policy proposals and analysis. The statistics also provide an input to the European Migration Network (EMN) studies and reports that address specific issues of current policy importance.
At the national level, only the first permits are published in a table. There, the data is grouped into larger categories. Instead of country of citizenship it is grouped into continents. The Reason variable is only classified into Education reasons, Employment reasons, Family reasons and Other. Another breakdown is to group by gender and the year the permit was issued.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not available.
12.3. Completeness
See table 12.3. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
Not applicable.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
No known accuracy issue.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Errors in recording are unavoidable. The Directory of Immigration has initiated work with the aim of improving inhouse processes for data recording intended to decrease the rate of errors.
13.3.1. Coverage error
No known coverage error.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not applicable.
13.3.2. Measurement error
No known measurement error.
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.4. Processing error
Errors in recording are unavoidable. The Directory of Immigration has initiated work with the aim of improving inhouse processes for data recording intended to decrease the rate of errors.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
The figures will be available six months after the end of the reference year.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not applicable.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not applicable.
14.2. Punctuality
See table 14.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Not applicable.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Comparability across countries within the ESS is ensured. The data is processed according to Eurostat´s guidelines which are followed by all countries within ESS.
The only deviation from Eurostat's classificaiton is in the case of sex. Information about non-binary persons is available in the source data, these are very few cases and they are classied as females for Eurostat's submission.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
See table 15.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
Not applicable.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
There is full coherence between the statistics broken down by duration of permit and by age.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
No problem. All categories/breakdowns that apply in Iceland are in accordance to the Technical guidelines, see Annex.
There is no extra burden or cost for the individuals reported in the data. The main cost in is processing and analysing the data which falls on the directory of immigration and Statistics Iceland, mostly in ensuring data quality and harmonizing measures.
See table 17.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Not applicable.
18.1. Source data
See table 18.1. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
The Directory of Immigration sends residency permit data annually.
18.3. Data collection
The source data is collected by The Directory of Immigration.
All relevant text is selected from drop-down lists in the system that the Directory of Immigration uses, therefore there are no typing errors. However, there is no garentee that the correct text has always been chosen.
An employee of the Directory of Immigration reviews all necessary fields to ensure they are filled in before sending the data to Statictics Iceland.
18.4. Data validation
Special care is made to ensure data consistency and to count individuals only once. The results are also validated by an automatic process available as a part of Eurostat’s data submission portal (EDAMIS).
When the results have been analyzed they are compared to results from previous years to ensure quality.
18.5. Data compilation
No estimations are done. The data is sent annually from The Directorate of Immigration to Statistics Iceland.
Data is processed and analysis is done using the statistical program R.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not applicable.
18.6. Adjustment
Data compilation is adjusted according to any changes in Eurostat´s code of practice.
Data collection on the residence permits (RESPER) statistics contains statistical information based on the principles stated in the Union legislation on migration Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 as amended by the Regulation (EU) 2020/851 and the Commission Regulation (EU) No 216/2010 implementing the categories of reasons for residence permits.
The main RESPER data collection based on Article 6 of the Migration Statistics Regulation
First residence permits,
Residence permits issued on the occasion of changing the immigration status or reason to stay,
Residence permits valid at the end of the year,
Long-term residence permits valid at the end of the year,
Long-term permits issued during the year.
Statistics collected on voluntary basis
Residence permits issued for family reunification with beneficiaries of protection status.
14 October 2025
See table 3.4. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
Number of persons. For RP5 and RP5AS individuals can be counted more than once if they change their reason to stay over the reference year more than once.
See table 3.6. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
Iceland
Calendar year.
No known accuracy issue.
Number of persons.
No estimations are done. The data is sent annually from The Directorate of Immigration to Statistics Iceland.
Data is processed and analysis is done using the statistical program R.
See table 18.1. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
The data are disseminated yearly on the website of Statistics Iceland, and they are also disseminated yearly by Eurostat.
The figures will be available six months after the end of the reference year.
Comparability across countries within the ESS is ensured. The data is processed according to Eurostat´s guidelines which are followed by all countries within ESS.
The only deviation from Eurostat's classificaiton is in the case of sex. Information about non-binary persons is available in the source data, these are very few cases and they are classied as females for Eurostat's submission.
See table 15.2. in annex ‘Quality report tables RESPER’.
