moving – Indonesian in Iceland

Posted on April 6, 2011April 29, 2011 by dyahanggraini · 1 Comment

Setting up bank accounts.

Despite all the hatred demonstrated towards Icelandic banks and their practices, I personally find that having a bank account in Iceland is important.

Almost all financial transactions in the country can be settled through debit cards, credit cards, and on-line fund transfer. So convenient! I have been paying all house bills, university tuition, car insurance, taxes, from the comfort of my own home, and I have on-line banking services to thank for that.

I remember the time when I had to drive my mum to some governmental bank in Jakarta to pay Pajak Bumi dan Bangunan, or some phone bills, or any other bills, which was so annoying and time consuming (don’t even get me started on the traffic jams I had to endure during those trips). I wasn’t sure if it was because my mum was very old-fashioned and computer-illiterate, or if it was because such easy on-line facilities simply does not exist.

Anyway, another thing that I find amazing in here, is that there is no minimum limit for credit card purchases! Imagine buying a hot dog for 200 ISK (around 20,000 IDR) and using a credit card to pay for it. Bliss, I tell you!

So, to all of you newly immigrants in Iceland, once you settle in the country and obtain your Icelandic ID number, rush to your nearest bank, and set up an account on your name. I assure you, it will make your life in Iceland so much easier.

Posted on April 5, 2011April 7, 2011 by dyahanggraini

Driving in Iceland.

I find the public transports in Iceland not as convenient as how most European countries are. There is a limited number of buses operating daily, with very limited routes. For example, it would take me a whopping 45 minutes bus ride from my house to town centre, which would only take me 10-12 minutes drive.

So, if you are anything like me, you’d opt for getting a car once you arrive in Iceland and drive your way everywhere.

Our Indonesian license is valid for driving in this country for the first six months since our arrival in Iceland. Afterwards, we are required to apply and obtain Icelandic driving license.

Here is the step-by-step instructions on how to apply for the driving license. Simply put, since Indonesia is not part of EU/EEA, we have to take BOTH theoretical and practical test for the driving license. Though the whole process seems to be lengthy and complicated, it really isn’t. The only drawback when I applied for my license was the fact that our Indonesian driving licences only provide information in Indonesian language, which required me to have it translated (bother, bother, bother…) before applying for the Icelandic one. So my advice to you all would be, to have all formal documents (e.g. driving license, birth certificate, etc.) translated to English if they are not already so.

If you happen to be an avid driver but for some reasons do not have your Indonesian driving licenses on hand (e.g. lost, expired, etc.), I’d suggest for you to go and get it straight away before coming to Iceland. Because once you get here, and try to apply for the Icelandic driving license, they won’t allow you to take the tests only (because you need to present your current driving license for that), but you will have to take up a whole driving courses and lessons in order to be qualified for driving tests, and trust me, not only it would be very lame, it would be very expensive as well (I think it can cost more than 100,000 ISK for the whole process, ouch!).

Posted on April 5, 2011April 6, 2011 by dyahanggraini

First things first.

First thing I would recommend for people who are moving to or planning to live in Iceland, is to check out this brilliant website that I accidentally found, island.is.

It’s chockfull of useful information for anyone who lives in Iceland, from general info about the country, business and industry, public services, education, housing, immigrations, etc. Basically, pretty much all information about administrative needs for a person to live in Iceland is there, and it’s available in English too!

While for you Indonesians out there who are just about to embark the journey to come here, your first and foremost requirement would be to obtain a visa. The Danish Embassy in Jakarta is responsible for issuing visas and permits to go to Iceland. Their website is very clear on visa/permits requirements and ways to apply.

Allow ample time to sort out the visa/permits before your travel date, as the application process can take a bit of time, depends on types of visa/permits applied and the completeness of documents required. So remember to always provide COMPLETE documents asked by the embassy, or else it will take a whole lot longer time to get your visa/permits issued.

Once you get all the boring administratives stuffs out of the way, next thing I’d recommend would be to enjoy your trip and look forward to coming to (in my personal opinion) one of the most amazing countries in the world. See you in Iceland!

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