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Living in Iceland · Municipal support · Reykjavík

Reykjavík: where to apply and who to ask

This page is the practical layer on top of the system page. If your legal home address is registered in Reykjavík, your council is Reykjavíkurborg, and nearly everything below is applied for in one place: the city's own website. Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður, Garðabær, Seltjarnarnes and Mosfellsbær are separate councils with their own websites and their own rules, even though they feel like the same city.

New to this topic? Start with municipal support and services for how the system works across the country, then come back here for the Reykjavík details.

One website, one login

Reykjavík runs its own service website. Nearly every application on this page (housing help, money help, daycare, school, leisure grants) is sent there with your electronic ID.

Last verified 5 August 2026 · reykjavik.is; island.is; skra.is

Mínar síður at reykjavik.is is the front door

What actually happens
Applications, decisions and messages from the city come to your account on reykjavik.is. Mínar síður (say: MEE-nar SEE-thur) means "my pages". You log in with the same electronic ID (rafræn skilríki, say: RAV-ryen SKIL-reek-i) you use for island.is and your bank. There is no paper copy sent as well. If you never open the site, you never see the decision.
What to do
Set up your electronic ID first. Then log in to Mínar síður once before you need anything, so you know it works. Check it every week while an application is open.
The common trap
Waiting for a letter in the post. The time you have to answer or to complain starts from the date of the online decision.

Your address must say Reykjavík before you apply

What actually happens
Reykjavíkurborg helps people whose lögheimili (legal home address) is registered in Reykjavík at Þjóðskrá. If you live in a flat in the city but are registered somewhere else, the city can refuse your application, and you must apply to the council on your registration instead.
What to do
Register the move at island.is in the week you move, then apply.

Money you can ask for in Reykjavík

The national supports are the same wherever you live. What Reykjavík adds on top is its own housing help and its own money help. Each one has its own application.

Last verified 5 August 2026 · reykjavik.is (velferðarsvið); hms.is; Lög um félagsþjónustu sveitarfélaga nr. 40/1991

Extra housing help (sérstakur húsnæðisstuðningur)

What actually happens
This is the Reykjavík top-up for households with low income who already get the national rent support (húsnæðisbætur) from HMS. It is a separate application to the city's welfare department. They look at the household's income and what you own. You do not get it just because HMS said yes.
What to do
Get the national support running first, then apply for the city help through Mínar síður. Have the registered rent contract, your last payslips and your tax return ready in one folder.
The common trap
Applying with a rent contract that is not registered, or an informal sublet. Neither the national support nor the city top-up can be paid on it.

Money help (fjárhagsaðstoð) from velferðarsvið

What actually happens
The city welfare department (velferðarsvið, say: VEL-fer-thar-svith) looks at residents who cannot support themselves. It is the last door. The city will first expect you to have claimed unemployment money, sick pay, union funds, parental pay and anything else you have a right to. You apply online and then meet a social worker.
What to do
Apply in the month you need it, and ask for an interpreter when you book the meeting. The help usually starts from the month you apply, not from when the trouble began.
The common trap
Pulling out because the first questions feel too personal. Questions about income and what you own are normal, and the case stops if you stop answering.

One-off grants and help with debt

What actually happens
As well as monthly help, the city can give one-off money in certain situations, and it offers free money advice to households behind on payments. They decide case by case, so this is rarely advertised. You usually find it by asking.
What to do
Say the exact problem and the exact result if it is not fixed when you contact the service centre. A clear request gets looked at. A vague one gets a leaflet.

Children, daycare and school in Reykjavík

Reykjavík has its own waiting list, its own school areas and its own leisure card. All three are handled on the city website.

Last verified 5 August 2026 · reykjavik.is (skóla- og frístundasvið); Lög um grunnskóla nr. 91/2008; Lög um leikskóla nr. 90/2008

Frístundakortið, the Reykjavík leisure card

What actually happens
Reykjavík gives every registered child in the right age range money each year towards organised sport, music, dance and similar activities. Frístundakortið (say: FREE-stun-da-kor-tith) means "the leisure card". It is not paid to you. The club takes it off your bill using the child's kennitala. Money you do not use usually disappears at the end of the year.
What to do
Give the club the child's kennitala when you sign them up, and check on the city website that the money was taken off the bill.
The common trap
Paying the whole bill yourself and asking afterwards. It is much harder to fix once it is paid.

Preschool (leikskóli) is a waiting list, not a place given to you

What actually happens
You apply on the city website and your child joins a queue, ordered mainly by age and by the date you applied. Reykjavík also pays part of the cost of private daycare and childminders (dagforeldrar, say: DAG-for-el-drar), who often have shorter queues.
What to do
Register the child as early as the city allows, and ask about the childminder support as a bridge while you wait.
The common trap
Planning your return to work for the day your parental leave ends. The gap between leave ending and a place opening is the most common money shock for new parents in the city.

School place, Icelandic help and after-school care

What actually happens
Your child is offered a place in the school for your registered address. Children whose first language is not Icelandic have a right to be taught Icelandic as a second language, and Reykjavík runs extra help for pupils who have just arrived. After-school care (frístundaheimili, say: FREE-stun-da-hay-mi-li) is a separate application, in spring for the next school year.
What to do
Contact the school yourself once you are registered. Ask in writing for the Icelandic-as-a-second-language help, and ask for an interpreter at the first parent meeting.

Help in a crisis

The Reykjavík welfare service is also the emergency service for losing your home, violence at home and child welfare. It is not only an office for forms.

Last verified 5 August 2026 · reykjavik.is; 112.is; Barnaverndarlög nr. 80/2002

Outside office hours, and in an emergency

What actually happens
In an emergency, call 112. Outside office hours, Reykjavík runs an emergency social service that you reach through 112 for urgent welfare and child protection situations.
What to do
Say clearly that it is a social emergency and which language you need. An interpreter can be arranged.

If you are about to lose your home

What actually happens
The city can act on unpaid rent, help you look for housing, or offer a temporary place to stay. What it can do gets much smaller once you have already been put out.
What to do
Contact your service centre on the day the notice arrives, and bring the notice and the rent contract.

Barnavernd Reykjavíkur (city child protection)

What actually happens
Child protection in the city belongs to the welfare department. A call from barnavernd (say: BARN-a-vernd) frightens many newcomers, because in some countries it means children are taken away. In Iceland the normal result is a plan agreed with the family.
What to do
Go to the meeting, bring an interpreter, and ask for the plan and anything they want from you in writing. There is a full page about this: Child protection in Iceland.
The common trap
Not turning up. Silence is read as risk, and nothing turns a small case into a serious one faster.

Jobs with the city

Every council advertises its own jobs on its own website, and Reykjavík is no different. Many of these jobs are in schools, care homes, daycare, libraries, sports centres, service centres and maintenance. They are often not on the national job sites like Alfreð.

Last verified 5 August 2026 · reykjavik.is

Look at the city's own job page

What actually happens
City jobs are posted on the same site as the services on this page. Some jobs need Icelandic, but many service and care jobs also accept English or other languages at the start.
What to do
Search the jobs section on reykjavik.is with your electronic ID ready. Apply through the city website even if the advert is also somewhere else, so your application lands in the right system.
The common trap
Only looking at national job sites. The city's own jobs are a separate channel, and they can be a faster way into steady work with regular hours.

Where to go and what to bring

Reykjavík is divided into service centres (þjónustumiðstöðvar, say: THYOH-nus-tu-mith-stuh-thvar) by neighbourhood. Your centre depends on your registered address, and that is where the social worker handling your case sits.

Last verified 5 August 2026 · reykjavik.is

Reaching a real person

What actually happens
The city has one service phone line and one service desk for everything, and the neighbourhood service centres handle welfare cases. The phone number and the address of your centre are on reykjavik.is.
What to do
Look up your service centre by your street before you call, and ask for an interpreter when you book, not when you arrive.

The folder that makes every application faster

What actually happens
Most delays in Reykjavík are missing papers, not refusals. The same set is asked for again and again.
What to do
Keep copies on your phone or computer of: your registered rent contract, the last three payslips, your latest tax return, bank statements, the children's kennitölur, and any decision letter from HMS, Vinnumálastofnun or Tryggingastofnun.

Reykjavíkurborg sets its own amounts, income limits and closing dates, and looks at them again every year. We do not list amounts here on purpose. Check the current figure on reykjavik.is before you rely on it, and ask for every decision in writing.

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