People

Registration of religious or life stance affiliation along with a new registration

Children

There are special rules on how children are registered in religious or life stance associations:

The following applies if the parents of a child are married or in a registered cohabitation at the time of birth:

  • If both parents belong to the same religious or life stance association or if they are both outside religious associations, the child is registered in the same manner as its parents.
  • If the parents do not belong to the same religious or life stance association, or if one parent is outside religious or life stance associations, the child is registered as belonging to an undefined religious association.

If the parents of a child are not married or in a registered cohabitation at the time of birth:

  • In such instances, the child is registered in the same religious or life stance association as the mother, as she is sole custodian until an agreement on the custody of the child is finalised at a district commissioner’s office.

Custodians can report the changes in a child’s registration when he/she joins or leaves its religious or life stance association. Baptism does not equal a registration in a religious or life stance association.

Foreign nationals

Foreign nationals are registered as belonging to an undefined religious association when first registering with Registers Iceland. A change of registration in a religious or life stance association or outside religious or life stance associations can be declared by submitting Form A-283 to Registers Iceland.