[lapetitejort]

> The applicant can show their monthly income is equivalent to 1,000,000 ISK, or 1,300,000 ISK if applying for an accompanying spouse, cohabiting partner, and children under the age of 18.

That comes out to about $96k USD a year. Totally reachable for a SWE-type job, however I know fully remote workers who are far from this amount. I guess they just want people to come and throw money around the bars.

[cko]

I assume the reason is more banal - that Iceland is a high cost of living country. I can't imagine groceries to be very cheap. So after those high basic expenses, I'm sure there needs to be enough fun money left over to throw at the Icelandic economy.

[ohashi]

I went probably 5 years ago and found it to be one of the most expensive places I've ever been. I lived in the Nordics for years, I've been to around 50 countries. The only other country that I felt gave it a run for the money in terms of my spending was Norway. I was a tourist, so lots of eating at restaurants, no cooking, but average meal for a basic drink + entre out I was averaging ~$50. I think you're right about the costs, it's a very high COL place and they probably don't want to encourage cheap backpacker type nomads who don't add a whole lot to the economy.

[sofixa]

Have you been to Switzerland and if yes, how does it compare? It's the most expensive county I've been to, and it was a bit shockingly so ( an example i recall was a burger in some random restaurant (nothing fancy) in Geneva costing 30CHF, which is a lot even compared to Paris, which is already an expensive place).

[ajmurmann]

I've been visiting regularly over the last 10 years or so and it's definitely gotten more expensive the last few years. Also much more tourist oriented...

[Ansil849]

> definitely gotten more expensive the last few years.

Is there any place which has gotten cheaper in recent years? Genuinely wondering.

[newsbinator]

Any place where the currency crashed, crashes regularly, or which is economically unstable.

E.g. Turkey, Belarus. They haven't necessarily gotten cheaper, but they probably have to tourists shopping in USD.

[pavlov]

So, almost back to where it was before the 2008 crash?

[MattGaiser]

I had a friend travel to Iceland. She was a student, so doing it on the cheap. Didn't eat a lot while there as the food was so expensive.

[vmception]

They want non-EU persons that dont need a visa who are already making at least $96k/yr remotely

They know what they’re doing :) who is left? U and S

[m3adow]

You shouldn't forget about Canada and especially the UK now that they brexited.

[vmception]

I hadn't really been impressed by salaries in Commonwealth countries for the roles that can be remote that I'm thinking of.

[moltar]

Very small % of devs make $96K USD annually. Maybe $96K CAD.

[TheCoelacanth]

Definitely not very small. It's a bit above average but it's not uncommon at all.

[moltar]

https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salaries/software-developer-salary-...

https://www.glassdoor.ca/Career/software-developer-career_KO...

[Handytinge]

Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, the UK, etc etc.

There's a lot of countries out there with high earners who aren't in the EU or USA ;).

[mr90210]

Well said!