The Icelandic Directorate of Immigration is currently reviewing one of the most unusual cases in their history. The case involves the immigration status of a woman from Venezuela who was smuggled into the country by her then Icelandic boyfriend, a pilot for a local airline.
Last year, a woman who has yet to be named, came from New York to Iceland on a cargo ship piloted by her then boyfriend. When the plane arrived at Keflavik airport, the woman went with her boyfriend through the staff entrance instead of passing through passport control.
“When we arrived in Keflavik I told him that I wanted to go through passport control to be legally registered in the country. He told me it wasn’t necessary and I trusted him to know the laws in this country better than I did,” she continued.
Now the woman has broken up with her boyfriend and says she knows the laws of the country much better. In fact, she is using those laws to sue her ex-boyfriend for assault and for smuggling her into the country, as well as to apply for a residence permit in Iceland.
“I know the rules and I know that Venezuelan citizens can travel to the Schengen countries without a visa and can stay there legally for three months as tourists,” the woman told the local newspaper.
Icelandic law states that it is the pilot’s responsibility to register any passengers on a cargo airplane with passport control.