At present Iceland is going through hard times and economic difficulties, and many fear an exodus from the country. Some want to move east across the ocean, others west. In the second half of the 19th century and into the early 20th, many people emigrated west across the ocean and settled in Canada and the United States. The Canadian government sent “agents” to Iceland to help people and encourage them to go. In the depression of the 1930s interest in emigrating to America revived, but it was not without difficulties and depended on various conditions. Nicolai Bjarnason, a merchant in Reykjavík, wrote Leiðbeiningar fyrir vesturfara (Guidance for emigrants to America), in which he sets out the many things that could prevent people from getting a residence permit in the United States. His list is amusing and frank, as you can read on pp. 3–4 of the Leiðbeiningar.
