Estonian citizenship law details the conditions by which a person is a citizen of

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. The primary law currently governing these requirements is the Citizenship Act, which came into force on 1 April 1995. Estonia is a

member state of the European Union The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of Lists of member states of the European Union, 27 member states that are party to the EU's Treaties of the European Union, founding treaties, and thereby subject to the privileges and ...

(EU) and all Estonian citizens are EU citizens. They have automatic and permanent permission to live and work in any EU or

European Free Trade Association The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe, European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. ...

(EFTA) country and may vote in

elections to the European Parliament Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until 2019, 751 ...

. Any person born to at least one Estonian parent receives Estonian citizenship at birth. Noncitizens may naturalise as Estonian citizens after living in the country for at least eight years as a permanent resident or on a valid long-term residence permit and showing proficiency in the

Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language and the official language of Estonia. It is written in the Latin script and is the first language of the majority of the country's population; it is also an official language of the European Union. Estonian is sp ...

. From 1940-41 and 1944-91 Estonia was occupied by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and all local residents were considered citizens of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

by the former

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

authorities. Since the restoration of the country's full independence in 1991, the Estonian government has asserted legal continuity with its pre-1940 predecessor and therefore all citizens of Estonia as of 1940 as well as all of their descendants are automatically considered citizens of Estonia now. Anyone who settled in the country during the 1940–1991 German and Soviet occupations, and their children, did not automatically become Estonian citizens in 1991, and many of these first and second generation immigrants have remained in Estonia as noncitizen residents.

History

The Estonian National Council adopted the ''Resolution Concerning the Citizenship of the Democratic Republic of Estonia'', the first Estonian citizenship law, on 26 November 1918. This law proclaimed as Estonian citizens all people who *1) were permanent residents on the day the law came into force on the territory of the Republic of Estonia; *2) prior to the

Estonian Declaration of Independence The Estonian Declaration of Independence, formally titled the Manifesto to the Peoples of Estonia (), is the founding document which established the independent democratic Estonia, Republic of Estonia in 1918. Issued during a period of intense p ...

on 24 February 1918 had been subjects of the Russian State; *3) were entered in the parish registers or originated from the territory of Estonia, regardless of their ethnicity or faith. The Citizenship Law adopted in 1922 defined the principles of succession by applying the ''

jus sanguinis ( or , ), meaning 'right of blood', is a principle of nationality law by which nationality is determined or acquired by the nationality of one or both parents. Children at birth may be nationals of a particular state if either or both of thei ...

'' principle.

Eligibility for Estonian citizenship

By descent

Children born to parents, at least one of whom was an Estonian citizen at the time of birth (regardless of the place of birth) are automatically considered Estonian citizens by descent.

By place of birth

Children born in Estonia are eligible for Estonian citizenship if at least one parent holds Estonian citizenship at the time of birth.

By marriage

A person who married an Estonian citizen before 26 February 1992 is eligible for Estonian citizenship.

By naturalisation

Those seeking to become Estonian citizens via naturalisation are required to fulfill the following criteria: * applicant is aged 15 or over * resided in Estonia legally for at least eight years and, of that, have spent the last five years with permanent residence in Estonia * be familiar with the Estonian language. People who have graduated from an Estonian-speaking high school or an institute of higher education are assumed to fulfill this criterion without the need to take a full examination. * take an examination demonstrating familiarity with the Estonian Constitution * showing a demonstrated means of support * taking an oath of loyalty Those who have committed serious crimes or are foreign military personnel on active duty are ineligible to seek naturalisation as an Estonian citizen.

Duties and rights of Estonian citizenship

* Male Estonian citizens are required to take up

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

Undefined citizenship

'Undefined citizenship' (, ) is a term used in

to denote a post-Soviet form of

statelessness In international law, a stateless person is someone who is "not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law". Some stateless people are also refugees. However, not all refugees are stateless, and many people who are s ...

. It is applied to those migrants from former Soviet republics and their children who were unable or unwilling to pursue any country's citizenship after the

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

being the

successor state Succession of states is a concept in international relations regarding a successor state that has become a sovereign state over a territory (and populace) that was previously under the sovereignty of another state. The theory has its roots in 19th ...

to the Soviet Union, all former

citizens qualified for citizenship of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, available upon request, as provided by the law "On the RSFSR Citizenship" in force up to the end of 2000. Estonia's policy of requiring naturalisation of post-war immigrants was in part influenced by Russia's citizenship law and the desire to prevent dual citizenship, and upon the established legal principle that persons who settle under the rule of an occupying power gain no automatic right to nationality. According to Peter Van Elsuwege, a scholar in European law at

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

, a number of historic precedents support this, most notably the case of Alsace-Lorraine when France on recovering the territory in 1918 did not automatically grant French citizenship to German settlers despite Germany having annexed the territory 47 years earlier in 1871. The policy meant a high level of statelessness initially, with almost 30% of the population having no citizenship in the first years after Estonia regained independence in 1991.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

claims that this policy was discriminatory, especially against the country's Russian-speaking immigrant minority, and in violation of the

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is a United Nations convention. A third-generation human rights instrument, the Convention commits its members to the elimination of racial discri ...

. In the 2010s Estonia took steps to reduce child statelessness, including granting citizenship to children born to non-citizen parents automatically. Persons of undefined citizenship who reside legally in Estonia can apply for an Estonian alien's passport. An Estonian alien's passport allows visa-free travel within Schengen treaty countries for a maximum of 90 days in a 6-month period. Alternatively they are entitled to naturalise as citizens and receive an Estonian passport, and more than half have opted to do so between 1992 and 2009. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, Advisory Committee on the

Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) is a multilateral treaty of the Council of Europe aimed at protecting the minority rights, rights of minorities. It came into effect in 1998 and by 2009 it had been ratif ...

and UN Special Rapporteur on racism Doudou Diène recommend to Estonia simplifying naturalization generally or for the elderly and economically marginalized, as well as encouraging registration of children born in Estonia after 1991 as its citizens.UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
Report on mission to Estonia
(2008), Paragraph 91.

Dual citizenship

Multiple nationality is legally not permitted. However, in practice, birthright citizens can hold multiple nationalities. Naturalised citizens cannot hold multiple nationalities. According to law, Estonian citizenship is forfeited by law upon voluntary acquisition of a foreign citizenship or entry into military or civilian service for another state. However, according to Article 8 of the Constitution, Estonian nationality by descent is inalienable and cannot be involuntarily revoked.

Citizenship of the European Union

Because Estonia forms part of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, Estonian citizens are also citizens of the European Union under

European Union law European Union law is a system of Supranational union, supranational Law, laws operating within the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). It has grown over time since the 1952 founding of the European Coal and Steel Community, to promote ...

and thus enjoy rights of free movement and have the right to vote in

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. When in a non-EU country where there is no Estonian embassy, Estonian citizens have the right to get consular protection from the embassy of any other EU country present in that country. Estonian citizens can live and work in any country within the EU as a result of the right of free movement and residence granted in Article 21 of the EU Treaty.

Travel freedom of Estonian citizens

Visa requirements for Estonian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of

. As of 7 July 2020, Estonian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 179 countries and territories, ranking the Estonian passport 13th in the world according to the Henley Passport Index. Holders of Estonian alien's passport face different visa requirements. In 2017, the Estonian nationality is ranked twenty-first in the Nationality Index (QNI). This index differs from the Visa Restrictions Index, which focuses on external factors including travel freedom. The QNI considers, in addition, to travel freedom on internal factors such as peace & stability, economic strength, and human development as well.

References

External links

Police and Border Guard Board
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estonian Nationality Law Nationality law Immigration law Law of Estonia Human rights in Estonia Russians in Estonia Estonia and the European Union