Estonian citizenship law details the conditions by which a person is a citizen of Estonia. 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 (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 (EFTA) country and may vote in elections to the European Parliament.
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.
From 1940-41 and 1944-91 Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union and all local residents were considered citizens of the USSR by the former 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
Resolution Concerning the Citizenship of the Democratic Republic of Estonia, the first Estonian citizenship law was adopted by the Estonian National Council on 26 November 1918. According to this law, 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 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 and faith were proclaimed Estonian citizens.
The Citizenship Law adopted in 1922 defined the principles of succession by applying the jus sanguinis 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.
Undefined citizenship
'Undefined citizenship' (, ) is a term used in Estonia to denote a post-Soviet form of statelessness. 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. Russia being the successor state to the Soviet Union, all former USSR citizens qualified for citizenship of the Russian Federation, 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.