It is easy for us to ask why a person who has lived in Estonia for 10, 20 or more years is still not an Estonian citizen. From the outside, the path may seem simple: learn the language, pass the exams, submit the documents and become a citizen. In reality, it can mean years of studying, paperwork and waiting, as well as significant costs in many cases.

We can see this particularly clearly now in the case of permanent residents of Estonia who are citizens of the Russian Federation and want to become Estonian citizens. In August, the cost of renouncing Russian citizenship rose sharply. While the cost associated with the process could until recently be just over €300, it now costs €2,376.

ERR recently reported on the experience of one new Estonian citizen whose path to Estonian citizenship took nearly three and a half years, with renouncing Russian citizenship taking the most time. They had to wait months for a consular appointment and some of the required documents expired in the meantime.

The high fee, long waits and complicated process are increasingly giving people the impression that renouncing Russian citizenship has been made so difficult that it seems almost insurmountable and that there is no point in even starting the journey toward Estonian citizenship. Our task is to counter this discouraging narrative by showing that, alongside the obstacles, there are also concrete opportunities and support available for applying for Estonian citizenship.

For many people, €2,376 represents several years of savings or simply a sum their family budget cannot afford. Of course, Estonia did not impose this fee. We cannot influence another country's procedures, waiting times or state fees, but that does not make the obstacle any smaller for the person involved. When we discuss why someone is not yet an Estonian citizen, we must also take into account circumstances that depend neither on the Estonian state nor on the applicant's own will.

Not everything can be explained by a lack of desire

In public debate, we occasionally hear that if someone had really wanted Estonian citizenship, they would have obtained it long ago. That may be true for some people, as citizenship is a conscious choice and not all noncitizens living in Estonia want Estonian citizenship. Research shows, however, that the situation cannot be explained simply by a lack of desire.

According to the 2023 Estonian Integration Monitoring survey, 48 percent of permanent residents surveyed who did not have Estonian citizenship wanted to obtain it. Among Russian citizens, the figure was 50 percent. Among residents with undetermined citizenship, it was 60 percent at the time.

A comprehensive study of residents with undetermined citizenship published in 2025 showed an even greater willingness to obtain Estonian citizenship. Given the opportunity, 79 percent of respondents would choose Estonian citizenship, while 65 percent said they were prepared to apply for it. The study also clearly highlighted the obstacles. The most frequently cited barrier was attaining the required B1 level of proficiency in Estonian, but a lack of money and time, age and limited awareness of the process also pose problems.

These figures do not mean that all these people will submit citizenship applications tomorrow, but the desire is not confined to survey responses. Russian citizens submitted 465 applications for Estonian citizenship to the Police and Border Guard Board in 2025, followed by another 217 in the first seven months of 2026.

Next to requirements, we must talk about what citizenship provides

There are specific requirements for applying for Estonian citizenship. Applicants must know Estonian, be familiar with the Constitution and the Citizenship Act and meet the other conditions established by law. Citizenship is a legal relationship between an individual and the state that entails both rights and obligations.

Alongside these requirements, it is also important to talk about what being a citizen means to people personally. In the latest Integration Monitoring survey, people who wanted Estonian citizenship cited the opportunity to participate in Estonian public life and vote in elections as one of its main benefits.

In our work at the Integration Foundation, we see that the meaning of citizenship is deeply personal. For some, it is important that the entire family share the same citizenship; for others, it is about having the opportunity to participate more actively in Estonia's social and political life.

For some, Estonian citizenship provides greater legal certainty as well as the rights and opportunities that come with EU citizenship. For others, becoming an Estonian citizen represents long-awaited confirmation that their legal status finally reflects the reality of their lives: their family, work, home and future are in Estonia.

If we talk more as a society about the value of Estonian citizenship and what it means to be a citizen, it may also give some people an additional incentive to take concrete steps toward citizenship.

Support does not mean lowering the bar

We cannot take the exam for someone or make the decision for them. Nor can we arrange for them to renounce another country's citizenship. What we can do is help them understand the next step in applying for citizenship and what support the Estonian state provides along the way.

It is important to us that people do not give up on the path to citizenship simply because they do not know where to start or what to do next or because the entire process has been portrayed as hopelessly complicated.

The Integration Foundation's role is to make the path to Estonian citizenship as clear and manageable as possible. People can come to us even with beginner-level Estonian and work step by step toward the required proficiency level, receive support in preparing for the citizenship exam and get advice throughout the process. In cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Culture, we provide free language courses, opportunities to practice Estonian and civic education.

In my view, we need to pay more attention to civic education than we have in the past so that residents whose native language is not Estonian have a better understanding of how the Estonian state and society function, the shared information space, national defense and opportunities to participate and have a say in public life.

Behind the requirements, services and statistics, however, we must see the individual: the person who goes to Estonian classes after a day at work, the person preparing for the B1 exam, perhaps not for the first time, the person gathering documents and waiting months for a response from another country's consulate and perhaps also the person who has to find more than €2,000 to renounce their current citizenship.

These efforts should not be taken for granted. When someone becomes an Estonian citizen after a journey lasting years, that choice deserves to be noticed and recognized. Instead of asking, "Why only now?" perhaps we should say: "Welcome to the ranks of Estonian citizens!"

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!