Brits living in Estonia have not expressed interest in Estonian citizenship

TALLINN - Ahead of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, tens of thousands of British citizens have chosen the citizenship of some other country, but only one Brit has recently chosen an Estonian citizenship.

Spokespeople for the Ministry of the Interior told BNS that only one British citizen submitted an application for Estonian citizenship last year and the applicant was also granted the citizenship. Before that, no Brits had sought out Estonian citizenship for years.

Spokespeople added that no British citizens have applied to be granted Estonian citizenship this year, either.

The ministry spokesperson said that foreigners who wish to receive Estonian citizenship must have lived in Estonia for at least eight years on the basis of a residence permit or right of residence before the submission of the citizenship application. Estonian law also does not allow dual citizenship.

According to the population register, there were 1,422 British citizens living in Estonia as of Jan. 1, 2019. The number stood at 1,286 Brits at the same time the year before. Thus, the number of British citizens living in Estonia has increased 11 percent on year.

The Guardian reported that approximately 200,000 British citizens submitted applications for Irish citizenship last year and many have also chosen French or German citizenship.