TALLINNUpon acceding to the European Union, visa regulations, amendments to the Law on Foreigners and the enactment of the Law on EU Citizens will introduce a number of changes in Estonia's immigration procedures. These procedures will become simpler for citizens, whose applications will be considered on the so-called "confidential proceedings principle," said Leevi Laever, head of the Citizenship and Migration Board's foreigner documentation department.
No major changes will be introduced to citizens of the United States, Canada or Australia, who will be considered as third-country citizens, Laever said.
As of May 1, Canadian citizens can stay in Estonia visa-free for up to 90 days within a six-month period.
He added that closer attention would be paid to citizens of "risk" countries - states currently known for unstable health situations or extremist movements.
The main changes in the Law on Foreigners, which regulates relations with stateless people and citizens of non-EU countries, feature a tighter control over reasons to issue residence and work permits.
For example, an applicant may not get a residence permit if his or her real reason for living in Estonia is different from that stated in the application, or if the Estonian authorities suspect him or her of being a threat to public safety and order.
"It is difficult to think of an example now," Laever said. "Our actions on defining such a threat will be based on the existing court decisions of similar cases."
EU citizens will be allowed to stay in Estonia for three months, or for six months after registration if looking for a job. A five-year residence permit can be granted to citizens who are employed, reuniting with their family or have legal income sufficient for living in the country. A one-year residence permit will be issued to students.
Residence-permit applications can be filled out in Estonian or English, and the usual period for getting a "yes" or "no" from the Citizenship and Migration Board is one month, according to Laever.
The main visa-regulation changes mostly affect local residents inviting foreign guests into the country.
Margit Ratnik, head of the Citizenship and Migration Board visa bureau, said that after accession the state would have more options to make Estonian hosts responsible for either the cost of their guests' stay in the country or deportation.
If the deportation procedure's transportation, deportation center and police station expenses are not paid off by the foreigner's host in 90 days, they will be demanded by the bailiff.
Citizens should be careful and mind their responsibilities when inviting a person they hardly know, Ratnik warned.
"Sometimes girls invite a pretty brown boy they met in an Internet chat-room, and in a few weeks it turns out he does not want to leave Estonia," he said.
However, the majority of last year's invitations were issued to Russian citizens wishing to visit their relatives in Estonia. In 2003, nearly 40,000 out of a total of 46,953 invitations were issued to Russian citizens, followed by Ukrainian and Belarusian citizens.
When the EU passport standard is implemented, Estonian passports will change their cover color from blue to dark red in July 2007, according to the Estonian Citizenship and Migration Board.
The next generation's passports will contain a thick personal information page with an embedded chip that can be read without direct contact. Biometrical information may be added to the passports no earlier than July 2007, according to Mari Pedak, director of the Citizenship and Migration Board.
"The retina scan is too expensive, so we will probably include fingerprint data as the biometrical information stored on the passport chip," Pedak said.
Fingerprint checks will be required for all individuals entering Estonia within the next several years. The checks will help the state better control incoming people and help to avoid double asylum applications, Pedak said.
Today, an asylum seeker can stay in a member state until his application is considered. If it is rejected, he or she can move to another EU state and apply for asylum there.
"Under the current system, people can spend half of their life living on asylum seeker welfare in the EU. That will be ended soon," Pedak said.
Due to the massive amount of Estonian citizen and alien passports issued recently, the Citizenship and Migration Board will soon order more blank passports from its contractor.
