acit handbook estonia english

5/21/2018 ACIT Handbook Estonia ENGLISH

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HANDBOOK FOR ESTONIA

ROBERT

SCHUMAN

CENTRE FOR

ADVANCED

STUDIES

ACCESS TO CITIZENSHIPAND ITS IMPACT ONIMMIGRANT INTEGRATION

CITIZEN

SH

IP

EUROPEAN INTEGRATION FUND


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Prepared by the Migration Policy Group in cooperation withInstitute o Political Science and Governance at the Universityo allinn

Tis report was produced in the context o the project Accessto Citizenship and its Impact on Immigrant Integration(ACIT)co-unded by the European Fund or the Integrationo Non-EU immigrants (European Commission GrantAgreement: HOME/2010/EIFX/CA/1774).

We like to thank all reviewers including Iseult Honohan(University College Dublin), Kristen Jeffers (University CollegeLondon), Raivo Vetik (University o allinn) and the EUDOcountry expert or Estonia, Vadim Polestsuk.

HANDBOOK FOR ESTONIA

ACCESS TO CITIZENSHIPAND ITS IMPACT ONIMMIGRANT INTEGRATION


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INTRODUCTION

Te project Access to Citizenship and its Impact on Immigrant Integration (ACI)unded by the European Fund or the Integration o Non-EU Immigrants provides a

new evidence base or comparing different elements o citizenship in Europe.

Te five consortium partners (the European University Institute, the MigrationPolicy Group, University College Dublin, University o Edinburgh and MaastrichtUniversity) have developed our sets o citizenship indicatorson citizenship laws,

their implementation, shares o citizenship acquisition and citizenships impact on in-tegration or all 27 EU Member States, accession candidates (Croatia, Iceland, FormerYugoslav Republic o Macedonia, urkey) and European Economic Area countries(Norway, Switzerland).

Te outcomes o this research were presented to politicians, civil servants, memberso civil society and academics in ten EU Member States (Austria, Estonia, France,Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom) in orderto use this inormation to improve their policies and practices. Citizenship stake-

holders were asked to share their insights about which actors influence naturali-sation rates, on the impact o citizenship on integration, on past and uture policychanges and on the political environment or citizenship reorm. Tese nationalroundtables were a key element o this research as the national stakeholders had the

opportunity to interpret the results and give meaning to the numbers.

Te Migration Policy Group produced this handbook based on the results romthe citizenship indicators and the responses o national stakeholders at the national

roundtable. It provides a snapshot o how the vast amount o data o this project canbe used or national policy debates. All citizenship stakeholders, be they policymak-ers, academics, non-governmental organisations or others, can go online and createtheir own graphs, dig into the data and use this inormation or presentations, de-bates or publications. All the results are accessible through an interactive online tool

and comparative reportsat http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators .1

1 For more inormation on the background and methodology see appendix and visit http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators. For a more comprehensive overview o citizenship laws and procedures seethe EUDO country profile at http://eudo-citizenship.eu/country-profiles/?country=Estonia
http://eudo-citizenship.eu/about/acithttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/about/acithttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/country-profiles/?country=Estoniahttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/country-profiles/?country=Estoniahttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/about/acit


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1. CITIZENSHIP ACQUISITION INDICATORS:

WHO BECOMES A CITIZEN?

How likely are oreign born immigrants to become citizens in Europe and how long

does it take them? Citizenship Acquisition Indicators measure the share o oreign-born immigrants (aged 16-74) in 2008 that have acquired citizenship as well as the

number o years between arrival in the country o residence and the acquisition ocitizenship.2

In the figure below, oreign born reers to people born outside o the territory o

Estonia who were not automatically citizens upon independence. While this figuredoes not include the many people born in Estonia, it serves as a useul indicator oacquisition o citizenship or international comparison.

Overall, 31% o people born outside o Estonia have become citizens in Estonia

since independence.Tis share is ar lower than the average in the EU-12 countries.Te acquisition o citizenship varies considerably across the EU. Between 60% and70% o oreign-born immigrants are citizens in Sweden and the Netherlands, over70% in Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Lithuania. In the EU-12 context, only Latvia

has seen a smaller share o its oreign-born population become citizens.

Share o naturalised persons among first generation in EU-12, 2008

What explains why immigrants become citizens in Europe and how much time ittakes? Te analysis or Western Europe concludes that residence, immigrants coun-

try o origin, gender, background (education, employment and amily status among

2 See methodological appendix or more inormation.

Source: http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators
http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators


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5ACIT

others), and policies are determining actors to apply or citizenship. Due to data

limitations this kind o analysis is currently not possible or many EU-12 countries,including Estonia. Te ollowing paragraphs reer to EU-15 countries.

Te evidence rom Western Europe shows that residence matters: Our multivari-ate analysis3shows that the longer immigrants have settled in an EU-15 country (orNorway and Switzerland), the more likely they are to become citizens. Immigrantsbackground plays a major role. Te oreign born population that immigrated romless economically developed countries tend to naturalise more ofen in Europe thanimmigrants rom higher developed countries. Immigrants coming rom medium

and under-developed countries are on average 2.5 times more likely to be citizensthan those coming rom highly developed countries. Immigrants rom less devel-oped countries also take longer to acquire citizenship than immigrants rom higherdeveloped countries. Across EU countries, the role o immigrants backgrounds can

be reflected in the different results or EU and non-EU citizens: Immigrants romoutside the EU (on average rom lower developed countries) are commonly much

more likely to have become citizens in their country o residence.

Gender matters: Foreign born women in the EU-15 are usually more likely to

be citizens than men. Education, employment, amily status and the use o lan-

guage are additional actors that influence the acquisition o citizenship. Acrossmost EU-15 countries, immigrants rom less developed countries who have at leastsecondary education are about 42% more likely to naturalise than those with only

primary education. Immigrants rom both developing and developed countries aremore likely to be citizens i they speak the country o residences language at home, ithey are married, and i they are employed.

Policies matter: While these individual actors do play a role,citizenship laws signi-icantly influence how many immigrants become citizens because they determine

the conditions under which immigrants can choose to naturalise.

One example is the acceptance o multiple nationality: Immigrants rom less devel-oped countries that reside in EU countries that accept dual citizenship are 40% morelikely to be citizens o the country o residence.4

More importantly, inclusive citizenship laws in the country o residence have a majoreffect on whether or not immigrants naturalise:5

3 See Vink, M./ Prokic-Breuer, ./ Dronkers, J. (2013): Immigrant naturalisation in the context oinstitutional diversity: policy matters, but to whom? International Migration[orthcoming].4 Multiple nationality must be tolerated by both the country o origin and the country o residence.5 Policies are measured by an adjusted score o the Migrant Integration Policy Index, see www.mipex.eu/
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1468-2435http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1468-2435http://www.mipex.eu/http://www.mipex.eu/http://www.mipex.eu/http://www.mipex.eu/http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1468-2435


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6 ACIT

Probability o acquisition o citizenship or EU-15, Norway andSwitzerland6

Tis graph above shows how policies affect immigrants uptake o citizenship onaverage in EU-15 countries, Norway and Switzerland. Citizenship policies mattermore or immigrants rom less developed countries, especially or newcomers(asthe three lines in on the lef are steeper than the lines or immigrants rom higher

developed countries on the right). As or immigrants coming rom highly developedcountries, they are not only less likely to acquire citizenship, but whether or not they

do so also seems to depend on ewer actors that go beyond the time o residence inthe country.

Unortunately, the analysis o actors that influence naturalisation is currently notpossible or Central and Eastern European countries due to a lack o good qualitystatistics.

6 Te horizontal axis in the graph represents the openness o citizenship laws across EU countries.Te vertical axis represents the probability that oreign born immigrants are citizens. Tis analysis usedpooled data rom the European Social Survey (2002-2010) available or 16 Western European countries(EU-15, minus Italy, plus Norway and Switzerland). Te graph shows that citizenship laws have a differ-ent effect or immigrants rom different countries and with different length o duration in the country.

Immigrants from Low/Medium HDI countries

Pr(Citzenship)

MIPEX Access to Naonality

6 -10 years residence 11 -20 years residence

20 years and more

30 40 50 60 70 80

.2

.4

.6

.8

1

Immigrants from High HDI countries

Pr(Citzenship)

MIPEX Access to Naonality

6 -10 years residence 11 -20 years residence

20 years and more

30 40 50 60 70 80

0

.2

.4

.6

.8

1

Source: Vink, M./Prokic-Breuer, ./Dronkers, J. (2013),also see http://

eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators


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2. CITIZENSHIP LAW INDICATORS:

WHAT ARE IMMIGRANTS LEGAL

OPPORTUNITIES TO BECOME A CITIZEN?

Since citizenship policies influence why more immigrants become citizens in onecountry and not the other, what are the legal opportunities and obstacles that theyace in Europe? Citizenship Law Indicators describe and compare legal rules or

birth-right acquisition, naturalisation and loss o citizenship across countries andover time. Indicators measure degrees o inclusion and individual choice on a 0 to1 scale.7Te provisions o citizenship laws have different target groups, such as im-migrants, native born, emigrants, amily members o citizens or stateless persons. A

score o close to 1 indicates that the legal rules are relatively inclusive or the respec-tive target group or allow more choice o citizenship status to its members, whereas a

score close to 0 indicates more exclusion or lack o individual choice.

Overall, Estonias citizenship regime is more restrictive than in most EU-12 coun-tries.8While children born to an Estonian parent have unrestricted access to citizen-ship at birth (ius sanguinis), Estonia offers very limited access to citizenship based onius soli to children born in Estonia to non-citizen parents (ius soli). Children ound in

Estonia automatically acquire Estonian citizenship. Children (under age 15) born tostateless parents in Estonia are eligible or citizenship through a acilitated naturalisa-tion procedure. Tis acilitated procedure is also available to children (under age 15)

o a naturalised parent. All other children born in Estonia to non-citizen parents canaccess citizenship only through the ordinary, residence-based naturalisation proce-dure at the age o majority.

Naturalised citizens can lose their Estonian citizenship due to oreign military orpublic service, raudulent acquisition, violent actions against constitutional order, or

ailure to renounce oreign citizenship during/afer naturalisation. As dual citizen-ship is not permitted, the acquisition o a oreign citizenship will theoretically lead tothe loss o Estonian citizenship.

7 See methodological appendix or more inormation.8 For a more comprehensive overview o citizenship laws see the EUDO country profile or Estoniaat http://eudo-citizenship.eu/country-profiles/?country=Estonia
http://eudo-citizenship.eu/country-profiles/?country=Estoniahttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/country-profiles/?country=Estonia


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8 ACIT

Overall results o the Citizenship Law Indicators

Compared to most EU-12 or EU-27 countries, Estonia provides more legal obsta-

cles or ordinary residence-based naturalisation. Demanding language and civictests and the requirement to renounce any oreign citizenship(s) are major barriersto naturalisation.

o be eligible or naturalisation, non-citizens must have legally resided in Estonia oreight years with permanent residence status or the five years prior to application.Any absence rom Estonia cannot exceed 90 consecutive days per year (residence).

Applicants or naturalisation in Estonia must renounce any previous citizenship.Tere are no specified exemptions to this requirement (renunciation). Te majorityo EU countries now tolerate multiple nationality, while those with renunciation re-quirements tend to have many exemptions or humanitarian reasons (reugees, state-

less) and vulnerability reasons (impossibility due to costs, distance, policy o countryo origin).

Applicants or naturalisation must also provide a language certificate or pass an oral

and written test at the relatively high B1 level. Te language requirement does notapply to applicants who were schooled in the Estonian language. Applicant must alsopass a test on Estonian Constitution and Citizenship Act (language and civic knowl-edge). Some exceptions are possible or disabled and those born beore 1 January1930. Children (under age 15) born in Estonia to stateless parents and children (un-

der age 15) o naturalised parents are exempted rom both tests.

0,0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1,0Ius Sanguinis

Ius Soli

Ordinary Naturalisation

Special Naturalisation

Renunciation

Involuntary Loss

Estonia EU-12 EU-27



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Provisions or ordinary naturalisation

Overall, Estonia provides limited preerential access to citizenship compared to oth-er EU-12 countries, particularly or spouses. Tere are no legal provisions that o-er preerential access to citizenship or spouses o naturalised Estonian citizens. Anaturalised Estonian citizen can apply or citizenship or his or her minor children

(under age 15), but the naturalisation decision is at the discretion o the authorities(child transer). Applicants or naturalisation in Estonia may include their minor chil-dren on the citizenship application, but the naturalisation decision is also discretion-ary (child extension), which makes this provision much weaker than in most EU12or EU27 countries. Estonia is also missing an entitlement to naturalisation through

socialisation. Socialisation-based entitlements in countries such as Latvia, Sweden,Norway and France acilitate naturalisation or those educated and socialised in thecountry.

Tere are very limited provisions or stateless persons and no special provision orreugees. Resident stateless minors (under 15 years) are eligible or Estonian citizen-ship i they were born in Estonia afer February 26, 1992 and i the parents (or singleor adoptive parent) have also been resident in Estonia or five years and are also state-

less or o undefined citizenship (including citizens o USSR beore August 20, 1991)(stateless persons).



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Provisions or special naturalisation

Results rom the National Roundtable9

Te situation o the Russophones in the Baltics is a unique situation in Europe. Inaddition to a noticeable number o immigrants, Estonia has a large Russian speaking

minority o which some have dual citizenship (ormally not permitted), some haveRussian citizenship, some have naturalised to become Estonian citizen and others

are stateless. As a result, Estonia has a large share o its population excluded romnational electoral politics. In this context, limited ius soli or children born in Estoniaand the reusal o dual citizenship are perceived to be the major legal issues o citizen-

ship in Estonia.

I have a very good relative who has been born both as an Estonian citizen and lived 30years in St. Petersburg and is a Russian citizen at the same time. So every time he crossesthe borders nervously, as he takes out one o the passports on one side and another one

on the other side. Because everybody knows- i there arent any stamps, something iswrong. Tey wont let him in or out or whatever. So in that sense the situation is not

really normal.(Participant o the ACI National Roundtable in allinn,

18 January 2013)

We have an international tool, the Council o Europe Convention on Nationality. Not somany have signed and ratified it, but the process is going on. And it says there in black

and white that dual citizenship is a very advisable tool nowadays due to the process onaturalisation and large migration. Estonians believe that citizenship is somewhat a

9 Te Estonian national roundtable, organised by the Institute o Political Science and Governanceo the University o allinn, hosted in two ocus groups discussions. Te first discussion was held inEstonian language. It included our civil servants and two politicians. Te second discussion was con-ducted in Russian and included eight representatives o non-governmental organisations and media.

Source: http://eudo-

citizenship.eu/indicators


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privilege or ethnic and native people, but it is simply a possibility to participate in thesocial lie to the utmost. And i you became a citizen o USA by being born there, then

why cant you obtain Estonian citizenship i you live here permanently.(Participant o the ACI National Roundtable in allinn,

18 January 2013, NGO)

Another issue is loss o citizenship o those who have naturalised in Estonia. Tis cangenerate mistrust and disbelie in the Estonian state.

Te negative perception o the possibility to take away the citizenship o naturalisedcitizens, and not simply to take away but to take it away or untrustworthiness, is very

common among the Russian community. It cannot be taken away rom the citizen bybirth. Tis basically means that the state passes along some kind o judgment o citizen-ship. So that, ok, we will give it to you, but with certain reservations. Beware! And this isactually a very bad thing or the trust in the state.

(Participant o the ACI National Roundtable in allinn,

18 January 2013, politician)

An ofen mentioned obstacle or naturalisation is the demanding B1 language re-

quirement. In particular elderly people struggle to reach B1 level. Te way o meas-urement through a ormalized exam may be more difficult or older generation whoare not amiliar with this kind o testing. In contrast, one participant stated that manywho criticise the language test have actual limited experience with it and are some-

times not well inormed about the content.

Tis (language exam) is one thing that or sure is an obstacle. Beore it was A2, now it isB1. Tis is a big difference, because B1 is the one a person should ideally master afer el-ementary school where he studies Estonian language, only Estonian language () and,

well or an elderly person it is actually too hard, really.(Participant o the ACI National Roundtable in allinn,


But as or the language exam, the question is the orm o the language exam, which isunderstandably made according to international standards, but it requires a certainkind o thinking. People who finished school during the Soviet era, 30-40 years ago- they

dont know how to take that kind o an exam. Abstract thought is required there. A veryconcrete example: it was necessary to write an essay about why you didnt stay home

during New Years Eve. And the person later told to his teacher: What should I havewritten? I was at home.

(Participant o the ACI National Roundtable in allinn,


At the same time, contextual knowledge about the contents o the language exam andhow hard or easy it is or different societal groups is, well, extremely low. Most o thepeople who express negative opinions have never themselves taken a language exam.

And in that sense there is a lot o work to be done here.(Participant o the ACI National Roundtable in allinn,



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3. CITIZENSHIP IMPLEMENTATION

INDICATORS: WHAT ARE THE

PROCEDURAL OBSTACLES TO ORDINARY

NATURALISATION?

Opportunities created by the law may be undermined by problems in the procedure.Creating indicators is one way to measure the major opportunities and obstacles inthe procedure. Citizenship Implementation Indicators measure on a 0 to 1 scale theormal aspects o the ordinary naturalisation procedure: promotion activities, docu-mentation requirements, administrative discretion, bureaucratic procedures, and

review and appeal options. 38 indicators compare all implementation stages, romefforts by public authorities to inorm applicants to the options to appeal a negativedecision. A score o 1 means that the country acilitates naturalisation and involvesew practical obstacles. A score o 0 reflects a procedure with little acilitation and

many practical obstacles.10

In the majority o countries there is a link between the policies and the way that

they are implemented.In general, countries that have more legal obstacles also tend

to have more practical obstacles in the procedure and vice-versa.

In contrast, while Estonias citizenship laws are more restrictive than in most EU-12countries, there are very ew procedural obstacles to ordinary naturalisation.11

Overall results o Citizenship Implementation Indicators

Promotion

Estonia does more than most EU countries to encourage naturalisation. Te Esto-nian government unds campaigns to promote naturalisation through the Integration

and Migration Foundation Our People. Currently, the campaigns do not target thegeneral public and there is no cooperation with oreigner or non-citizen NGOs. Es-

10 For more inormation see appendix and visit http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators.Te scores orGermany were calculated as the average...11 For a more comprehensive overview o citizenship procedures see the ull report at the EUDOcountry profile or Estonia at http://eudo-citizenship.eu/country-profiles/?country=Estonia

http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/country-profiles/?country=Estoniahttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/country-profiles/?country=Estoniahttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators


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tonia offers an inormation service, a hotline, easily accessible online material and anapplication-checking service. Tere are only low costs involved in applying and reeor easily reimbursed language courses are available to assist in meeting the languagerequirement. Tere are also ree o charge preparation courses related to a civic test.

However, strong promotional activities may generally be undermined by more seri-ous legal obstacles.

Promotion in selected EU countries

Documentation

It is generally easier to provide all the required documentation or naturalisation in

Estonia than in most EU countries. Estonia does not require a birth certificate romthe country o origin in addition to proo o identity. Te current residence permit isenough to prove regular residence rather than all residence permits acquired in thepast. Te documentation or language and civic knowledge requirements is clearly

defined. Other Eastern European countries use subjective interviews to determinelanguage skills.

No exemptions or providing documentation or economic resource requirement or

the elderly, the disabled or reugees, no exemptions or the requirement to renounceprevious citizenship(s) and no exemptions or reugees rom the language require-ment may be an obstacle in practice.

Documentation


http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators


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Discretion

Overall, ordinary naturalisation is a discretionary procedure in Estonia, it is not aright. However, discretion is less o an obstacle in Estonia than in most EU countriesbecause the language and civic knowledge requirements are clearly defined and thereare also clear guidelines or the assessment o economic requirements.

Review

Estonia offers avourable opportunities or judicial review o decisions taken on natu-

ralisation claims. Te applicant has the right to a reasoned decision, the applicant canappeal to the highest national court and the applicant can also appeal the assessmento integration requirements (language, civic knowledge).

Results rom the National Roundtable

Quite avourable implementation scores in Estonia have resonated with the percep-tion o participants at the national roundtable. Te procedures are not seen as an

obstacle and the efforts to promote naturalisation, or example through ceremonies,are acknowledged. More could be done to explain the content o the language exam.

It was really surprising or me, how popular they (ceremonies) turned out to be. Ocourse, it depends, not everybody goes there. But the act that many people eel, so to say,

necessary to do so. Tey still go there and they get, well, the minister or someone shakestheir hand and says congratulations.

(Participant o the ACI National Roundtable in allinn,18 January 2013, civil servant)

However, negative public opinion and discrimination, especially towards the Rus-sian speaking minority, may be a more serious deterrent or non-citizens to apply orEstonian citizenship. Awareness campaigns may be a way to address negative public

sentiment.

Tey have been told that they dont belong since the moment they were born.(Participant o the ACI National Roundtable in allinn,


But I can understand those people, who were born here, even i their ethnic backgroundis different. You were born here, youve lived here your entire lie, and one day you aretold that you dont belong here, and you should go back to the country o your ancestors.

It is natural that people eel the rejection.(Participant o the ACI National Roundtable in allinn,



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4. CITIZENSHIP INTEGRATION INDICATORS:

DOES CITIZENSHIP MATTER FOR

INTEGRATION?

Are naturalised immigrants better off than immigrants that have not acquired citi-zenship? Citizenship Integration Indicators compare labour market participation andsocio-economic status o native citizens, naturalised citizens and non-citizens basedon the 2008 Labour Force Survey and EU Statistics on Income and Living Condi-tions. en core indicators measure levels o integration in the EU-27 countries, Ice-

land, Norway and Switzerland with regards to the citizenship status o migrants. Indi-cators are organised into three categories: labour orce participation, social exclusion,and living conditions.12

In most EU-15 countries, immigrants who have naturalised are ofen better off

than immigrants who have not naturalised. Tis is true even afer taking into ac-count the differences in age at arrival in the country, the years o residence, educa-tion, the region o origin, the region o the destination country and the reason or

migration.

Employment o oreign born immigrants afer statistical controls

Overall, naturalised migrants are more ofen employed, less ofen overqualified ortheir jobs, have better housing conditions and have less difficulty paying householdexpenses.13On average across Europe, the difference between naturalised and non-naturalised is particularly high or immigrants rom non-EU countries.

12 Te handbook eatures a selection o Citizenship Integration indicators. For more inormation seeappendix and http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators13 For more inormation see OECD (2011) A passport or the better integration o immigrants andCitizenship Integration Indicators at http://eudo-citizenship.eu/about/acit

Source: ACIconerence

presentation
http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/about/acithttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/about/acithttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators


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16 ACIT

In the case o Estonia, the benefit o citizenship appears to be quite large in manyareas o lie. Naturalised non-citizens are less likely to be unemployed, less likely tobe overqualified, less likely to have difficulties making ends meet, and less likely tolive in an area with problems o crime, violence or vandalism. It is important to note

that only first-generation, oreign-born migrants are included in our data. Secondand later generations without the citizenship o their country o residence are notincluded in the data set.

Unemployment Rates, 2008 (%)

Overqualification rates, Estonia, 2008 (%)


http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators


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Share Having Difficulty MakingEnds Meet, 2008 (%)

Share living in area with problem withcrime, violence, or vandalism, 2008 (%)

In most o Europe, better outcomes or naturalised immigrants seem to be a sign thatbetter integrated immigrants are more likely to acquire citizenship irrespective ohow inclusive or restrictive a countrys citizenship policy is. While immigrants rom

less developed countries are more likely to apply, among them, the better integrateddo. Tus, the most integrated immigrants become citizens regardless o how demand-ing the naturalisation requirements are.

But does the acquisition o citizenship itsel actually improve integration outcomes?Does the policy select the best integrated immigrants or do only the best integratedimmigrants apply regardless o the policy? Do naturalised immigrants usually havebetter living conditions because they have acquired citizenship or is it more commonor people with better living conditions to apply or citizenship? In the case o Esto-

nia, more research is needed particularly on the issue o the Estonian-born Russian-speaking minority and the effect o naturalisation on their socio-economic situation.

More national and international research is needed to clariy the effects o citizen-

ship and better address why naturalised immigrants ofen have better integration out-comes. Researchers need panel data to answer this question about causality. Severalstudies that have used panel data analysis have ound a positive effect o citizenship on

labour market participation in Germany, France and the United States.14Tis projectound also that, although political participation increases mainly with length o resi-dence, citizenship status makes it more likely that first generation immigrants will alsoengage in less conventional orms o participation, such as wearing a campaign sticker,

signing a petition, taking part in a demonstration or boycotting certain products.

Results rom the National Roundtable

Older persons rom the Russian speaking minority in Estonia may not see the benefito becoming a citizen o Estonia, especially when they have to go through a demand-

14 For more detail, see the OECD publication A passport or the better integration o immigrants?(2011).



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18 ACIT

ing and bureaucratic procedure. Tere is a higher interest among younger age groupso the Russian speaking minority, because many may look or employment or bettereducation opportunities in the European Union countries.

It (naturalisation) also greatly depends on age groups, when you are 65 years old, it ishard to learn the language, it is practically impossible or you. In many cases you dontpractically need it. So, in my electoral district, in Ida-Virumaa, the question is why you

should go through that long process which is relatively complicated or you.(Participant o the ACI National Roundtable in allinn,


7% o the population o Estonia is stateless. Stateless people have an aliens passport(sometimes called grey passport or non-citizen passport) which entitles them totravel. As a result, many stateless persons eel no need to either acquire Estonian orRussian citizenship.

I think that or the most part it is just peoples laziness. I a person has a grey passport,

he can easily go to Russia, he can have a job in EU, why would he want to enter intobureaucratic hurdlesabout obtaining either Russian or Estonian citizenship? You havea grey passport, and you have quite a normal lie. My ather has a grey passport, and hedoesnt even think about going and changing it. So to me it is simply a human nature.

(Participant o the ACI National Roundtable in allinn,18 January 2013, politician)

Tere was no consensus among roundtable participants about the question whetheracquiring citizenship improves a sense o belonging in Estonia. Belonging is a verysubjective eeling that differs case by case. However, meeting the requirement or

citizenship may be perceived as an achievement that leads to a sense o pride in mem-bership in society. Estonian citizenship is definitely an advantage or finding employ-ment in the public sector which is important in Estonia. Estonian citizenship mayalso acilitate access to urther education in the rest o the EU.

I believe I am the only one behind this table, who can compare two experiences. I hadRussian citizenship, I have Estonian citizenship, and I have to say I cannot make anydifference.

(Participant o the ACI National Roundtable in allinn,18 January 2013, Politician)

In the sense that public service is restricted with citizenship, then it is clear that it influ-ences to a certain extent, because there are quite a lot o positions in the governmentsector. As or, well, outside o this, I agree, it is not that big. Still, with the educationsystem, maybe the broader influence about which we talked beore.


But when we are talking about getting a higher education in the West, then it (citi-zenship) does have an impact on the situation. Because only those people who have acitizenship o any EU country have the ability to study or ree in Europe. Tis is whatcomes rom the legal point o view.

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KEY RESULTS:

1. Overall, Estonias citizenship regime is more restrictive than in most EU-12 coun-tries. While children born to an Estonian parent have unrestricted access to citi-

zenship at birth (ius sanguinis), Estonia offers very limited access to citizenshipto children born in Estonia to non-citizen parents based on ius soli. Tere is alsocurrently no preerential access to citizenship or reugees.

2. Estonia provides more legal obstacles or ordinary naturalisation than most EU-12 countries. In particular, demanding language and civic knowledge tests as well

as the requirement to renounce any previous citizenship(s) are impediments tonaturalisation. Estonia has very limited grounds or exemptions rom the lan-

guage requirement or naturalisation, or example, or the elderly or reugees.

3. In contrast, while Estonias citizenship laws are more restrictive than in most EU-12 countries, there are very ew procedural obstacles to ordinary naturalisation.

Tese positive scores or the implementation o citizenship procedures resonatedwith participants at the National Roundtable. Tese implementation measuresmay or may not be effective or promoting naturalisation given the major legalobstacles.


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METHODOLOGICAL APPENDIX

CITIZENSHIP ACQUISITION INDICATORS

Citizenship Acquisition Indicators have been developed by Maarten Vink (Maas-tricht University/ European University Institute) and ijana Prokic-Breuer (Maas-

tricht University). Acquisition indicators have been calculated or 25 European states.Te data source or the indicators is the Labour Force Survey Ad Hoc Module 2008on the labour market situation o migrants and their descendants (Eurostat). Te tar-get population includes all persons aged between 15 and 74 (or 16 to 74 in countries

where the target group or the core Labour Force Survey is rom 16 years old). Allnumbers presented are based on at least 100 respondents.

Data is presented or the ollowing European countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus,

Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ire-land, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slova-kia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In Germany, in-ormation on country o birth is missing or all respondents. o determine the regiono origin (EU or non-EU), the study uses the country o birth o the ather and/or

mother o the respondent. Tere was no data provided by Eurostat or Finland. Datawas excluded or Bulgaria, Malta and Romania due to small sample sizes.

Acquisition indicators analyse several actors, including

sex(the percentage o oreign-born emales and males who have acquired citizen-

ship o the respective country o residence), origin (the percentage o oreign-born persons rom EU and non-EU countries

who have acquired citizenship o the respective country o residence) the age at migration(the percentage o oreign-born persons who have acquired

citizenship o their country o residence, differentiated by the age at which the

respondent took up residence; age groups: 0-17 years; 18-39 years; 40+ years) years o residence by cohort(the percentage o oreign-born persons who have

acquired citizenship o their country o residence, differentiated by the number oyears o residence: 1-5 years; 6-10 years; 11-19 years; 20 + years) years o residence by minimum number o years ( the percentage o oreign-

born persons who have acquired citizenship o their country o residence, di-erentiated by the number o years the respondent has minimally resided there: atleast 5 years; at least 10 years; at least 15 years; at least 20 years)

the time until naturalisation(the numbers o years it takes on average or oreign-born persons to acquire the citizenship o the respective country o residence)

For more inormation visit:

http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators/citacqindicators
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CITIZENSHIP LAW INDICATORS

Citizenship Law Indicators have been developed by Rainer Baubck (European Uni-versity Institute), Iseult Honohan and Kristen Jeffers (University College Dublin) inconsultation with Maarten Vink (University o Maastricht) and Tomas Huddleston(Migration Policy Group).

Basic indicator scores have been calculated on the basis o a list o substantive andprocedural requirements or each mode o acquisition or loss o citizenship usingboth additive and weighting ormulas. Te scoring is based on EUDO CIIZEN-SHIPs qualitative databases on modes o acquisitionand losso citizenship, on the

detailed country reports and additional inormation rom standardised question-naire answers by legal experts in the respective countries.

Citizenship indicators are aggregated at different levels in order to analyse more gen-

eral eatures o citizenship laws. Te six highest level indicators that are calculated

using all 45 basic indicators are: ius sanguinis, ius soli, residence-based ordinarynaturalisation, naturalisation on specific grounds, voluntary renunciation and with-drawal/lapse.

Tese indicators have been calculated or 36 European states. Te ollowing labelsare used or average indicators: EUROPE or all 36 states, EU 27 or all 2012 memberstates o the EU, EU 15 or the pre-2004 EU member states and EU 12 or the post-2004 accession states. Citizenship Law Indicators are based on citizenship laws at the

end o 2011. In the uture, it is oreseen to offer a new edition or past years that allowanalysing trends over time.

For more inormation visit:

http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators/eudo-citizenship-law-indicators where you willalso find a comprehensive methodology report.

CITIZENSHIP IMPLEMENTATION INDICATORS

Citizenship Implementation Indicators have been developed by Tomas Huddleston

(Migration Policy Group).

Citizenship Implementation Indicators have been calculated or 35 European states,as well as or three German ederal provinces. Te ollowing list presents the five di-mensions and the number o corresponding indicators and sub-indicators:

Promotion: how much do authorities encourage eligible applicants to apply? Documentation: how easy is it or applicants to prove that they meet the legal

conditions? Discretion: how much room do authorities have to interpret the legal conditions? Bureaucracy: how easy is it or authorities to come to a decision? Review: how strong is judicial oversight o the procedure?
http://eudo-citizenship.eu/databases/modes-of-acquisitionhttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/databases/modes-of-losshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators/eudo-citizenship-law-indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/docs/CITLAW_explanatory%20text.pdfhttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/docs/CITLAW_explanatory%20text.pdfhttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators/eudo-citizenship-law-indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/databases/modes-of-losshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/databases/modes-of-acquisition


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A countrys overall score is calculated as the simple average o these five dimensions.

Based on a 0 to 1 scale, countries with scores closer to 1 create ewer obstacles in theimplementation o naturalisation law. For each o the five dimensions, proceduresthat score closer to 1 involve greater promotion, easier documentation, less discre-tion, less bureaucracy, and/or stronger review. Countries with scores closer to 0 cre-ate more obstacles in the implementation o the naturalisation law. For each o the

five dimensions, procedures that score closer to 0 involve little promotion, difficultdocumentation, wide discretion, greater bureaucracy, and/or weak review. Te scoresare the result o country reports written or the purpose o this project and a stand-ardised questionnaire filled in by legal experts.

For more inormation visit:http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators/citimpindicators

CITIZENSHIP INTEGRATION INDICATORS

Citizenship Integration Indicators have been developed by Derek Hutcheson andKristen Jeffers (University College Dublin).

Te indicators are derived rom the 2008 EU Labour Force Survey Ad Hoc Mod-

ule on Te Labour Market Situation o Migrants and Teir Descendants (Eurostat).Socio-Economic Status indicators are derived rom the 2008 cross-sectional EU Sta-tistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC).

Some data may be omitted due to small sample sizes. All numbers presented are

based on at least 100 respondents or 20 or the Socio-Economic Status indicators.

Citizenship indicators include:

LABOUR FORCE INDICATORS

Unemployment: the number o people aged 15 to 74 unemployed, as defined by

the International Labour Organisation, as a percentage o the labour orce (the totalnumber o people employed plus unemployed) o the same age group.

Economic Activity Rate: the total number o people aged 15 to 74 employed plus the

total number o people unemployed (the labour orce) as a percentage o the totalpopulation o the same age group.

Level o Education: the mean highest education attainment level among respondentsaged 25 to 74. Values correspond to mean education levels specified by the Interna-

tional Standard Classification on Education: (1) primary education; (2) lower sec-ondary education; (3) higher secondary education; (4) post-secondary non-tertiaryeducation; (5) university degree; (6) postgraduate studies.

Overqualification rate: calculated as a share o the population aged 25 to 74 with ahigh educational level (ISCED 5 or 6), and having low or medium skilled jobs (ISCO
http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators/citimpindicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators/citimpindicators


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occupation levels 4 to 9) among employed persons having attained a high educational

level o the same age group.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS INDICATORS

Social Benefit dependence: measures receipt o amily/children related allowance,housing allowances, and social benefits not elsewhere classified as the mean share orespondents gross annual income.

Poor dwelling (quality): aims to objectively measure the quality o the respondents

accommodation. Values correspond to the percentage o respondents who indicatethat the dwelling in which they live has a problem with a leaking roo and/or dampceilings, dampness in the walls, floors or oundation and/or rot in window ramesand doors.

Poor dwelling (environment): aims to objectively measure the quality o the area

in which the respondent resides. Values correspond to the percentage o respond-ents who indicate that pollution, grime, or other environmental problems in the area

caused by traffic or industry is a problem or the household.

Poor dwelling (crime): aims to objectively measure the quality o the area in whichthe respondent resides. Values correspond to the percentage o respondents who in-dicate that crime, violence, or vandalism in the area is a problem or the household.

Difficulty making ends meet: measures the level o difficulty the respondents house-hold has in paying its usual expenses. Values correspond to the percentage o re-spondents that indicate they have some difficulty, difficulty, or great difficulty paying

usual household expenses.

Housing cost burden: measures the average percentage o monthly disposablehousehold income spent on monthly housing costs.

Unmet health need: measures the percentage o respondents who indicated that therehad been at least one occasion during the last twelve months when the respondentneeded medical or dental examination or treatment and did not receive treatment.

For more inormation visit:http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators/integration-indicators

NATIONAL ROUNDTABLES

National Roundtables were organised by national partners and the Migration PolicyGroup in Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain,and the United Kingdom. Te purpose o the roundtables was to present the pro-

jects country results to national stakeholders in order to gather their eedback andinterpret the findings in a national policy context. Participants were asked about theactors that influence naturalisation, the impact o citizenship on various orms o
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integration, the impact o national policies and the political environment or reorm.Te ten events took place between November 2012 and February 2013.

10-20 national stakeholders were invited to each event. Stakeholders included civilservants working in national, regional or local administration, regional or national-level politicians, members o non-governmental organisations including immigrant

organisation, advocacy groups and service providers, citizenship and immigrationlawyers, and academic researchers working or research institutes and universities.

Te ull list o participants in each country is not made public because participantswere insured anonymity to acilitate open debate.

Te ten national roundtables were organised in two structured ocus group sessions

o each 60-90 minutes. Te discussion was recorded and transcribed by nationalpartners and analysed by the Migration Policy Group. All transcripts were used orcontent analysis using Nvivo sofware package or coding.

For more inormation, see the comparative EU level report:http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators
http://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicatorshttp://eudo-citizenship.eu/indicators


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About EUDO-CITIZENSHIP

Democracy is government accountable to citizens. Buthow do states determine who their citizens are? EUDOCIIZENSHIP allows you to answer this and many otherquestions on citizenship in the EU member states andneighbouring countries.

EUDO CIIZENSHIP is an observatory within theEuropean Union Observatory on Democracy (EUDO)

web platorm hosted at the Robert Schuman Centre orAdvanced Studies o the European University Institutein Florence.

Te observatory conducts research and provides exhaus-tive and updated inormation on loss and acquisition ocitizenship, national and international legal norms, citi-zenship statistics, bibliographical resources, comparativeanalyses and debates about research strategies and policyreorms.

For more inormation on our past and current research,

visit our website at www.eudo-citizenship.eu

CITIZEN

SH

IP

About the MIGRATION POLICY GROUP

Te Migration Policy Group is an independent non-pro-it European organisation dedicated to strategic thinkingand acting on mobility, equality, and diversity. MPGsmission is to contribute to lasting and positive changeresulting in open and inclusive societies by stimulatingwell-inormed European debate and action on migra-tion, equality and diversity, and enhancing European co-operation between and amongst governmental agencies,

civil society organisations and the private sector.

We articulate this mission through our primary activi-ties ocused on harnessing the advantages o migration,equality and diversity and responding effectively to theirchallenges:

1. Gathering, analysing and sharing inormation2. Creating opportunities or dialogue and mutual

learning3. Mobilising and engaging stakeholders in policy de-

bates

4. Establishing, inspiring and managing expert net-works

For more inormation on our past and current research,visit our website at www.migpolgroup.com
http://www.eui.eu/DepartmentsAndCentres/RobertSchumanCentre/Research/InstitutionsGovernanceDemocracy/EUDO/Index.aspxhttp://www.eudo-citizenship.eu/http://www.migpolgroup.com/http://www.migpolgroup.com/http://www.eudo-citizenship.eu/http://www.eui.eu/DepartmentsAndCentres/RobertSchumanCentre/Research/InstitutionsGovernanceDemocracy/EUDO/Index.aspx


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acit handbook estonia english

Documents

impact o citizenship

o data o

integration o

context o

snapshot o

citizenship stakeholders

university o edinburgh

citizenship reorm