International Protection

International protection is granted to a foreign national who has been determined to have: refugee status subsidiary protection status belonging to a category of persons in need of temporary protection as defined by a decision of the Council of the European Union

A refugee is a foreign national who, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, is outside their country of origin.

A beneficiary of subsidiary protection is a foreign national who does not qualify as a refugee, but in respect of whom there are grounds to believe that their return or expulsion from Estonia to their country of origin could expose them to a serious risk in that country, including: the imposition or execution of the death penalty torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment a specific threat to their life or the lives of civilians in general, or the use of violence against them or civilians as a result of an international or internal armed conflict

Before entering the country, you can submit an asylum application to a border guard officer at any border crossing point on the border of the Republic of Estonia.

If the foreign national is already in Estonia, they must contact any service point of the Police and Border Guard Board to apply for asylum. In Tallinn, applications must be submitted exclusively to the Northern Prefecture service point at Pärnu mnt 139.

Border procedure:

Time limit: up to 12 weeks (the procedure at the PBGB takes 15 days).

Accelerated procedure:

Time limit: up to three (3) months

Substantive procedure: The standard procedure applies to all applications for international protection where there are no grounds for applying other types of procedure. The procedure involves a full and thorough substantive assessment of the application. Time limit: up to six months

A person granted international protection is issued a temporary residence permit valid for up to five years.

Family members as defined in the Act on the Granting of International Protection to Aliens may apply for a residence permit for a family member.

In Estonia, the Police and Border Guard Board (PBGB) deals with asylum seekers and cooperates with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for this purpose. The Ministry of Social Affairs also deals with asylum seekers.