An Estonian Alien's Passport ( et, välismaalase pass) is a

travel document A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international entity pursuant to international agreements to enable individuals to clear border control measures. Travel documents usually assure other governments that the beare ...

that may be issued to a person who is stateless or of undefined citizenship residing in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

by the Police and Border Guard Board of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It can also be used as an

identity document An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any documentation, document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID c ...

. Estonia has about 80,000 to 90,000

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

's passports.

History

After independence in 1991, the

Estonian government , image = , date = 24 February 1918 , state = Republic of Estonia , address = Rahukohtu 3, 15161 Tallinn, Estonia , appointed = President of Estonia , leader_title = Prime Minister of Estonia , ...

automatically granted Estonian citizenship to the persons who resided in the country before its annexation by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1940, as well as to their descendants. Those who could not prove that or arrived after 1940 and their children born in Estonia or elsewhere could acquire Estonian citizenship on condition that they be proficient in the

Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language, written in the Latin script. It is the official language of Estonia and one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,0 ...

and know the country's history. But about 125,000 people (most but not all of whom were Russian speakers) who failed the tests or refused to take them have become stateless, or “non-citizens”, who hold a grey passport. Tens of thousands have opted for the red

Russian passport The Russian passport (russian: Заграничный паспорт гражданина Российской Федерации, Zagranichnyy pasport grazhdanina Rossiyskoy Federatsii, Transborder passport of a citizen of the Russian Federati ...

s proposed by

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. After a change in the law in 1995, all children born in Estonia after 1992 may obtain Estonian citizenship subject to certain conditions.

Identity information page

The Estonia Passport includes the following data: * Photo of passport holder * Type (P for ordinary passports) * Code of Issuing State (EST) * Passport No. * Surname * Given Names * Date of Birth * Personal No. * Sex * Place of Birth * Date of Issue * Authority * Date of Expiry * Holder's Signature The information page ends with the Machine Readable Zone.

Visa requirements

The vast majority of nations which provide visa-free entry to Estonian citizens (those holding an

Estonian passport An Estonian passport ( et, Eesti kodaniku pass) is an international travel document issued to citizens of Estonia, and may also serve as proof of Estonian citizenship. Besides enabling the bearer to travel internationally and serving as indic ...

) do not allow visa-free entry to holders of the Estonian alien's passport (who are not Estonian citizens). Unlike Estonian citizens, holders of an Estonian alien's passport do not enjoy

freedom of movement Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights' ...

within the EU and the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...

. They are allowed to stay in other Schengen Area countries for no more than 90 days in any 6-month period. Moreover, holders of an Estonian alien's passport cannot legally work in other EU countries without a work permit.Latvian & Estonian "non-citizens:" visa-free travel for most of EU-27
/ref>

References

{{Non-citizen travel documents Passports by country International travel documents Government of Estonia Russians in Estonia

History

Identity information page

Visa requirements

See also

References