Russian, Belarusian students, researchers, doctors granted exception to sanction

The Estonian government has approved an exception to a sanction which permits the citizens of Russia and Belarus who are either students, researchers or doctors. Photo: Sander Ilvest

The Estonian government has approved an exception to a sanction which permits the citizens of Russia and Belarus who are either students, researchers or doctors and have come to Estonia prior to the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine to apply for a new residence permit.

The exception having been made in the sanction does not mean that applicants will automatically get a new residence permit, government spokespeople said, adding that each application will be weighed separately together with the applicant's basis for receiving a new residence permit.

Narrow exceptions will be made in the sanction for Russian and Belarusian students, doctors, dentists and academic workers with a legal basis for staying in Estonia and they will be granted the opportunity to apply for a new residence permit to prolong their stay.

The exceptions in the sanction concern people who came to Estonia for the purpose of study or work before the start of Russia's military aggression in Ukraine and who have passed all the necessary Estonian language examinations or completed an Estonian-language curriculum and have at least level B2 Estonian language proficiency. The language requirement does not apply to academic workers.

There are a total of 298 citizens of Russia and Belarus studying in higher education establishments in Estonia in the 2022-2023 academic year to whom the sanction applies. The planned exception first and foremost applies to the 78 people graduating from an Estonian-language curriculum.

The creation of an exception for students who speak Estonian and have graduated from a higher education establishment here does not conflict with the main objective of the sanction, which is to restrict the arrival of Russian and Belarusian citizens to Estonia, as the exception only concerns the people who are already here.

According to information from the Health Board, from 2022 to 2023, nine doctors from Russia and six from Belarus as well as one Russian and three Belarusian dentists have been registered as working in health care in Estonia.

The Ministry of Social Affairs said that all doctors and dentists who have come to work in Estonia, passed the relevant professional and language examinations, and whose right to work as a doctor or dentist has been entered into the Health Board's register, must be permitted to stay here regardless of their country of origin.

There are also three academic workers in Estonian higher education establishments who fall under the target group for the exception, according to the Ministry of Education and Research. Their basis for staying in Estonia is temporary and their visa was granted after the start of Russia's full-scale aggression but before the stricter sanctions were established.