For everyone who wants to visit Tallinn and other Estonian cities - step-by-step instructions on how to independently obtain a visa to Estonia in 2021. What documents to prepare, prices, design features and reasons for refusals.
For a tourist trip to Estonia, Russians need a short-term Schengen visa C. You can apply for it through the consular departments of the embassy and visa centers, which are open in many large cities of Russia.
Look for interesting excursions on the Sputnik and Tripster websites. Individual and group, no crowds of tourists and in Russian.
Step 1: Book your tickets
Paid round-trip tickets will be required to obtain a visa. Unpaid reservations will not be accepted. We do not recommend doing photoshop! In case of forgery, the violator will be entered into the SIS database and prohibited from visiting the Schengen countries.
Step 2: Book your accommodation
Tourists are advised to pay for accommodation for all days of the trip, and not book with free cancellation on Booking. The documents must contain the names and surnames of all guests in Latin.
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Step 3: make copies of passports
Make a double-page spread with photograph and personal data from your passport. Copy pages from old passports with closed Schengen visas. Make copies of all completed pages of your internal passport. Copy two spreadsheets on both sides of each page.
Step 4: buy insurance
Take out an insurance policy with coverage from 30 thousand euros. The insurance must be valid throughout the Schengen area and cover the duration of the future trip. If you do not have time to do this in advance, buy insurance from the employee of the visa center.
Look for insurance on the services of Cherekhapa and SravnRu. They will compare all offers and help you choose the one that suits the price and conditions.
Step 5: Get help from work
To show close ties with your homeland, take a certificate with the seal and signatures of the responsible persons, which indicates your position, date of employment, vacation information and average monthly salary for the last 6-12 months.
If you are an individual entrepreneur, prepare a copy of the TIN, a certificate of registration of an individual entrepreneur, an extract from an individual entrepreneur's account for three months, a 2NDFL / 3NDFL certificate or an extract from the register of the tax office. Schoolchildren and students need a certificate from the place of study, and people of retirement age need a copy of their pension book.
Step 6: Get a bank statement
It is important to show the availability of money at the rate of 58 euros for each day of the planned trip. Get a bank statement with a "wet" seal on the account movement for the last 3 months. You can attach a photocopy of the front side of the bank card and a check from an ATM with an indication of the balance, as well as a certificate of purchase of currency.
If you are a housewife or retired, prepare a sponsorship letter from a relative who is willing to give money for the trip. You will need documents of kinship, a certificate from the sponsor's place of work and a certificate from the bank about the movement on his personal account. The same financial guarantees will work for freelancers.
Alexander: "Collecting documents is a bit troublesome, but not particularly. The site for foreign citizens helped me a lot with a list of all certificates and documents, in the end I quickly collected everything."
Step 7: Take a photo
Place two 45 mm by 35 mm color photos in the document bag. Take your photo against a white or light solid background. Detailed photo requirements are available on the website of the visa center. Photos can be taken in advance or at the photo booth of the visa application center.
Step 8: fill out the form
To submit documents in consular departments, the application form is filled out online. Write in capital letters in Latin. The information in the questionnaire must completely match your documents. Detailed instructions for filling out the visa application form are available on the website of the visa center.
In paragraph No. 6 about the country, those born in the USSR write the name of the country that is now where they were born - Ukraine, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, etc. In paragraph No. 19 about the position, non-workers write no occupation, and pensioners - pensioner or retired.
Consulates process the questionnaire exclusively electronically. To apply through the Visa Application Centers, download the completed application form, print and sign it. You can fill out the application form by hand with a blue pen when you submit your application.
Step 9: make an appointment
An application for a visa to Estonia is accepted no earlier than three months and no later than 15 days before the start of the trip. The consular department of the embassy is registered online, and the consulate in St. Petersburg and Moscow missions - by phone. You can come to other visa centers without an appointment.
The Estonian Embassy is hosting a reception in Moscow, at house number 5, in Maly Kislovsky Lane. In addition, applications are accepted on Mytnaya Street, 6, and on the 1st floor of the Sirius Park business center, which is located at 3-2-9 Kashirskoye Highway. In St. Petersburg - at the Consulate General at Bolshaya Monetnaya Street, 14.
Step 10: Submit documents and biometrics
Come to the appointment and get your fingerprints. During the transfer of the package of documents, sign under the consent to the processing of personal data.
The price of a regular visa for Russians is 35 euros. For express processing within 2-3 days, you need to pay 70 euros. The visa application center charges a service fee of 11-18.5 euros. Photocopying costs 20-30 rubles per sheet, photographing for a visa - 300 rubles, filling out a visa application form - 300 rubles.
In visa centers, payment is accepted in cash and using bank cards at the exchange rate in rubles. At consulates - only by bank cards. Mir and retirement cards will not work. In your hands you will have a check-receipt, a cashier's check and an agency agreement.
If you find it difficult to come to apply, order a mobile biometrics. A specialist will come to you, who will take fingerprints, take the application form, a package of documents and a passport. This service costs 150 euros for one application, 270 euros for two, and 383 euros for three.
Sergei: "There was a live queue. There were not many people. Submitting documents with prints together took about 30 minutes. We gave a cartoon for 6 months."
Step 11: Get your visa
A passport is issued in four working days at Moscow representative offices and seven working days in the regions. Sometimes the wait stretches up to 2 weeks.
Information on the status of documents can be easily checked online by the receipt number, by phones +7 (499) 705 99 51, +7 (499) 703 35 27 and e-mail The e-mail address is being protected from spambots. Javascript must be enabled to view the address in your browser. For 150 rubles, you can order SMS informing about the readiness of your passport.
Get your passport in the same place where you submitted your documents. At the Moscow Visa Application Center in Sirius Park, ready-made passports are issued from Monday to Friday from 11:00 to 16:00, and on Mytnaya Street - from 11:00 to 13:00. If it is difficult to arrive, order delivery by courier.
Estonian visa refusals
The Baltic countries are not too loyal in issuing visas to residents of Russia, but residents of St. Petersburg and residents of the Leningrad Region are willingly issued permits.
Ulla Efremova: "I consider the Estonian visa one of the most convenient for the North-West region, as well as for the Tver, Novgorod, Pskov and even Moscow regions."
Visas are rarely refused - no more than 1.5% of the applications submitted.
Reasons for refusing a visa to Estonia:
- incorrect information has been submitted
- errors in the questionnaire
- not enough funds for the trip
- insurance is not issued
- hotel reservations not confirmed
- refused a Schengen visa by another country
- there have been violations of the visa regime in the past.
In case of refusal, the applicant can submit an application and challenge the decision, at the same time paying a state fee of 20 euros. The issue is resolved within 30 days.
