Renouncing Russian citizenship many times more expensive than previously
Renouncing Russian citizenship has become several times more expensive since August. Interior Minister Igor Taro said it is too early to assess whether the price increase will also lead to a decline in the number of applicants.
Former Russian citizen Andrei Malaškin began the process of applying for Estonian citizenship in 2022. He said the entire process took nearly three and a half years and was only completed last year.
"When the war started, I began to think that Russian citizenship was no longer convenient for me," Malaškin said.
According to Malaškin, renouncing his Russian citizenship took the most time.
"I remember I was in the queue for the Russian consulate for about four months. Then I went there and some of my supporting documents had expired, so I had to get back in line and that took another three months or so," Malaškin said.
At the time, renouncing his Russian citizenship cost him just over €300. Since August this year, the same procedure in Estonia has cost €2,376.
"I've heard about it. I didn't believe it was true. People can't spend that much money on a document," Malaškin said.
Interior Minister Igor Taro said the price increase is due to the difficult situation in Russia.
"I think Russia doesn't have the money to maintain its foreign missions. Secondly, the number of people renouncing their citizenship has probably increased and they don't have enough staff to handle it properly. Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, no one may take measures to prevent people from renouncing their citizenship. Looking at that general principle, Russia is currently violating the declaration to some extent," Taro said.
Taro said it is still too early to assess whether the high fee will reduce the number of applicants.
"Unfortunately, when it comes to Russian state fees, the Estonian state can't do anything about them. The amount is certainly large, but if someone really has a strong need to renounce their citizenship, I think they can find the money," Taro said.
Interest among Russian citizens in obtaining Estonian citizenship has remained high in recent years. A total of 465 applications were submitted to the Police and Border Guard Board last year. As of July this year, 217 applications had been submitted.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Marko Tooming
