How to Apply for an Estonia Schengen Visa from the UK

Estonia is a Schengen country, which allows for free movement between the 26 EU and EFTA states (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland). A uniform Schengen visa issued by one of the Schengen states is valid for travel within the whole Schengen area.

The rules for travelling or working in Europe will change from 1 January 2021:

• You will be able to travel to countries in the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period without a visa for purposes such as tourism, visiting family or friends, attending business meetings, cultural or sports events, or for short-term studies or training.
• If you’re travelling to the Estonia, previous visits to the Schengen area within the 180 days before your date of travel would count against the 90-day limit.
• If you are travelling visa-free to the Estonia and to other countries in the Schengen area, make sure your whole visit is within the limit.
• To stay for longer, to work or study, or for business travel you will need to meet the entry requirements set out by the Estonia. This could mean applying for a visa or work permit. You should check with the Embassy of the Estonia what type of visa, if any, you will need.
• Periods of stay authorised under a visa or permit will not count against the 90-day limit.

At border control for Estonia, you may need to:

• show a return or onward ticket
• show you have enough money for your stay
• use separate lanes from EU, EEA and Swiss citizens when queueing

You should check that your passport is stamped upon entering and exiting the Schengen area through Estonia as a visitor. Border guards use passport stamps to check that you are complying with the 90-day visa-free limit for short stays in the Schengen area.

If these entry or exit stamps are not present in your passport, border guards will presume that you have overstayed your visa-free limit. If this is the case, you can show proof of entering or exiting using boarding passes or tickets and ask the border guard to update this information onto your passport.

You should also check your passport is valid for travel to the Schengen Area before you book your trip, and renew your passport if you do not have enough time left on it. Your passport needs to be valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave Estonia, or any other Schengen country and less than 10 years old.

Many non-EU nationals who reside in the UK are still required to get a Schengen visa to travel to Estonia.

Citizens of the following countries residing in the UK and planning to visit Estonia are required to get an Estonia visa to be able to enter Estonia.

The main requirement is that you must have a UK residence permit valid for at least another three more months beyond the date you plan to leave Estonia/ the Schengen Area.

Before starting a visa application, or getting a flight to Estonia, make sure to check whether you need a visa to Estonia or not.

If you have a 3-month UK visa you can extend it for three more months in order to be eligible to apply for a Estonia Schengen visa from within the UK. You must apply for an extension before your visa expires and while you’re still in the UK.

Note: You can stay in the UK until the decision about the extension is taken, but only if you have applied within the visa period.

• Estonia is the only Schengen country you plan on visiting
• Estonia is your main destination (the country you will be staying the longest in)
• Estonia is the first Schengen country you are visiting (when spending an equal amount of days in Estonia and another Schengen country)

• Book it yourself through VFS Global
• Use a service like IaM who will also make sure that your application will have the best chance of being approved

• A valid passport or travel document. Please make sure:
  • Your passport has been issued within the previous 10 years,
  • Your passport has 2 full blank pages, one for the visa stamp and an additional spare page,
  • Your passport will be valid for at least three (3) months after the date you exit the Schengen Area.
• A valid UK residence permit or other form of Identity Card.
  • The UK residency permit must be endorsed in the actual passport (or on a new biometric ID card)
  • The UK residence permit must be valid for at least another three more months beyond the date you plan to leave Estonia.
• One Estonia Schengen visa application form filled out completely and signed by the applicant.
• One recently taken passport format photo with a blank background and where all your facial features are clear, which must be glued to the application form. Applications with stapled photographs will be rejected.
• A cover letter explaining the purpose of the visit to Estonia
• Biometric data (if you haven’t provided biometric data within the last 59 months):
  • Fingerprints
  • A copy of the passport bio page where the photo is included.
    Note: Children under the age of 12 are exempted from providing fingerprints.
• Proof of travel arrangements:
  • Round trip flight/travel reservations or other proof of intended transport
  • Complete itinerary of your visit to the Estonia (if several Schengen States will be visited or if the trip covers several Schengen States and non-Schengen countries).
• Travel Insurance stating that you are covered in case of a medical emergency and repatriation not just in Estonia but in the whole Schengen zone (minimum coverage of € 30,000).
  • Holders of diplomatic passports and family members of EU/EEA citizens are exempted from providing proof of travel medical insurance
• Proof of accommodation in Estonia:
  • Evidence of a hotel booking or rental agreement, or
  • Invitation from your Estonia host (family member, friend) with a copy of their passport
• Proof of financial subsistence showing at least 100€/day for the period of stay in Estonia:
  • Original recent bank statement (covering the last 3 calendar months. The last transaction must be no more than 1 month old) to prove that you are able to support yourself during your stay
  • Traveller’s Cheques
    Note: Cash is not considered proof of financial subsistence.
• Certificate of criminal record of the home country– showing that candidate has no open crime case involvement
• Proof of paid Estonia visa fee.

Since Estonia is a Schengen country, the visa fees are the same as any other Schengen visa.

The fee must be paid upon submitting the Estonia visa application. After you complete this payment, you will receive a receipt, which shows that payment has been made, which must be offered amongst other documents of the application dossier. You will have to pay the Estonia Schengen visa fee in order for your application to be processed.

Find out the Schengen visa fees in our blog post: Schengen Visa Fees: How much does a Schengen visa cost?

You can apply for an Estonia Schengen Visa 6 months before your planned trip. Depending on the nationality of the applicant, the processing time may take at least 15 days from the day of application. In some cases when required documents are missing from the application, this process may take longer.

Therefore, to avoid unwanted complications, the Estonia Consulate General in London advises that you provide all required documents and submit your application at least 20 workdays (4 weeks) before the day you leave for Estonia.

• Approved – Once your visa is approved, it will be stamped in your passport. Make sure to carefully check the visa sticker to make sure everything is correct and exactly how you need it.
• Rejected – if your visa has been rejected, it would have been for a specific reason and you have the right to appeal.

• Marriage certificate missing – if you are applying for a visa for family reasons, you may have to prove family ties. This is why you must provide a marriage certificate
• You applied for the wrong visa – it is your responsibility to apply for the correct visa depending on how long you are going to Switzerland for and your reason for travelling there
• It is not clear that you plan to return to the UK – it must be clear that you intend to return to the UK before the visa expires. If the visa staff have doubts about this, your visa will be rejected
• The purpose of your trip cannot be established – the reason why you are planning to go to Switzerland must be made clear. You can do this by providing specific documents like a full itinerary, work contract or invitation letter, etc.

If you receive a negative answer in your Estonia Schengen visa application, this does not mean you cannot ever travel to Estonia. You have two options.

• File an appeal for an Estonia Schengen visa rejection if you believe that the decision to deny you a visa is unjust. You should have a strong basis for your complaint. You can appeal this decision by writing an appeal letter for an Estonia Schengen visa rejection.
• Reapply by correcting the mistakes you did in your previous application. Or improve your situation to comply with the eligibility criteria for an Estonia Schengen Visa.

A person visiting Estonia on a Schengen visa is allowed by law to extend their visa if they have legitimate reasons. This could be either personal, professional, medical, emergency, or any other. The decisions to approve a Schengen visa extension request are handled case by case.

The duration you are allowed to stay in the country is stated in your Schengen visa sticker. It is important not to overstay during your trip to Estonia or the rest of the Schengen Zone or risk facing penalties like a fine, deportation, being banned from travelling back to the Schengen Zone and having difficulties in your future Schengen applications. There are also cases when people do not get any penalties for overstaying, for example, a child or a person that cannot travel without a caretaker because of an illness or disability or an unforeseen event that prevents you from leaving the country, like COVID-19.

Find out more about overstaying in the Schengen visa in our blog post.

Yes, it’s easy to apply for an Estonia Schengen visa! You can apply for the visa online or use immigration services like IAM to make the process even simpler for you and have a higher chance of your application being accepted.

You can apply for an Estonia Schengen visa up to 180 days before your planned trip. The Estonia visa application process takes a minimum of 5 working days but can take up to 2 weeks. We advise you to make your application 3 weeks before your trip to make up for any possible delays in processing.

If you want to get a multiple entry visa to Estonia or any country in the Schengen area, you need to justify through your documents and your visa interview why you should be granted such a visa, which includes proving that you have sufficient resources to support your multiple trips.

The fee for an Estonia Schengen visa is 80€ for adults, 40€ for children between 6-12 years of age, and free for children younger than 6 years of age. Keep in mind that these fees may change depending on currency fluctuations and can be paid only in UK Pounds. Payments can be made in cash and by credit or debit card.

You can get a premium Schengen visa to get your Estonia Schengen visa within 24 to 48 hours, which includes personalised advice from an expert immigration adviser.

You will need 100€/day for the period of your stay in Estonia.

Yes, the country adopted the euro as their currency on 1 January 2011.

You can travel to any of the 26 countries in the Schengen Area and 18 other countries.