Information for applicants for citizenship or a long-term residence permit, who due to their health condition are not capable of taking the examination on knowledge of the Constitution and Citizenship Act of the RE under general procedure

Applicants for citizenship or a long-term residence permit who due to health reasons are not capable of taking the required examinations under general procedure, may take the examinations in the extent and manner possible in light of their health condition, or shall be released from the requirement of taking the examinations.

To seek an exemption or special conditions for taking the examination, the person or his or her notary-confirmed representative shall submit an application to the State Examination and Qualification Centre.

Application

The following must also be submitted:

certificate from the person’s attending physician or corresponding medical specialist;
if applicable, decision of an medical expert regarding determination of disability or incapacity for work, conforming to annex 1 to Regulation no. 144 of the Minister of Social Affairs of 13 December 2002;
copy of an identification document;
document certifying representation if the application is submitted by a representative;
if applicable, other documents describing the health condition of the person may be submitted.

All medical certificates, notices and expert’s reports must be submitted in the form of original documents on the letterhead of the relevant medical institution, signed by the issuer and endorsed with the impression of the issuer’s seal.

The medical expert committee’s decision on determination of disability or incapacity for work must be submitted as one of the following:

1. original document, which we will return by registered post after the committee session;

2. notarized copy;

3. officially endorsed copy of the original document;

4. copy endorsed by the State Examination and Qualification Centre, which can be made in the SEQC information hall.

An expert committee shall take the decision regarding the extent and means for taking the Estonian language test for applicants for citizenship or long term residence permit, or the examination on the Citizenship Act and Estonian Constitution in the case of applicants for citizenship, or grant them an exemption from the specified examinations. The members of the committee shall be appointed by the Minister of Education and Research. The expert committee may by its decision leave an application unapproved or decide to satisfy it in full or in part.

A person shall be released completely from the duty of taking examinations:

in the case of a severe or profound mental disability;
in case of total deafness, or hearing loss of the third degree, in both ears;
persons with a severe or profound visual impairment accompanied by one of the following (on the basis of the WHO classification):
- severe visual impairment OD-OS 0.12 – 0.05 correction in the stronger eye;
- blindness OD-OS 0.05-0;
persons with a compound disability who have the following simultaneously:
- hearing impairment and visual impairment = deafness-blindness; including persons who have a moderate or severe visual impairment and hearing loss (40 db or more);
- hearing or visual impairment or reduced mobility accompanied by mental retardation;
Persons with a hearing impairment who have hearing loss of 50-60 db or more (after correction);
- deaf persons whose primary language (mother tongue) is sign language;
- oral deaf persons, with impaired speech manifesting in their primary language (spoken language) – in the mid-range speech frequency range of 500-4000 Hz, 50-100 dB and speech impairment as a result);
- people with cochlear implants.

» Information for applicants for citizenship or a long-term residence permit, who due to their health condition are not capable of taking the examination on knowledge of the Constitution and Citizenship Act of the RE under general procedure