Estonia Permits Schengen Visa Refusals to Be Challenged in Court

The Estonian government has decided to permit persons whose Schengen Visas are denied by Estonian embassies and consulates abroad and who have passed a two-stage appeal procedure to appeal to an administrative court if they so wish.

The decision has been taken following a ruling of the European Court of Justice in 2017, according to which the Member States must allow applicants who have received a negative visa decision to challenge it in court.

Commenting on the approval of the amendments to the Aliens Act, the Head of the Department of Citizenship and Migration Policy Ruth Annus said that the main purpose of the amendment is to bring Estonian legislation in line with European Union law.

“The amendment to the law concerns those aliens who file an appeal against a decision to refuse a visa, annul a visa, refuse to extend a stay, and terminate the stay prematurely,” she said.

Based on the current rules, a visa applicant can only challenge negative decisions twice, through the Police and Border Guard Board or the foreign mission, and the second time through the Estonian Ministry of the Interior or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She also noted that in spite that the EU law obliges the Member States to allow the judicial review decisions on Schengen Visas, Estonia intends to extend the same possibility to bring to court decisions concerning Estonian long-stay visas and visa-free stays.

“In the future, it will be possible to file an appeal with an administrative court after the mandatory two-stage appeal procedure. However, it is important to note that the change does not give an alien the right to obtain a visa, nor does filing an appeal with a court or arranging a court hearing to review an appeal entitle the alien to come or stay in Estonia,” Ruth Annus explained.

According to her, authorities do not expect a significant increase in the workload of courts due to the new amendments to the Aliens Act.

Despite the amendments, Estonia has one of the lowest Schengen visa rejection rates in the Schengen Area, with only 1.4 percent of Schengen visas rejected, out of a total of 145,711 visa applications lodged at its embassies and consulates in 2019.

According to Schengen Visa Statistics, in the same year, only Iceland (1.2 percent), and Lithuania (1.3 percent), had lower rejection rates than Estonia.

Last November, a panel of 13 judges of the European Court of Justice had also ruled that in cases when a Schengen visa is rejected based on previous rejections from another Schengen country, the EU countries must inform the visa applicant on the reasons why their application was turned down.