Estonia forbade the Russian to come to the birth of his wife

“The husband will see the child only by video link”

Nine European Union countries have stopped accepting applications from Russians for tourist visas. But, in addition to tourists, Europe has deprived Russian citizens of the right to reunite with relatives who live abroad.

Ekaterina (not her real name) lives in Estonia. The woman is in her ninth month of pregnancy. Any day now she can give birth. Despite all the documents collected, her husband is not allowed to enter the country.

– I live in Estonia with a child, I have a residence permit, – says Ekaterina. – The husband is in St. Petersburg, he has a job there. By law, the spouse has the right to come to me, this is called “family reunification”. In early August, he applied for a visa, explained the circumstances of the trip. He was promised a review within two weeks. Three weeks later he was contacted by a consular officer in Moscow. He demanded to send pages of my internal passport. We sent everything. A few days later, a visa was refused with the wording: the purpose and conditions of the intended stay are unreliable. Although we provided all the data, I sent an invitation from myself, made a copy of my residence permit, attached a marriage certificate, took out insurance, requested a bank statement.

I am in my ninth month of pregnancy. I can give birth at any moment. It turns out that the father will not be able to see the newborn child.

– You told me that you are pregnant?

– Of course. We did not understand what information they found to be unreliable. In addition, they sent a birth certificate of the first child, where the husband is entered as the father, they attached the residence permit of the child, a pregnancy card, where the husband is also entered. The card has the date of birth and a note that my husband lives in Russia, and I live in Estonia. We received an answer that they may not justify the refusal. And they added: you can file a refutation within 30 days, pay a consular fee of 80 euros, send all the documents again, but it’s not a fact that the visa will be approved. They warned that they could refuse again without explanation.

On Tuesday, I went to the local police, where they apply for a residence permit. Complained about the situation. There they shrugged: well, yes, they will most likely give him a visa. They advised me to apply to my husband for a residence permit. But if a visa was not given, it is hard to believe that a residence permit will be given, although according to the law they have no right to refuse.

– Is there a possibility that you may not be able to renew your residence permit?

– I have a permanent residence permit, it is not necessary to renew it. I live in two countries. But now I spend most of my time in Estonia. Here I was registered for pregnancy and I will give birth here, so that the child would not be denied a residence permit later, in which case, after all, he will be born in Estonia.

– Did your husband have Estonian visas before?

– Of course, multiple, received without problems at my invitation.

– Do the locals sympathize with you?

– I live in the city of Ida-Virumaa. This is a region where mostly Russians settle. There are plenty of Estonians too. They don’t feel sorry for us. On the contrary, all you hear is: “Go back to your place in Russia.” Although many Russians were born here, they never left. Estonians are now happy to prick us. They hang Ukrainian flags everywhere, wear badges with their symbols. Ukrainian refugees are constantly in conflict with the native Russian population, who have been working here for a long time. For Estonians, now Ukrainians are brothers, and we have become enemies.

If my husband does not come, I will give birth alone. It turns out that he will be able to see his child only by video link. I plan to apply for clarifications to the Estonian Foreign Ministry, maybe they will help me there.