Anyone arriving in Estonia from today will have the additional option of being able to submit their cross-border traveller’s declaration information electronically. The aim of this new option is to cut down on queuing at the airport and in the port, with such queues generally forming only because the declaration had to be completed in person. An additional benefit of an electronic form will be to facilitate information exchange between various institutions.
According to Üllar Lanno, director-general of the Health Board, the self-service environment which can be found on the Health Board’s website was created in cooperation with the Health and Welfare Information Systems Centre and the Police and Border Guard Board. ‘Our pace has been very high during the entire coronavirus crisis, and the task of creating the self-service environment was no exception,’ said Lanno, claiming that the environment had passed a brief testing period before launching. ‘Quite naturally, the system is new, and it is very likely that some shortcomings will arise in the course of widespread use which we did not notice at first. By serving its purpose of cutting down the queues, however, the self-service environment will make the lives of travellers easier and will help to lower the risk of infection.’
Representatives of the Police and Border Guard Board believe that the self-service environment which was created during the course of a mutual exchange of ideas is certainly a good way of making the task of crossing the border more convenient for the traveller while also helping to prevent the spread of the virus. ‘The electronic solution makes it possible for us to carry out all of our border operations contactlessly, and will allow people to travel more quickly from the airport or the port to their destination. In order to be able to cross the border more quickly, we would like to ask all travellers to keep the confirmation which they will receive via email in order to otherwise avoid having to fill it in again,’ said Tago Trei, senior law enforcement official with the Police and Border Guard Board.
The electronic declaration form, which can be found at https://iseteenindus.terviseamet.ee, can be filled in by anyone who has an Estonian personal identification code, as well as any foreign nationals who are arriving in Estonia. The declaration form can be filled in within 24 hours before an individual’s arrival in Estonia.
The electronic border crossing declaration was developed with the help of the software and product development company, Devtailor OÜ.
Anyone arriving in Estonia will still have the option of being able to fill in the cross-border traveller’s declaration in person.