When hiring a foreigner, short term employment is the fastest legal route to do so. The employment of the employee needs to be registered with the Police and Border Guard by a specific application, either by email or in a specific web portal. The processing of the application can be up to 15 working days. If the approval is given then the employee can apply for a long-term visa based on that. The visa application is a separate process with their own specific conditions but th

While e-residency of Estonia does not give any legal right for physical relocation, it can still be used as a gateway to build a case for immigration. For years we have published updated guidelines on different options and we have done an updated version for 2026 as well (see below). It is important to note that it can take time to build a case for your specific situation. Immigration laws are tough and there is no easy way for people outside the EU to settle in Estonia. Neve

Estonia has been running a programme for startups for many years and the main aim is to attract talent to incorporate and develop their business physically in Estonia. The programme defines it as follows: Startup is a technology-based, innovative, and scalable business that has an MVP and the first traction. They offer a test for determining the eligibility: https://startupestonia.ee/start-up-in-estonia/startup-visa/#quiz The startup idea has to receive an approval from Star

There are certain important changes that will take effect from the 1st of January 2026 and we will outline them below: TRP for settling permanently There will be 2 additional conditions attached to applying for a permit to settle permanently: A2 Estonian language level; Completion of a "welcoming programme". While the welcoming or settling programme is nothing major then the language requirement will certainly pose a challenge for many as right now most applicants applying fo

Running a company in Estonia without e-residency

Recently Estonia published a list of countries which' citizens will not receive e-residency and who's e-residency will be extended only in very special circumstances, the countries are: Russia, Belarussia, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, North Korea, Mali, Nigeria, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burkina Faso. This does not mean the other nationalities will face an easy extension. Recently the Police and Border Guard are looking more and more into the fact if the