Positive amendments to immigration laws in Estonia

Estonian Parliament has approved certain long-awaited amendments to the Aliens Act that will have a positive impact on the job seekers and employers.

1. New type of residence permit is introduced - residence permit for short-term employment.

It would be given for up to 2 years and is kind of an extension of the current short-term employment regime that allows for up to 1 years of working based on a visa. People who have been working here based on short-term employment for at least 9 months can apply for it if they continue with the same employer. It will not go under the immigration quota but also you cannot extend it. This amendment will come into force from the 1st of January 2023.

2. The salary threshold for the top specialist is lowered

Top specialist salary requirement will be 1,5 the average salary instead of the current requirement of 2 times. This also means more people will not go under the immigration quota.

3. The rules for "growth companies"

The law introduces regulations/exceptions for the so-called growth companies that are defined as follows:

• at least of 10 years of activity;

• at least 50 employees in Estonia;

• last years employment taxes paid were at least 1 million euros;

• the cumulative growth of the taxes paid has been at least 20% over the last 3 years

These companies could pay the salary which is 80% of the average Estonian salary and also the employees would not go under the immigration quota. The regulation come into effect from the 1st of January 2023.

From the initial plans and news regarding the changes the actual law is as always different and the positive changes always seem to come with restrictions. Hopefully it is still of help to many companies.