How to move to Estonia Guide (for ICT consultants, specialists....but for others also)

The information in this post and the links were updated on 18th of July 2014.

In my opinion Estonia is a good place for IT specialists to find a job and work in! Especially in the situation when the (youth) unemployment is rising and in many European countries there is no sign of it easing. I promoted the idea to the Estonian IT companies in one of my recent posts. With this post I want to give my contribution to the exchange of talent inside EU. I hope this helps at least a few people.
 This post is definitely not an official guide, but more of a friendly advice. If you have any questions regarding moving or any important information that could help others then please comment this post!

 This post focuses on moving to Tallinn. Tartu, as the second biggest town in Estonia, is also an alternative with Playtech and Webmedia as the biggest IT sector employers there.

The first thing you need is a job.
 If you are an IT specialist with a university degree there is a good chance you can find a job in Estonia. (Even if you don't speak Estonian). Finding a job is never easy, but if you have a concrete skill - like Java developing for example - Estonia would be one of the first places where to look for work. Estonian economy is picking up a bit now and the unemployment rate is decreasing. The salary levels in IT sector are decent in European standards I would say.
 To find an IT job look at CV-online - the biggest job portal in Estonia. You can also look directly at the pages of the biggest IT employers in Estonia. These include Skype, Kühne and Nagel development center, Nortal, Helmes, Playtech, the telecoms: Elion, EMT, the banks: Swedbank, SEB, Danske Bank, LHV and others.
 You can also search for a job in an IT Startup. Estonia (the infamous #Estonianmafia) has a really active startup community with accelerators like Garage48, Wise Guys, Tehnopol and companies like GrabCad, PipeDrive, Erply, Fortumo and many, many others. Contacting someone from the accelerators or visiting a Garage48 event would be a wise thing to do if you are in need of a job and like the action oriented startup environment.
 There are also human resource companies who focus on finding the best talents for companies. These include Fontes, Manpower and Arista.

Finding work as a consultant.
 Probably easier than finding a job would be finding a project where you can work in. This would also be less risky for you and an easier decision. The projects might last 3-6 months or a year. The good thing about Tallinn and Estonia is that it is relatively easy to find and rent a place to live (read more in the Housing part underneath) and doing the paperwork (read Founding a company and Paperwork underneath). The biggest need on the market is for (Java) developers, IT architects, but also many other specialities.
 The Economy of consulting work: The ICT sector consultants now work for 30-65 euros/h. That naturally depends a lot on the experience, contacts and job. So for the first projects you should calculate to be on the lower end of that price range. If you calculate that you work 140 billable hours a month (out of the 168 workhours) then you could earn 4200 euros as a company. On the cost side you have accounting, tools, perhaps you want to rent an office space if the employer does not provide that for you and taxes. The biggest cost for consultants naturally is the fact that you might not have work all the time and you need time for sales. However, if you can agree on a multi-month job beforehand then this is a good approach. For matching consultants and jobs I have started a LinkedIN group. Go and become a member there and start connecting with people, it is free and riskfree.
 If you have found a consulting job, but do not have a company, an appartment or lack something else then you can also contact me and I can help you.

Founding a company
IT startups and consultanting firms are a big thing in Europe and USA today so why not found your own. Founding and running a company in Estonia is cheap and easy compared to other EU countries. To register a company go to the Company registration portal of the Justice Department. You don't need to be an Estonian resident to start a company and can do it even over the Internet with electronic authentication from some countries. You need to pay 140,6 euros registration tax (185,34 if you do it electronically)  and pay in 2500 euros as the startup capital. The latter will be your companies money so you get it back in a couple of days to your companies bank account that you have to open at one of the banks. (The main banks are SEB, Swedbank, LHV, Nordea, Danske) There is more information on founding a company at the Eesti.ee portal.
 After founding your company it is wise to hire an accountant. For example from IMG or a freelance accountant. Search "raamatupidaja" on the internet. A good accountant will cost you approximately 50-100 euros a month and will take care of the daily accounting, the monthly reporting of taxes if necessary and the yearly report.

Paperwork
 The national portal www.eesti.ee is the place where you can find most of the official information about paperwork etc. However logging in there is possible only after you have got the personal code and ID-card. I strongly suggest though that even without the ID card you go through the public webpages there.
 The bureaucracy will become even easier when Estonia launches the e-residency possibility that is planned for autumn 2014.
 Firstly, it must be noted that paperwork is easy if you are an EU citizen and a little more time consuming if you are not. All the initial paperwork: residency permit, working permit (not necessary for EU citizens), personal code, ID-documents are handled by the Police and Bordercontrol authorities. So start out by going to their webpages here. There you can also find the contact information where to write an E-mail or call and explain your situation and ask for instructions. Probably you can get service also in English and certainly in Russian - don't be scared just call them and see what happens. :-)
 I strongly suggest getting yourself also an ID-card and an ID-card reader for your computer. This will help you a lot with all the business - starting from online banking, tax declaration to buying a prescription medicine. The ID-card and other documents are also handled by the police.
 Health insurance in Estonia is public and is handled by the Health Insurance Fund (Haigekassa). If you get a job then it is your employers task to insure you and you don't need to do much for that.
 If you move to Tallinn then it is wise to register yourself also as a resident of Tallinn. This will give you some benefits like cheaper public transport. This is also a prerequisite if you want to put your children to kindergarten or school in Tallinn.


Vacation, work legislation and social security.
 The standard vacation in Estonia is 28 days a year. It is more than US, but less than in most of European countries. Estonia has less free days than most European countries. You can find a calendar public holidays here.
 The unions do not have much power in Estonia. Therefore most of the rules of your work-relation are governed by the laws and by your work-contract. This means that the work-contract is an important document and you should read it carefully. It is also relatively easy to lay off people in Estonia so the job market is dynamic. Thanks to that companies are also not afraid to hire people and permanent contracts are much more common than temporary ones. Usually there is a 4 months trial period in the beginning of a job relation. Overall the Estonian jobmarket is open and straightforward. The laws protect the employee and in the IT sector the companies are fare. You don't need to be scared and especially careful, but do ask the employer to explain you all the terms.
 One problem I personally would note here is that if you get sick then usually you don't get compensated for the first 3 days of sickleave. This means 3/21 of your monthly salary. This is a topic that you should discuss with your employer. For example many IT companies allow you to work from home so if you get a flu you don't need to go bankrupt. I personally have also kept a few vacation days just in case to be used when I get sick.


Income and social benefits
The salaries for IT specialists in Estonia range quite a bit. The bruto salaries range from a little under 1300 euros for technicians to over 4000 a month for experienced specialist-architect-managers. The income tax rate is 21% for everybody with some small additional taxes for pension-fund and unemployment fund. You can calculate the exact net-salary (the money you actually get) here: www.kalkulaator.ee.
 The social benefits of Estonia are OK. They include child birth support paid by the local municipalities, the child benefit for 19 euros/m per child (from 2015 it will be 45 eur/m for the first two kids and 100 for third and more) and help for unemployed and some social benefits. You can read more about them at the following pages:
- Social insurance board
- Health insurance fund
- Tallinn city social support

Housing
 Although the salary level in Estonia is less than in Scandinavia, Germany or UK then so are the costs. You might economically be even better off in Tallinn than in Stockholm or Helsinki.
 You can for example rent a 2 room appartment in the centre of Tallinn for 450 euros/month. Try Põhja-Tallinn, Mustamäe, Õismäe or Lasnamäe for cheaper options. All the rental and on sale appartments and houses can be found here at City24. (Press ENG for english there) City24 is the best portal for real estate offers in Estonia. The rent and real estate market is open and straightforward. There are practically no government appartment programs or any type of limits on rents. You pay to the owner and get the appartment. The more you are ready to pay the better appartment you can get. Bank loans for buying an appartment are relatively easy to get, although after the financial bubble banks again do look at your income and demand probably 20-30% of the value of the real estate to be paid by you. (This is a good thing!)

Car
 There is no car tax in Estonia. So if you bring your car or want to buy one then you only need to pay the registration fee.You can find the information about registering your car or bringing it in here at Maanteeamet (Transportation authorities). Unfortunately they have translated only a part of their webpages so you need to use Google translate to get to the relevant information. Petrol costs ... well they are rising all the time. Look how much for example Neste charges today.

  Public transport is an OK option in Tallinn also. It is free for the residents of Tallinn. You can find information about the ticket prices here and the travel planners and maps here. Google Maps planner also works for Tallinn.

 Food is about 1,5-2 times cheaper in Estonia than in Finland or Sweden. To get an overview of the prices check the offers on the biggest grocery store chains: Selver, Säästumarket, Rimi, Prisma. 0,5l beer costs about 1 euro.
 Tallinn is an important tourist town so there are numerous restaurants especially in the old city. Most of them are oriented on tourists and have therefore premium pricing - a glass of beer can cost 4-5 euros and a meal 20-30 euros. For everyday eating it is possible to find decent places where a meal costs 7 or less euros.

People and habitsRoughly 2/3 of the inhabitants of Estonia are estonian and the rest are mostly russian. The immigration to Estonia since 1990 has been smallish so the ethnic diversity is not that big compared to other European capitals. Sushi and kebab in Tallinn's restaurants are made by Estonians or Russians. :-) Here are some random facts about culture and habits. As always these things are very relative and do not take them very seriously:
- In official situations you should approach people by using the multiple form. Like Sie in German not Du.
- Using titles like mister, miss etc. is not common.
- Equality between genders is a work in progress in Estonia. This also means that as a gentlemen you must open the door and let the lady's in first.
- drinking is not a tabu. Like all the northen nations Estonians drink as much as the French, but focus it all on one day in a week :-)
- E-mail is an important communication method. Estonians do not like to call, they e-mail and use the e-service. This means also that "not answering" to e-mails (in a couple of days) is considered unpolite. You should read your e-mail and can also trust that other Estonians read the mail you sent.
...please feel free to add important habits a foreigner must know to the comments. As a native Estonian it is a bit hard for me to detect them.

Kindergartens and schools
This might be a tricky part when moving so you should put some effort into it. Things might work out fine easily or they might take some time. First you must decide what language your children should study in.

...if it is English
- The international kindergarten is one of the options, but ask them how much does it cost and if they have vacancies.
- Tallinn European School has both a kindergarten and a school. They are currently the most affordable option (though not exactly cheap, approx. 4000-4500 eur/year)
- The International School of Estonia is an IB School and provides education in English for all ages. It is a private school and therefore has tuition fees. See their pages for more information.
- Audentes private school has an IB diploma program in English. You can find out more about it and other Audentes's programs here. Audentes is a private school so studying there costs, see their webpage for exact prices.
- Tallinn English Colledge will open classes teaching in english in the year 2012/2013. Ask them about possibilities to send your kid there. This is also not free and it might be a challenge to find a place there.
- High-school/grammar school equivalent at EBS.

...if anyone knows any other alternatives for English education then please write in comments.

...if it is Estonian or Russian
Municipal (free) kindergartens and schools teach children in Estonian or Russian. The best advice here is to find a kindergarten or school closer to where you live. Contact the chosen establishment directly or ask advice from the Tallinn Education Department (Tallinna Haridusamet). Here is a list of Tallinn's educational establishments. There is a lack of kindergarten places in some areas of Tallinn - especially the center, Nõmme and Pirita. There should not be any problems in finding a place at a school if you don't want to go for the "elite schools". There are 4-6 schools in Tallinn where all the parents want to put their children. These are The English College, Reaalkool, French lyceum, Gustav Adolf College, Tallinn 21 school and Westholm Gymnasium. These schools are considered to be better than the others and in 2011 there were 21 (yes, twenty-one) children applying for one vacancy in the English College and others. The 6-7 year olds take tests that decide who are the lucky ones.

...if it is Finnish
Then there is a Finnish school in Tallinn that you can choose.

..other alternatives
If you and your children are used to a more personal approach and Scandinavian "free upbringing" then I suggest looking at Waldorf schools as an option. I myself and my children have experienced both Finnish/Swedish schools and Estonian education and I would say it is easy to go from Estonia to Scandinavia, but demands some discipline to go vice versa. It is nothing serious, but the habits are a bit different. Therefore you can consider Waldorf School as an option. It is not free, but also not that expensive and maybe your children might get help with language there also.

University degrees
There are many possibilities to learn higher education in English in Estonia. The main universities providing education both in Estonian and English are:
- University of Tartu (They also have a course for IT Product and Business development tought in Tallinn)
- Tallinn Technical University
- Tallinn University
- Estonian Business School
- ...and others

Language
You can manage in Estonia by using English. However if you plan to stay for a longer period it would be good to at least try to learn some Estonian. It is possible. :-) Although in the beginning might seem difficult. Estonian is only similar to Finnish and has very little similarities with anglic or slavic languages.
 Russian is spoken by 1/3 of the population so knowing or learning russian does help you to get along with many people. However in official and work situations russian is rarely used and unfortunately the young estonians do not often speak russian.
 Many Estonians speak....well understand at least... finnish. And in the Old Town of Tallinn you can pretty much get a meal in any language.

Help
 There are companies providing moving and Expat services. For example Expatrelocation Estonia.
 There is an expat Estonia forum and a Expat Estonia Community.

Comments

  1. Is there a discount for foreigners while founding a company? "You need to pay 140,6 euros registration tax". Last time I checked, it was 183,60€.

    ReplyDelete
  2. regarding english-language schooling there are 2 more options that I know about:
    1) EBS (Estonian Business School) has a high school/grammar school equivalent
    http://www.ebs.ee/en/ebs-high-school/ebs-high-school-admission/ebs-high-school-admission-international-class/

    2) International School of Estonia
    It is said to be of high standard and good quality. Most teachers are international, ranging from Finland to Australia. Very often the diplomats' and other residing expats' children go there.
    http://www.ise.edu.ee/
    http://www.ise.edu.ee/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi!

      Don't forget about the international Master's programme - Design and Development of Virtual Environments provided by the University of Tartu!
      Its fully in english, it is teached in Tallinn and it provides students with advanced skills of entrepreneurship in the field of creating innovative digital products and services.

      In DDVE entrepreneurship is teached and practiced by employing Agile and Lean Startup methodologies. Hands-on teamwork activities are supported by theoretical studies of culture, social sciences, business and software product development.

      Check it out www.ddve.ee or the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ddve.ee
      There is still chance to apply!

      Delete
  3. Hi.. I am a software consultant.. especially consulting oracle financial and project application modules.. i do have 4+ years of oracle implementation experience for various domains and industry specific companies.. i want to move to estonia.. i would like to work there and as well as continue my higher education.. but i dont find any suitable job for me, there.. i surfed in most of the job sites.. can i get a job as an oracle financial functional consultant in estonia? can anyone guide me on this, it would be greatful and i would be thankful for u.. :) thanks in advance. if anyone has any dump or links, pls forward to karthick.consult@gmail.com
    - thankfully,
    Karthick

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oracle Financials is not a very wide spread solution in Estonia. However if you are looking for Oracle specific jobs then I would suggest to contact Oracle Estonia directly: http://www.oracle.com/ee/corporate/contact/index.html
    They should have the best overview about the overall Oracle market situation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Märt,

      Hope you're well.

      I'm in the process to be hired by a company in Tartu as Customer Support Especialist. I intend to bring my wife and children. The company didn't speak about salários and benefits.

      As your post is from 2012, could you please share with me advice on the current situation for living there?

      Thanks in advance.

      Regards,

      Salomao

      Delete
  5. Hi.. I am a BPO professional. I do have 8+ years of experience in customer service. I want to move to Estonia, i surfed in most of the job sites but i couldn't find any suitable job for me. Can i get a job in customer service in Estonia? can anyone guide me on this, i would be more thankful to you. if anyone has links, please forward to kugan_mano@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi, I am looking for IT specialist who can help me to migrate 20 PC from WIN XP to WIN7. I need this person between 6th and 7th of February 2014.
    my email is bak@synergy.pl

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi, I am studying at Tartu University and need a job in the nearby locality. I have a business degree but mostly international development and writing projects experience. My email is saminkhann@gmail.com.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you very much for providing all the important information,

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you for the detailed information, excellent post!

    In your opinion which language schools are good, for someone who speaks English and wants to learn Estonian?

    ReplyDelete
  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very informative. Thanks dude

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very informative. Thanks dude

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
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  15. What are the chances to get a job for a non EU citizen not related to IT?

    Personally I have experience in customer service for more than 4 years in call centers b

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It depends largely on what languages you speak. There are a number of customer-service and call-center companies in Estonia that offer services also in many languages to international customers. The main languages being Finnish, Estonian, English, Russian, Swedish, but also others.

      Here are some of them:
      - https://www.arvato.com/en.html
      - http://www.tieto.ee/ (They actually have a campaign now ongoing with the slogan: "Move to Tallinn as your job is already here": http://www.tieto.ee/tieto-careers-open-jobs/you-will-not-look-back)
      - Fujitsu Eesti: http://www.cv.ee/toopakkumised/fujitsu-estonia-as

      Delete
  16. I have opted to study in Tallin Technical University. i equally want to know the assurance of studying and working in Estonia. thanks! kenas007@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. hello, i am an Indian and have done MBA from UK. After that i returned to India and am currently working as banking officer in india for 1.6 years and am planning to study a master course in banking and finance from Estonia. What are my chances of getting a job in banking sector in Estonian after completion of my studies? kindly guide me.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Märt,

    Hope you're well.

    I'm in the process to be hired by a company in Tartu as ICT area.
    I intend to bring my wife and children. The company didn't speak yet about salary and benefits

    As your post is from 2012, could you please share the current situation current situation for and ICT professional living there?

    Thanks in advance.

    Regards,

    Salomao

    ReplyDelete
  19. Estonia? Yeah yeah, I have heard a lot of good things about this country, cuz there is a fantastic nature and wonderful Baltic sea! For moving to this country it is better to use this company https://movers.best/orange-county/aliso-viejo-movers/. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hello, i am an Indian and have done MBA in Finance and have 18 years of experience in my portfolio and looking for a job opportunity in Accounts & Finance. What are my chances to get a job in Estonia? Please guide .

    ReplyDelete
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