Living and Coming to Estonia Estonia As you land at the Tallinn International Airport, considered being one of the best smallest airport in world designed amazingly, you will figure out that you have come to the right place to study. Less people less noise and a comfortable atmosphere, in short you can say it is an ideal place for studies. Let me now guide you step by step about the procedures I went through and most probably you will also have to. Admissions To complete the admission criteria you need to sign up to the website http://www.studyinestonia.ee/ where you can find all the information regarding admissions. When you sign up keep the code with you as you will need it every time you login, best way is to save it in your cell phone by the name of studyinestonia. You will have to upload all your educational documents which are mentioned and select at least 3 universities. The more universities you select the greater will be the chance of getting an admission. All the documents should be clear and readable when you upload otherwise you will waste your time and the process can be delayed and you might get disqualified, so be careful while you upload. You will be notified step by step what to do next and a correspondent of the university will get in touch with you for the interviews and further documentation if required. When you are selected you will be notified by an email and at StudyinEstonia.ee portal. If you are selected by 2 or 3 different universities you will have to select the one you want to join in. Once you are selected you will receive a contract or an acceptance letter which you need to sign and send it back via post. You might have to pay some processing fee which i will explain in my next paragraph. Interview The interview will be of maximum 10 minutes and there will be 3-5 people from the department asking you question about your previous experiences and your future concerns about your studies. Do not panic, be confident and be very open and clear. Make sure to have a good internet connection and a less noisy place so that you can hear the interviewer and can convey you message. Documents People who are not married and are living with their parents and family must get a family certificate from the government before they apply for the visa. Also they need to get the tax documents of their family and themselves by the government which can prove their annual income. Get your documents attested by the notary public and upload the originals. All
photocopies submitted at the time of visa application must be attested by a notary public. The bank statement needs not to be attested though a bank stamp will be required. People who are married must get their marriage certificate attested by the ministry of foreign affairs and also get the photocopy attested by the notary, else it won’t be considered as a true document at the time of visa application. Also they need to get the tax documents of their spouse and themselves. They do not have to submit the tax documents of their parents or other family members if they are married. You also need to get a family certificate and if you have children please do get the birth certificates attested and names entered in the family certificate. For people who are married need to have a specific income which you can find on this website and also below:https://www.politsei.ee/en/teenused/residence-permit/tahtajalineelamisluba/oppimiseks/oluline-info-oppimiseks-elamisloa-taotlejale.dot Upon application for a temporary residence permit for settling with a spouse or a temporary residence for study the legal income of a family must meet at least the following rates :* Size of your family Your family's legal income Your family's legal income per month EUR during the past 6 months EUR 1 member
264
1584
2 members
475
2850
3 members
686
4116
4 members
897
5328
5 members
1108
6648
6 members
1319
7914
7 members
1530
9180
8 members
1741
10446
9 members
1952
11712
10 members 2163 12978 *These sums are valid starting from 1st January 2016
Getting a Visa To get a visa you need to take an appointment with the Estonian Consulate near you region. So if you don’t have the consulate in your region don’t worry about it, you can go to the nearest country where the consulate is available. To check the availability of the consulate you may visit the website: http://www.vm.ee/en/embassies-and-representations The embassy or the consulate might take 4 – 5 days depending upon the case and documentation. If the documents are incomplete they might ask you to get the document or the process will be delayed. So if you are going to a different country for the consulate make sure to carry all the originals and the copies attested with you. You can pay the visa fee at the consulate in euros. Try to apply for the TRP (Temporary Residency Permit) at the consulate as the TRP takes time come so make sure you fill your TRP form with the visa form.
You can find information on visa fee below website and also mentioned column: https://www.politsei.ee/en/teenused/residence-permit/tahtajalineelamisluba/oppimiseks/oluline-info-oppimiseks-elamisloa-taotlejale.dot The state fee can be paid: • •
•
by bank transfer; in Service Offices the state fee can be paid in cash, by bankcard or by bank transfer through online bank, using the client computer at the Service Office. All most common debit and credit cards are accepted. American Express payment cards are not accepted. at a representation - for detailed information, whether the payment can be made either in cash or by bank card, you can get in your particular representation. Temporary residence permit
In In Estonian Estonia representation
Payment of the state fee
Temporary residence permit
64 €
By bank transfer:
Extension of a temporary residence permit
64 €
Temporary 24 € residence permit for an alien under one year of age Extension of a 24 € temporary residence permit: • for an alien under 15 years of age; • for a person who has attained Estonian general pensionable age.
80 €
Cannot be applied in Estonian representation 25 €
Cannot be applied in Estonian representation
To settle with 31 € spouse who is an Estonian citizen or with a close relative who is an Estonian citizen
50 €
Extension of a
Cannot be
31 €
Recipient: Rahandusministeerium(Ministry of Finance) Recipient’s accounts: SWEDBANK EE932200221023778606 SEB PANK EE891010220034796011 DANSKE BANK EE403300333416110002 NORDEA BANK EE701700017001577198 Reference number: 2900082443 Please indicate the name of the act, the name and personal identification code (if available) of the person for whom the payment was made (e.g.: residence permit - Meeri Meri, 40302010000)
temporary residence permit for settling with spouse who is an Estonian citizen or with a close relative who is an Estonian citizen
applied in Estonian representation
Temporary residence permit for employment
96 €
120 €
Extension of a temporary residence permit for employment
96 €
Cannot be applied in Estonian representation
Temporary residence permit for business
160 €
180 €
Extension of a temporary residence permit for business
160 €
Cannot be applied in Estonian representation
Processing Fee The problem people face in some countries is that they cannot send the fee through their account or Western Union or face many difficulties. The best solution is to open a Euro account in any of the banks and you can show the university receipt and acceptance letter before sending the payment. Be sure to send the payment early as the bank takes a weeks’ time to process the payment, you might not reach the deadline. Accommodation The university dorms are the best place to stay and make new friends. People who are married need not to worry as they also have family apartments or bigger studio apartments. As soon as you get the acceptance letter make sure to get the university dorm booked, in fact I would recommend that start talking to the university dormitory people for a room when you know that your interview went good. Though you can only book when you show them the acceptance letter but at least you will have the information about the dormitory earlier, as the dorms usually get full very fast. You will have to make the dormitory payment
as soon as you have booked the dormitory. Make sure to book from the date you are landing otherwise you might have to stay at a hotel. You can find the dormitory rates at: http://www.yhikas.ee/ But yes there are many others as well. Airlines Start planning your trip as soon as you get selected from a university. Start looking for the airlines and cheap airfares as in the end it might get expensive for you. Select the dates for which you have booked your dormitory or place of living from so that you don’t have to spend your money on hotels. Things get closed here at 5pm so dormitory office usually is closed after this time, so if you arrive late please tell the dormitory people before so that they give your keys to your neighbor or some reliable person. Do take the contact info of the neighbor like the email and cellphone number and talk to him/her once before arriving. Packing You need to know for sure what to bring along as you might be only allowed to bring 23 – 29 kg, 1 bag depending upon your airline. All you might need ere is a good jacket preferably leather one with fur inside to keep you warm, a pair of leather long shoes for snow as shoes are expensive here for about 100 Euros so better to get from home country if they are cheaper there. keep 2 sets of warmers, a scarf, gloves, a cap for winters, a card holder as you will get a lot of discount cards, a pair of jeans, some spice for food if you like, socks, sweaters and people coming from Asia don’t forget to bring the universal socket for electric use. You will have extra 7 kg to put in your hand bag as well. Don’t worry if you have to leave a few things at home, you can always cargo them as that’s the cheapest way to get the heavy things transferred. I got 15 Kg of things by post from Asia to Tallinn in about 100 Euros.
Extra Money Do bring along at least an expense of 4 months. Though you may find jobs at many website but you won’t be able to work till you get you TRP and TRP normally takes around 2 months. So be prepared for that. A normal expense for one person if living in a dormitory is around 200 Euros to 250 Euros. NEED Based Allowance A basic confusion about the need based allowance and how we will get it is among all the new comers. I faced the same problem. Masters and PHD students can apply for need based allowance by the state as soon as they get their Temporary Residency Permit. The need
based allowance for the year 2016 is 220 Euros which will be deposited in your Estonian bank account. You can apply for need based allowance at the website: www.eesti.ee You will have to attach your TRP Card with the computer and login. You might also have to upload your family information in the form of family certificate and marriage certificate and previous earning statement of the past year in the form of tax documents which I have already mentioned you need to have them before you apply for the visa. Legalization As soon as you reach Estonia please get your marriage certificate and the family certificate attested by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as you might need these documents for your TRP. The ministry only legalizes your document if your document is legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of your home country. So make sure to get it done by your home country first before you land in to Estonia else you will face problems. For Legalization you might visit the website: http://www.vm.ee/en You need to take an appointment before you go there and make sure you pay the fee in the bank as well and take the receipt with you. Temporary Residency Permit The temporary residence permit normally known as TRP among all students usually comes late about 2 months later after you apply for it and it is further delayed if the documents are not complete. Don’t panic if your TRP is delayed just email the concerned department and they will reply you why is it getting delayed. Make sure to email them when you have reached as you can only open a free bank account with the TRP and apply for the need based allowance. Bank Account You can open a bank account free of charge on if you have your TRP else you have to pay the amount of 250 Euro. So better to wait then to pay. You can open the account at any bank though some common banks are SEB and Swed Bank. Why are they common, we’ll all universities and dormitories have an account in them so you won’t have to pay extra charges. Food Students might think where to get stuff to eat. Well there are many restaurants out there but for students they might seem expensive. I would prefer cooking at home. Students who
are coming from Asian countries might have problems in cooking as they get ready made food by the family members at home but I would request them to learn the basic recipe and start cooking, you might become an expert in a month. Do get your own spices from your country as you might not find them here. Muslim students need not to worry about the halal food as you can get it from the Islamic Centre in the city. http://www.islam.pri.ee/index.php?lang=3 For all the house stuff to can visit markets such as SELVER, RIMI, Stockmann, Primsa and alot others. Well I prefer Selver as it is near to my place and prices seem reasonable and you can get discount with a Partner Card which they offer. Depoo Market You can also find some cheap stuff at a Depoo Market near the Balti Jaam station. Please take the tram number 2 from viru and it will take you there. There you can find some second hand stuff as well like jackets, shoes and house hold stuff with some expired food ingredients at a very low price as well. You can also find some homemade Russian food there. Behind the Depoo Market there are alot of places to eat which are really good better to try them some evening. Transport The public transport in Tallinn is free of cost. But you need to buy a transport card of 2 Euros and activate it with your TRP. And if you don’t have a TRP in the started you should get a 23 Euro one month card or you can walk around as everything is very near here in Tallinn. You can use the same card for both Bus and Trams. Try to avoid the taxi as its expensive. Jobs Many jobs are available here but most of them require Estonian or Russian language but there are few English jobs as well which you can check online at different websites. On your orientation you will receive a booklet, job sites are mentioned on it so don’t worry about it. You can only apply for the job when you will get your TRP or a Bank Account which will take around 2 months as I mentioned earlier. Cvonline.ee
When should you arrive in Estonia? You can arrive a day before your orientation and also book your apartment from a day before your orientation. Some people prefer to come a bit early but that’s also not a problem you can visit the beautiful city of Tallinn.
Things to Do in Tallinn There are a lot of things to do in Tallinn. For me Tallinn is supposed to be the cleanest city as compared to Helsinki and Stockholm. Though you will find less number of people here but still you have a lot to do here. You can plan to visit all museums one by one I would recommend not rush just go slow and visit everything in detail. Visit the beautiful old town architecture and the view from the top, visit the Kadriorg Park and the beach, Tallinn Zoo, Shopping Malls such as Ulemiste Shopping Mall, Stockmann, Solaris and many others. Have a burger at Burger Box at BaltiJaam train station, they will be rude to you but don’t hesitate to order as this is their style of serving. If you have a long weekend you can plan your one day trip to Helsinki via a cruise, which has a restaurants on board and a shopping place with nice sofas to sit and it takes around 2 hours to reach Helsinki. You can also plan a trip to St. Petersburg and Stockholm if you have more time free via a cruise. Make sure to get your cruise discount card made earlier so that you can earns points and get free visits. Shopping There are many malls in Tallinn where you can go for shopping. If you are near the centre you can visit Kaubamaja and Viru Keskus or the old town and if you want to roam around and spend more time just go to the Ülemiste Centre. Bus No. 15 takes you to the Ülemiste shopping mall. You can also go to Rocca Al Mare, it’s a big mall opposite the Tallinn Zoo. You can also buy second hand stuff at USA Today on Pärnu mnt near the centre at 70% Off at all times. To find good and cheap crockery for your home you may visit the Russian market for 2 nd hand crockery for your home. Don’t spend too much buying new crockery. And if you are living at the dormitory you will get a lot of stuff at the free corner every week. Also for 2nd hand electronics there is a Facebook page where you can find a lot of things much cheaper than the new ones. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1505481619703474/
Winter stuff is quite expensive here so better get your snow leather shoes and jackets from your home country. Also if you are coming in September and want to buy something wait for the winter sales in December. Black Friday is not much celebrated here but yes there are few shops which do celebrate. How and Where to make Friends The best place to make friends is your Estonian language class at EKA. Where you will get to know a lot about Estonia and meet people from different countries and talk to each other. That’s the class you will enjoy having. Rest to know people just participate in the Academy's extra activities where you will have many things to do and make friends. Also you can meet many people at the dormitory if you live there.
