Residence permit for business – for sole proprietors
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Elamisluba ettevõtluseks – füüsilisest isikust ettevõtjale as of 2026-08-08[4] Estonian-language Police and Border Guard Board page; the local abbreviation is FIE. |
|---|---|
| Official name (English) | Residence permit for business – for sole proprietors as of 2026-08-08[5] The authority's own English rendering. |
| Legal basis | Aliens Act s. 118(1)(5) and ss. 191-196 (temporary residence permit for enterprise), sole proprietorship under s. 192(1)(1) and s. 192(3) as of 2026-06-29[1][5] |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-06-29[1][5] |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-08[5] |
|---|---|
| Criminal-record condition | Not established from a qualifying source[1][5] |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | up to 5 years as of 2026-06-29[1][5] Statutory maximum. Aliens Act s. 119(1): a temporary residence permit is issued with a period of validity of up to five years; the Police and Border Guard Board states the same for the residence permit for business. The actual term is set case by case under s. 119(2). |
|---|---|
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-08[5] The Police and Border Guard Board states that a temporary residence permit may be extended for up to 10 years at a time. |
| Renewal duration | up to 10 years as of 2026-08-08[5] Maximum extension term stated by the authority: up to 10 years at a time. |
| Work rights | full as of 2025-04-15[1][2] |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Yes as of 2026-06-29[1][9] Aliens Act s. 232(1)(1): a long-term resident's residence permit may be issued to a person who has resided in Estonia on the basis of a residence permit for at least the last five years before the application. The provision is not limited by the basis on which the temporary residence permit was issued. |
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Requirements
| Minimum capital | EUR 16,000 as of 2026-06-29[1][5] Aliens Act s. 192(3): an applicant applying as a sole proprietor must have capital of at least EUR 16,000 invested in Estonia. Under s. 192(3-1) the requirement does not apply to a start-up company. The sole proprietorship must be entered in the Estonian commercial register (s. 192(1)(2)). |
|---|---|
| Business plan required | Yes as of 2026-06-29[1][5] Aliens Act s. 192(5)-(6). The authority specifies the sole proprietorship's details, the business idea, financial forecasts for the next two financial years, the sole proprietor's CV, and a business-related justification for settling in Estonia. |
| Endorsement required | No as of 2026-06-29[1][5] No committee evaluation is required on this limb. |
| Innovation criterion | No as of 2026-06-29[1][5] No innovation test is imposed on this limb. |
| Own means requirement | 6 × subsistence level per month as of 2026-05-19[3][5] Minister of the Interior's regulation s. 53(4): six times the subsistence level for each month spent in Estonia, for a permit under Aliens Act s. 191. |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2025-01-01[7] The Police and Border Guard Board's state-fee schedule prices the application for a temporary residence permit for business both 'In Estonia' (EUR 350) and 'At a foreign representation' (EUR 380), so both submission routes exist. Neither Tier-1 page states a restriction on where the applicant must be at submission. |
|---|---|
| Statutory processing time | 90 days as of 2026-08-08[5] The Police and Border Guard Board states that a response is given within 90 days and that the residence permit card is issued within 30 days thereafter. The Aliens Act itself (s. 33) leaves the procedural term to a regulation and caps any authority-set term at six months. |
| Fees |
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| Quota |
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Physical presence
| registration only | to keep the permit as of 2026-06-29[1][5] Aliens Act s. 117(1)(2) makes Estonia being the actual place of residence a general condition for the issue of a temporary residence permit, and s. 121 requires the holder to register their place of residence in the Population Register within one month of arrival and to keep it registered for the whole period of validity. No minimum day count is stated. |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2026-06-29[1][6] A family member of a foreign national residing in Estonia on the basis of a residence permit may be issued a temporary residence permit to settle with them. |
|---|---|
| Eligible relations | spouse, registered partner, minor child, adult dependent child, parent, grandparent as of 2026-06-29[1][6] Aliens Act s. 118(1)(1)-(2): a temporary residence permit may be issued to settle with a spouse or registered partner or with a close relative. The Police and Border Guard Board publishes the family route in four parts – minor child, adult child, spouse, and parent or grandparent – and states that the inviting party may be an Estonian citizen or a foreign national residing in Estonia on the basis of a residence permit. Unmarried partners are not among the categories published. |
| Family may apply at the same time | Yes as of 2026-08-08[6] The Police and Border Guard Board describes the family route as joining a family member already living in Estonia or settling together in Estonia on arrival, and waives the inviting party's registered-residence and actual-accommodation condition where the parties arrive in Estonia together. |
| Family members' work rights | full as of 2025-04-15[2] |
| Additional means per family member |
Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
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Verification
| Sources cited | 11 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 11 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2025-01-01 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-08 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-11 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Aliens Act (Välismaalaste seadus), consolidated text, official English translation
Riigi Teataja (State Gazette), Republic of Estonia · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-29 · Accessed 2026-08-08 - [2] Working in Estonia (state portal article, text by the Police and Border Guard Board)
Riigiportaal eesti.ee / Police and Border Guard Board · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-04-15 · Accessed 2026-08-08 · Archived copy - [3] Tähtajalise elamisloa ja selle pikendamise ning pikaajalise elaniku elamisloa ja selle taastamise taotlemise kord ning legaalse sissetuleku määrad (Minister of the Interior Regulation), consolidated text
Siseminister (Minister of the Interior), published in Riigi Teataja (State Gazette), Republic of Estonia · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2026-05-19 · Accessed 2026-08-08 - [5] Residence permit for business – For sole proprietors
Police and Border Guard Board (Politsei- ja Piirivalveamet) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-08 - [6] Residence permit for a family member
Police and Border Guard Board (Politsei- ja Piirivalveamet) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-08 - [7] State fee amounts – Residence permit and rights of residence
Police and Border Guard Board (Politsei- ja Piirivalveamet) · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Published 2025-01-01 · Accessed 2026-08-08 · Archived copy - [8] State fee amounts – Residence permit card
Police and Border Guard Board (Politsei- ja Piirivalveamet) · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Published 2025-01-01 · Accessed 2026-08-08 - [9] Residence permit for a permanent resident – Long-term resident's residence permit
Police and Border Guard Board (Politsei- ja Piirivalveamet) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-08 - [10] Valitsus kehtestas järgmise aasta sisserände piirarvuks 1292 inimest
Siseministeerium (Ministry of the Interior) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-11-06 · Accessed 2026-08-08 - [11] Valitsuse 6.11.25 istungi kommenteeritud päevakord, item 4: establishment of the 2026 immigration quota
Vabariigi Valitsus (Government of the Republic of Estonia) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-11-05 · Accessed 2026-08-08