Life in Estonia for Indians

So, in today's news we will talk about how is the life in Estonia for Indians.

The salaries here, the average monthly wage is 1832 euros, meaning 1832 euros that you can normally earn. Every person can earn around this much if you do a full-time job. If you work less, then it depends on how many hours you work. And the salaries depend on your experience and skills — which field you belong to, how much experience you have, and how skilled you are. Based on this, your salary depends. For example, IT salaries here are definitely higher compared to other sectors. If you work in IT, then you can earn double compared to other sectors if we compare any sector with it. And here IT jobs are more.

If you have no skills or any experience, even then you can find jobs here. There are a lot of jobs available. For example, if you do Bolt, the Bolt food delivery work, you can do that too. Many people do this during student life. You can also work as a taxi driver. And another thing, there is very good news — earlier, if you had an Indian driving license, you had to give exams again to convert it here, the theory and practical exam. Now you do not need to give that. If you have an international driving license, this is very good news. So if you want to work as a taxi driver, you can do that too. If you have experience or even if you don’t, you can still find work here.

Now let’s talk about education. The quality of education here is definitely very good. There are private schools and public ones, and in the same way, universities are also public and private. In schools, the difference between public and private is that the studies here in public schools are completely in Estonian language. And recently they have done this: earlier, the public Russian schools used to teach in Russian language and not in Estonian. Now it has become compulsory that all schools must teach in Estonian language, and Russian will not be allowed here. And if you send your children to study in a private school, then it is definitely more expensive than a public school, but all their studies are in English.

And in universities, in public universities, there are limited seats for one course. For example, if there is a software course and it has 40 seats, then there will be only 40 seats — they will not take more students than that. And the studies, you can choose whether you want to study in Estonian language or in English language. Obviously, if you are international, you will study in English language. One very good thing about studies here is that if you are studying, there is no stress for you regarding work. So if you are a full-time student, you can also work full-time. There is no restriction that you can only work a fixed number of hours. You can work as much as you want, but your studies should not be affected. So you have to keep this in your mind — that your studies should not be affected, but you can work as many hours as you want.

Now let’s talk about transportation. Transportation here is completely free. If you have a residence permit, then you absolutely do not need to spend money inside the city. Everything is very close here; you can also go by walking — nothing is very far. If you need to catch a bus to go to the city centre, it takes you around 15–20 minutes, but in some areas there is a lot of traffic, at morning time around 8 o’clock when people are going to work, and at 5 o’clock when people are coming back home. Otherwise, transportation here is very convenient. You can go at whatever time you want. And if you need to go nearby, you can walk — there is no problem. Transportation here is very good. You can take a tram, bus, or train; transportation is very convenient.

And now let’s talk about housing. Students who come here usually stay in hostels, but generally, people here live in apartments and houses. There are two types — houses are definitely more expensive than apartments. Living in an apartment is a bit cheaper. It depends on which area you live in. If you live in the city centre, it is expensive. If you live in an outer area from where it takes 15–20 minutes to reach the city, then it becomes cheaper. So now let’s talk about whether getting a house on rent here is difficult. For some people it is difficult, for some people it is not. Some brokers only speak Russian and Estonian, they do not speak English, and because of that, it can be difficult for you. But some owners prefer giving their house to a settled person who has a job and works properly — they want someone permanently for 2–3 years or however many years. They do not want someone who stays only 6 months, after which they must find a new tenant. And especially, we have heard that they do not prefer giving to international students because they worry whether the student will pay rent on time or not. That is the only reason — otherwise, there is not so much racism here.

If you are working well and your life is settled, then if you talk to the owner that you are looking for a long-term place and they know that you work well and your salary is stable, then they easily become ready to give you the house. So there is not much issue in this.

Now let’s talk about social life. To be very honest, you do not have a very active social life here if you are not an extroverted person. If you are not very active in making friends, then your friends — some people make them during university time or while living in the hostel. They become very close friends, and you can talk to them about anything. But finding such friends here is very difficult. And people here do not have a lot of free time — everyone stays busy with their work and home.

And another thing, people in Estonia are very cold, meaning introverted. It takes time to become friends with them. But if you become their friend, then they are very nice people. And one more thing about Estonians — they are very friendly when they are drunk. Otherwise, they do not talk much; they keep a lot of distance and do not talk too much to anyone. But when they are drunk, they tell you so many stories around them.

Last topic — permanent residence. For permanent residence, if you live in Estonia for 5 years on the basis of a temporary residence permit, then you can apply. And your Estonian language must be clear. The main rule: of course, you must have a job, you must be registered in the population registry, and your taxes must be paid. That is obvious.

But if you came here for studies — for example, if you came here for a master’s degree which is two years — then it counts only as one year. Meaning, the permanent residence that you were supposed to get in 5 years, you will now get in 6 years. There is no rule that you will get it in 2 years if your Estonian language is completed. You must stay 5 years in Estonia on TRP basis and your language must be clear. Only then you become eligible for permanent residence.