International students - Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences

LIFE IN ESTONIA

International students
Tallinn
Accommodation
Living expenses
Working while studying
Public transport
FAQ

LIFE IN ESTONIA

In Estonia you will be living in a highly connected society, with free wireless Wi-Fi almost everywhere. Many everyday activities are made easier with various IT solutions: register a company with as little as 18 minutes, buy a cinema ticket with your mobile phone app, park your car with phone, register courses online etc.

Entrepreneurship and innovative solutions are highly welcomed in Estonia, which has a strong start-up community and has also become known as the Silicon Valley of Europe. Higher education in this small EU state comes at a good value, with relatively low tuition fees, living costs and various scholarships for international students.

As a student in Estonia you can take advantage of discounts and special offers generated especially for full time students. Moreover, it is possible for international students to combine their studies with a part-time or full-time job and get some extra income to cover living costs during studies.

Student life in Estonia is full of activities and events. There are many organizations and events that help foreign students to settle into Estonian life and create a social network in the country. They organize a variety of events for international students, such as excursions, company visits, trips and social gatherings, photo competitions, bike trips, quiz tournaments etc.

The cost of living in Estonia is quite affordable compared to the rest of the EU. The average monthly expenses for living (accommodation, transport, food and other necessities) can be estimated around 500 euros (for example if you live at the EUAS Student Hostel).

INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF ESTONIA

International House of Estonia (IHE) is to be a joint service centre for foreigners (especially foreign specialists), their family members, entrepreneurs and those returning to Estonia. Thus, IHE ensures the accessibility of necessary information, counselling and services from one place by supporting a smoother induction and adaptation to the society.

Opening hours

Tue.: 9 am – 5:30 pm
Wed.: 9 am – 5:30 pm
Thu.: 10 am – 6:30 pm

IHE’s main partners are the city of Tallinn, Ministry of the Interior, Police and Border Guard Board, Tax and Customs Board, Integration Foundation, Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund, partners providing private services and Enterprise Estonia (EAS) as the leading partner of the house. IHE was launched by Mainor AS and EAS’ programme Work in Estonia.

Migration counselling
(personal counselling)
• Residence permit
• Short-term employment

Residential counselling
(personal counselling)
• Obtaining a personal identification code
• Registering the notices of residence
• Learning Estonian
• Residential counselling
Place of residence, school and kindergarten, healthcare, culture, public transport, sport and free time)
• Work and career
• Getting started with entrepreneurship (2020)

Group counselling
• Taxes (Application form for determination of residency of a natural person)
• Work and career (Writing a CV, job interview, etc.)
• Estonian courses (language cafes)

Events
• Information day for the „Welcoming program“
• Program for spouses
• Socialising events
• Culture events
• Meetings with enterprises
• Activities for children
• Etc.

For more information: https://workinestonia.com/internationalhouse/

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Public transport (buses, trams and trolleys, numbers 1–73) is available for all students and free of charge in Tallinn (only for residents of Tallinn, including international students studying in Tallinn). You can find schedules pages and optimal route search here. If you don't have a free travel card yet, then you can use your bank card or ApplePay onboard.

Taxi (depending on company): average minimum fee from €2.5, with the starting fee of €1.19 and each km from €0.39. We encourage you to use the Bolt or Uber to order the closest ride-sharing car without any hassle.

Our university is located in one of our capitals main transport hubs "Ülemiste City", which makes it easy to use the airport (400 meters), Ülemiste City train station (100 meters), bus and tram stations are also close by (100 meters).

Tallinn Airport (Lennart Meri) has direct air links to numerous cities, including the nearby Baltic capitals, Riga and Vilnius. It is also easy to fly in direct from Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Helsinki, Kiev, London, Moscow, Munich, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Stockholm, St. Petersburg and Warsaw.

From Stockholm and Helsinki, there is also a ferry connection to Tallinn. It is especially frequent from Helsinki, hence planning your route through there will not add much to the total duration of your trip. Apart from that, Estonia has bus links with major cities in Germany, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic countries. Due to the relatively short distances, coach trips from Riga and St. Petersburg are a good alternative to air travel. Both cities have direct connections to Tartu.

Trains for Tartu from Tallinn train station leave 8 times a day, and it takes 2- 2,5 hours to get to Tartu depending on the train. There is Wi-Fi available on the train.

There is also one opportunity to come by train from Russia to Tallinn. With Go Rail you can take the train from Moscow or St Petersburg to Tallinn. See more information about prices and timetables here.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Read up on the most common questions when you arrive to Estonia.

1. WHERE DO I FIND AN ENGLISH SPEAKING FAMILY DOCTOR?
Whilst there are many options for a general practitioner in Tallinn and you are completely free to
choose your own, here is the contact for a doctor, that most of our student use.
Dr. Zarifa Ahmadzada, room #307
M 9.00 - 13.00, T 9.00 - 13.00, W 9.00 - 13.00, Th 14.00 - 18.00, F 9.00 - 13.00
Linnamäe tee 3, 3. Floor, Tel. 634 6030
In order to register yourself, you need to fill out a form on
https://www.perearstikeskus.eu/images/avaldus.pdf and send it to info@perearstikeskus.eu.

2. WHERE DO I GET MY BUS CARD?
Any R-Kiosk or www.pilet.ee

3. WHAT ARE THE BEST PLACES TO SHOP FOR FOOD?
Cheapest supermarkets are Maxima, Prisma, Grossi and Maksimarket, but most Estonians
prefer Rimi or Selver. It is beneficial to have the loyalty card for the supermarkets you use
the most, as they usually cost only 1 €, but you earn points and in-store money on every purchase. The closest stores to our university are Rimi and Selver.

4. WHAT IS THE BEST SHOP TO GET SECOND HAND CLOTHES?
Tallinn has a lot of second hand stores and hidden gems all around the city. For more information please check thriftshops

5. WHAT ARE THE BEST SHOPS FOR CHEAP KITCHENWARE, TOWELS ETC?
Jysk, Koduekstra, Magazin and IKEA. It's a good idea to use facebook marketplace and https://www.osta.ee/en to purchase used kitchenware, furniture and appliances.

6. WHERE DO I GET MY TEMPORARY RESIDENCE PERMIT?
In case if You are an somebody, who is not a citizen of the European Union, You may apply for a temporary residence permit:

You can also visit the border the Police and Border Patrol office at Tammsaare 47, Tallinn.

7. WHERE DO I REGISTER FOR POPULATION REGISTRY?
All Estonian residents have a duty to ensure that their residence data as listed in the population register are correct. Registration of one’s place of residence means that the data on the person’s place of residence is entered in the population register. An individual is obliged to submit his or her data to the population register within 14 days after moving to a new address, in case incorrect data is identified in the population register or if there are no data concerning the place of residence of the individual in the population register. You can do this at the registry located at Pallasti 54, Tallinn.

8. HOW TO APPLY FOR A JOB?
The best places for job listings are www.cv.ee, www.cvkeskus.ee, www.workinestonia.com/latest-offers/ or if
you are after a restaurant job, you could rock up in your chosen restaurant with your printed out
resume.

9. WHAT ARE THE PAGES TO LOOK FOR APARTMENTS?
The best online sites to search for private apartments are: www.kv.ee, www.city24.ee, www.nobroker.ee. Facebook groups are also a good way to search for apartments without realestate broker fees.

Note that in Estonia using brokers is very common and they usually charge 1 months rent for their services, payed by the tenant. 2-room apartment in Estonia means 1 livingroom and 1 bedroom. Not to be confused with common practice of most other countries, that list living spaces by the number of bedrooms.

10. HOW AND WHERE TO GET A BANK ACCOUNT?
There are three main banks in Estonia. LHV, which is an Estonian bank with a western approach, awarded with the best customer service title. SEB and SWEDBANK are Swedish traditional and most widely used banks. If you want to get a bank card as soon as possible, it is recommended that u use digital bank like Transferwise

11. WHERE TO GO OUT? BARS, CLUBS, RESTAURANTS?
Most students prefer Club Hollywood or Club Münt in the old town. You’ll find lots of bars and hangout spots near the Old Town Square. Be prepared them to be a bit more expensive (5-7 euro for a beer, 10-13 for cocktails) than rest of the restaurants in shopping malls etc. There are a lot of cafes and restaurants in Ülemiste City also - make sure to check them all out!

12. WHAT ATTRACTIONS SHOULD I VISIT?
There is an awesome tourist discount card called TALLINN CARD, that includes entry to more than 40 different attractions in Tallinn and use of public transportation. It’s an amazing way to see Tallinn. There are options of 24h, 48h and 72h. More info at www.visittallinn.ee/eng/tallinncard

If you want to know more about the local life, history and oddities, make sure to take the daily 2h free walking tour. Tallinn Free Tour is in ENGLISH and leaves every day at 12:00 and during high season (May-September) also at 10:00 and 15:00 o'clock in front of the Tallinn Tourist Information at Niguliste 2. (A tip for the guide is expected - 2-5 € per person is sufficient).

13. IS THERE ANY USEFUL FACEBOOK GROUPS I SHOULD JOIN?
Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences - everything relevant to EUAS students

Expats in Tallinn - all useful info about living in Estonia

Expat Jobs in Tallinn - the title says it all

EUAS DORM SS2020 - useful info for those, who choose to live in the EUAS Dormitory

In case you have any questions or problems, don’t hesitate to contact Elen (International office in the main building, elen.jahimaa@eek.ee ) or Kaarel (at the dormitory admin office, hostel@eek.ee ).

Have fun and make the most of your studies!

LIFE IN ESTONIA

Opening hours

Tue.: 9 am – 5:30 pm
Wed.: 9 am – 5:30 pm
Thu.: 10 am – 6:30 pm

Migration counselling
(personal counselling)
• Residence permit
• Short-term employment

Group counselling
• Taxes (Application form for determination of residency of a natural person)
• Work and career (Writing a CV, job interview, etc.)
• Estonian courses (language cafes)

Events
• Information day for the „Welcoming program“
• Program for spouses
• Socialising events
• Culture events
• Meetings with enterprises
• Activities for children
• Etc.

For more information: https://workinestonia.com/internationalhouse/

ACCOMMODATION

We help every international student find suitable accommodation in Tallinn. "Great, but what's it going to cost?", you're probably wondering.

Our dormitory, EUAS Student Hostel, has 82 places that are reserved for foreign students.

We provide two options for rooms:

A place in a smaller (bunk bed) double room is available at EUR 220 a month (includes utilities)
A place in a larger double room is available at EUR 275 a month (includes utilities)

Hostel perks:

parking
free WiFi
cooking possiblility
24/7 friendly and helpful staff

EUAS Student Hostel is located in a three-floor building next to EUAS main building. Lecture halls, bus and tram stops to Tallinn city centre and Estonia's largest shopping mall are all within three minutes' walk. The facilities have been recently renovated.

We expect non-EU international students to stay at EUAS Student Hostel for at least their first semester (6 months). Should the hostel not have any vacancies or in any case after your first semester, you can also find an apartment for yourself or together with friends.

2-3 room apartments for rent in Tallinn are around 5-600 euros a month plus the utilities (100-300 euros a month depending on the size of the apartment, summer/winter etc). You can check it out for yourself at www.kv.ee or www.city24.ee.

During your admission process and before you arrive in Tallinn we'll help you find and book the type of accommodation that suits you.

For Students

Entering

Entering

Hostel perks:

Hostel perks: