Leaving Estonia

If you leave Estonia temporarily:

• you may temporarily travel to Ukraine, even repeatedly;
• you may stay in another Schengen country for 90 days over a 180-day period.

Please note!  Not all EU Member States are Schengen countries. Schengen countries are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Please note! Within a 180-day period, you can stay either in one country or in different countries for 90 days in total. The time spent in Estonia is not included in the 90 days. The Schengen visa calculator can help you determine the allowed period of stay.

It is not necessary to notify anyone of a temporary departure, except if you are being accommodated by the state, in hotels, on the ship or in an apartment provided by the state. In that case you have to notify the coordinator of your housing facility of being away from the housing facility if you are away for longer than 24 hours. The benefits are paid to you while you are under temporary protection.

If you leave Estonia permanently for Ukraine or another country:

• please notify the local government in which your place of residence is registered;
• please notify the Police and Border Guard Board of your departure by writing to ppa@politsei.ee;
• If you have previously had yourself determined an Estonian resident for tax purposes, submit an application for determination of residency regarding leaving Estonia to the Tax and Customs Board;
• if you are registered as unemployed and are leaving for Ukraine permanently, please inform your consultant at the Unemployment Fund;

• If your child/children go to an Estonian school and you are leaving Estonia permanently, you have to notify the school where your child/children are studying of your departure. For this, you need to sumbit an application to the school for excluding your child/children. The application must be signed by the child's parent or legal guardian.

If you leave for Ukraine permanently, the Police and Border Guard Board will revoke your Estonian residence permit.

If you want to move to another EU country permanently, you will have to reapply for a residence permit on the basis of temporary protection in the new country. You cannot have temporary protection in more than one country at the same time.

Once your temporary protection and residence permit expire or are withdrawn, you will not be entitled to the benefits provided in Estonia.

Termination of employment

If a Ukrainian refugee working on the basis of an employment contract wants to leave Estonia permanently, they have two options for terminating the employment contract – either terminating the employment contract by agreement of the parties or cancelling the employment contract. The employee and the employer may terminate the employment contract at any time by agreement of the parties. In this case, the employee and the employer must agree on the terms of termination of the employment contract (for example, on the last day of the employment relationship).

If the employer does not agree, the employee can cancel the employment contract. The employee can cancel an employment contract entered into for an unspecified term during the probationary period or after the probationary period, following an advance notice period of 15 calendar days during the probationary period and an advance notice period of 30 calendar days after the probationary period. In order to cancel an employment contract, a notice of cancellation must be submitted to the other party in a format which can be reproduced in writing (e.g. by email, letter, or SMS).

If the employment contract has been entered into for a specified term, the employee can cancel the employment contract during the probationary period with at least 15 calendar days’ advance notice.

If the probationary period has ended or if the parties have agreed not to apply the probationary period, the employment contract entered into for a specified term cannot be ordinarily cancelled. In this case, the employment contract which has been entered into for a specified term expires upon the expiry of the term. As an exception, an employment contract which has been entered into for a specified term for the period of substitution of an employee who is temporarily absent can be cancelled with at least 30 calendar days’ advance notice.

If the return is necessitated by extraordinary circumstances, in certain cases an extraordinary cancellation of both an employment contract which has been entered into for a specified term, as well as an employment contract which has been entered into for an unspecified term may be considered. In this case, the advance notice period will be assessed by the employee in accordance with the circumstances that led to the cancellation. The extraordinary cancellation of an employment contract must be justified in a format which can be reproduced in writing.

More detailed information about cancelling an employment contract can be found on the Tööelu portal: https://tooelu.ee/en/31/unilateral-termination-employment-contract