Foreign recruitment grant

Prior to submitting an application, please examine the terms and condition as well as the procedure for the foreign recruitment grant as provided here (translation). 

An top specialist is, for the purposes of this regulation, a specialist who has been recruited to work in Estonia from abroadand who now works in Estonia in the field of information and communication technology or science and engineering.

• The amount of the grant per one recruited top specialist is 3000 euros.
• An applicant can be a company or business name of branch of foreign company that has been entered into the commercial register.
• The gross monthly wages of the recruited top specialist during the 5 months preceding the submission of the application have to have been at least 2000 euros.
• The applicant has to have paid social tax from payments made to the recruited top specialist for at least 5 months leading up to the submission of the application.
• The top specialist recruited by the applicant may not have studied or worked in Estonia during the 3 years preceding the start of their employment at the applicant.
• The employment contract concluded between the applicant and the recruited top specialist must be:
  • Valid at the time of application;
  • Valid for at least 12 months from concluding the contract;
  • Concluded within the 12 months preceding the submission of the application, but not earlier than 1 October 2017.
• The provided grant is de minimis aid.
• The applicant must not provide employment agency services (EMTAK section N782).
• The applicant’s tax arrears or payment in arrears inclusive of interests cannot exceed 100 euros or these have to be deferred. The applicant is obligated to duly fulfil the obligation to submit tax declarations as stipulated in the Taxation Act.
• The applicant may have not received de minimis aid (along with the grant sought within this measure), which would exceed 200,000 euros.
• If the applicant has previously received a grant through Enterprise Estonia, which has been subject to recovery, the repayments the term of which has arrived must have been made.

The grant can partially compensate for expenses related to foreign recruitment, if they indicate that an top specialist from abroad (from the European Union or third countries) has stayed in Estonia to work here.

Aforementioned activities may include: sharing job advertisements and introducing the employer in foreign portals; financing language courses; adaptation, accommodation and migration expenses (airline tickets, rent, etc.); visit to get acquainted with the country; additional work by an HR manager or a colleague to support adaptation, etc.

Processing of applications

• In the case of applicants and applications that meet the requirements, Enterprise Estonia shall make a decision of approval or partial approval of the application.
• The application’s and applicant’s compliance with the requirements shall be verified by an Enterprise Estonia consultant.
• Processing time for an application is up to 10 days.

Payment of grant

• The grant shall be paid on the basis of the decision to approve the application.
• No cost reports shall be submitted.