Wise Guide: Temporary Residence Permit (TRP) For Employment Process At The Police and Border Guard

Booking an appointment for TRP document submission in Estonia

• Go to https://broneering.politsei.ee/ to book an appointment for the submission of Estonian TRP documents. If the site initially opens in Estonian, select ‘ENG’ at the top right of the page.  Select ‘Book an appointment. 

• Select ‘4. Applying for a residence permit (and also extension)’ and select ‘Continue’. 

• Select the Police Board service offices you will submit the documents at. You can submit an application at any of the available offices. 

Police Board offices accepting TRP applications:

• There are two offices in Tallinn (A. H. Tammsaare 47, Tallinn and P. Pinna 4, Tallinn), however, these are always the busiest so it may be difficult to find an appointment slot at the desired time. 
• Tartu (Riia mnt 132) is a 2-2.5 hour journey from Tallinn. There is a good train and/or bus link between the cities. 
• Pärnu (A. H. Tammsaare 61) is a 2-hour journey from Tallinn. There is a good bus link between the cities. 
• Jõhvi (Rahu 38) is a 2.5-hour journey from Tallinn. There is a bus and train link between the cities, but buses are much more frequent. 
• Narva (Vahtra 3) is a 2.5-hour journey from Tallinn by train and a 3.5-hour journey from Tallinn by bus. Buses are much more frequent. 

• Choose the location option that works best for you and select ‘Continue’. 

• Choose the time that works for you and select ‘Continue’. The highlighted dates in the calendar show available dates for appointments. Select the date that works for you and click on it. You will be offered available timeslots for that day. 

• Fill in your personal details as seen in your passport. Make sure that the email address you insert is correct and the one you use regularly. This is where you will be emailed a booking confirmation which is important to bring with you to the appointment. Once the data has been entered, click ‘Confirm’ at the bottom of the page.

• Download the booking confirmation. If you need to change the appointment time or cancel it, you need to cancel the booking here and then make a new one. If you need to secure a different appointment, we suggest making a typo in your name and once the new appointment is booked, cancel the previous one as added slots can be booked fast.

Preparing for the appointment

• Share the finalized documents BEFORE PRINTING with your MoveMyTalent contact at least 3 business days before the appointment. Your MoveMyTalent contact will review all the documents and give feedback if changes are required before your appointment. 

• Make sure you have prepared the following documents before you attend the appointment: 

• Temporary residence permit application form. Download the form here, fill it out on your computer, print the PDF and sign it in the required places. The date field has to be filled with the date of the appointment. 
• Close family members’ data form. Download the form here, fill it out in PDF, print it and sign at the bottom of the page. The date field has to be filled with the date of the appointment. On the family members form, please include information about your parents, siblings, spouse, children – even if they are not moving to Estonia with you. If any of your close relatives are no longer alive, you don’t need to include their information on the form. If the data about your close relatives doesn’t fit on one page, fill out multiple pages.
• Biographical Data form. Download the form here. Add all previous education and work experience from preschool with duration and location.
• Printed booking confirmation which you received when making the appointment booking.
• Your up-to-date English language CV, listing all of your previous work and education history (from elementary education) with start and end dates and names of the relevant institutions.
• Proof of TRP application state fee payment. MoveMyTalent will make the payment and send you the bank statement.
• Your valid passport. The official makes a copy and you do not have to leave it to the Police Board.

Before printing the documents share the final drafts with your MoveMyTalent contact for review.

• MoveMyTalent contact will send an official digitally signed employer invitation with your full name to the Police Board with you in CC so that you can refer to it at the appointment.

Attending the appointment

• Arriving

• You should be at the Police Board office at least 15 minutes before your appointment time. You can get the ticket 10 minutes before your appointment.
• Before you can get a ticket to queue for your appointment, you need to go to the photo booth to take a document photo and submit your fingerprints. If you are late, take the ticket first.
• If there is a long queue for the photo booth, find an officer who works there and tell them that you have an appointment booked and that you need to take a photo beforehand, they should be able to guide you to the front of the line. 

• Taking the photo in the photo booth: 
• Set the language of the photo booth to English. 

• Enter your personal Estonian identification code (the 11-digit number which you were issued with your short-term employment registration), and select which procedure you have come to apply for – ‘Right of residence’ on the left side of the screen. 
• The photo booth will give you instructions for the photo and will let you know if the photo is suitable or not to proceed. 
• After the photo is done, the machine will guide you through the collection of fingerprints. 
• After the fingerprints, you will also need to write your signature in the white box that lights up on the machine. If everything is submitted successfully, the machine will tell you that your data has been collected. 

If the fingerprints are not collected in the photo booth, you can also give them at the desk while submitting the application.

• Taking the ticket for the appointment: 

• Once you are finished with the photo booth, take the queue ticket from the machine at the entrance. There is either an officer who will scan your booking confirmation QR code for you or do it yourself. 
• Check the screens for your turn. You will be issued a queue number. There are screens displaying the queue numbers and the corresponding desk number around the office. Once your number comes up, take your belongings and go to the desk. 

• Tell the officer that you are applying for a temporary residence permit for employment, and give them your passport and all of the documents which you have prepared. 

• Mention the employer’s invitation sent by MoveMyTalent. Please tell them that it has been digitally signed and sent via email with your name and employer’s name in the subject line. 

There will not be an interview as such during this appointment but the officer may still ask some clarifying questions about the forms you have filled out. 

• Get the confirmation of the submission. Once they have completed your application in the system and taken a copy of your passport, they will issue a submission confirmation that states when is the very last day you should receive the TRP card (60 days processing + 30 days printing).

• Share a photo of this document with the MoveMyTalentt contact.

After the appointment

• Processing: You will likely hear no feedback from the Police Board regarding your application for around 1-1.5 months since the submission of the documents. There is a long backlog of applications, so the Police Board will only be able to start processing your application after a little while. By law, the Police Board has 2 months to process your application. 

During processing, the Police Board may reach out to you via email with some additional questions regarding your application. This is why it is important to regularly check your email once you have submitted your application. 

• Forward all correspondence from the Police Board to your MoveMyTalent contact who will help you to combine a response. As your employer’s representative, your MoveMyTalentcontact will get back to the Police Board officer on your and your employer’s behalf (unless otherwise agreed). 

These questions are generally about your previous employment/education history if your CV was not thorough enough, about where you are staying in Estonia, financial means, etc. 

If they do reach out to you, it does not mean that there is a reason for concern! They are just doing their job and it is likely that you will receive the decision about your permit shortly after you have submitted the answers. 

• TRP decision: Once a decision has been made about your application, you will receive an email from the Police Board. If the TRP is granted, the attached file states that you have been granted a temporary residence permit for employment until the date marked in the decision. Receiving this email is good news but it doesn’t mean that the document is ready just yet! 

• Getting the TRP card: Shortly after the first email with the decision, you will receive a second email stating that your residence permit card has been sent for printing. After that, you will receive a third email from the Police Board which states that your document is now ready for collection. 

5. Collecting the TRP card from the Police Board

• Go and collect the card from the office mentioned in the third email. Bring your passport! Opening hours of the main offices  Mon-Fri 9-17. Appointment for that is optional.

• Enter the Police Board office, ask for a number for collecting a document and wait in the queue until your number comes up. 
• Present your passport at the desk, and receive your new residence permit card along with PIN codes which you can use from this point on for digital identification and signing purposes in Estonia. 

Please let your MoveMyTalent contact know if you have collected the card so that they can store a copy for your employer and let you know about the next steps.