Estonia start-up visa and entrepreneur residence permit

Under the Aliens Act, as explained by Startup Estonia (a programme of the state-run Estonian Business and Innovation Agency), the company must be starting operations, have an innovative and repeatable business model with strong global growth potential, and be no more than 10 years old. Ordinary businesses such as a shop or a local service firm go through the residence permit for business instead. For the residence permit, the founder must hold a share in a company entered in the Estonian Business Register.

For a start-up D visa the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requires €880 a month for the founder and €704 a month for a spouse. The residence permit requires income of four times the subsistence level, confirmed by signing the application; the PBGB uses €880 a month as four times the subsistence level in 2026. The separate start-up employee route has a one-time €880 requirement for the D visa and a lower salary threshold (0.8 of the average wage, €1,674 a month from 5 March 2026).

Before any visa or permit, an expert committee of the Ministry of the Interior must give a positive evaluation. You take the eligibility test and apply through the Startup Estonia website with your personal details, company details, a description of the business model and any extra evidence requested. The committee decides within 10 working days of a complete application and there is no state fee for it. The step is skipped if the company has already been evaluated or appears on the Interior Minister’s exemption list.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that start-up founders and start-up employees may first obtain a D visa and then apply for the residence permit in Estonia. For the visa, bring a printout of the Startup Committee decision with the standard D-visa file and pay €120. For the permit, submit the documents with the committee decision, invest in and register your company, pay the business permit fee (€350 in Estonia) and wait for a decision within 90 days; the card follows within 30 days. Then register your residence in the Population Register and keep health insurance valid.

The first permit is issued for up to five years and can be extended for up to 10 years at a time, though a card is valid for at most five years. File at least two months before expiry; a complete, timely application is decided at least 10 days before the old permit ends, and e-mail filing is possible if your fingerprints are less than six years old. For a start-up permit the Startup Committee decision must still be valid at extension.

Startup Estonia states that the start-up visa can be extended to a spouse, minor children and adult children who cannot cope independently because of health or disability, also when the visa is extended. For longer stays they apply for residence permits for family members, which cannot outlast the founder’s permit.