Enterprise Estonia, in cooperation with Mainor AS, opened a common service centre for foreigners and their employers at Ülemiste City – the International House of Estonia that assembles all the information and services required to come to live and work in Estonia.

According to Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Rene Tammist, who made the opening address at the opening of the International House, the International House is an excellent example of the cooperation of the public and private sectors. ‘I am glad that we finally have a place that facilitates blending in the society for foreign talent, thereby reducing the time needed and costs of entrepreneurs, specialists and the state,’ said Minister Tammist.

‘There is a shortage of top specialists everywhere, and Estonia is competing with all other European countries in attracting talented people. The creation of the International House helps us further cement the notion of Estonia as a country that handles matters easily, and may thereby be the deciding factor in the decisions taken by foreign talent,’ said Chairman of the Management Board of Enterprise Estonia Alo Ivask. 

Mainor AS, which develops the Ülemiste campus where over a thousand foreigners come to work every day, has felt the need for the International House for quite some time, and was one of the authors of this idea. ‘When coming to work here, foreign specialists no longer have to run between different institutions across the city; instead, they get all the required services and advice from one location. This is certainly important for very many Estonian companies with high added value, whose success depends on seamless foreign recruitment. We believe that the simpler handling of matters helps to make the Estonian working and living environment so desirable that increasingly more top specialists wish to move to Estonia,’ noted Chairman of the Management Board of Mainor Kadi Pärnits, adding that the creation of the International House is an excellent example of cooperation of the state and private enterprise.

‘While so far, people who arrive to work or receive formal education in Estonia have had to visit different institutions and look for information from many channels to perform all legal procedures, at the new centre, they can perform all the required procedures in one day.  For example, at the centre, it is possible to apply for a personal identification code, register a place of residence, and obtain information about residence permits, kindergartens and potential schools. Also, companies that plan recruiting from abroad can turn to advisors working at the centre, to review the necessary requirements and steps that accompany bringing a foreign specialist to Estonia.

In addition to advisory services, the centre will also start providing a generally educating programme related to internationalisation, language cafes, acclimatisation and networking events to find professional contacts. ‘The International House is constantly developing.

We want to consider our target groups and their changing needs so that the offered solutions meet such needs. We commence work with those services for which there has been the most burning need so far, but customer feedback is also very important for us, to be able to add or improve services, if necessary,’ said Head of the International House of Estonia Annely Tank.

‘While the ceremonious opening of the International House is today, on 19 November, we will open the doors and services for our customers on 27 November. During the week, we will still make some preparations for services, to be able to provide all services at the required level from the end of November. The booking system necessary to arrange the required informative meetings will, however, already be opened this week,’ Tank added, saying that a person may book meetings with different advisors on one day.  

The novel service centre has been created under the leadership of the Work in Estonia programme of Enterprise Estonia, and in cooperation with Mainor AS. Enterprise Estonia, Mainor AS, the Ministry of the Interior, the Tax and Customs Board, the Integration Foundation, the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund, the Police and Border Guard Board, and the City of Tallinn have been engaged in the development of services offered at the International House. All advisory services are provided by employees of the aforementioned partners, who will start spending some of their working time at the International House.

The House is funded from the ICT Development Programme of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications; 150,000 euros have been allocated from its budget to the opening of the House, including for

furniture, equipment and interior design, website development, translation and editing, preparation of printed materials.

Additional information about the International House of Estonia can be found at: https://workinestonia.com/internationalhouse/