Tere!
When I moved to Estonia, I didn’t know and didn’t think about the EU long-term residence permit. In the first place, I thought I would go back to Japan right after graduating from the university, and would have to work in Japan before knowing it. However, since I got my first job in Estonia when I was a second year student in Estonia, working in Japan has not been my option anymore. 😂
In addition, I have continued learning Estonian, and eventually my level reached to the one with which I became qualified to apply for the EU long-term residence permit. However, there are some other conditions to get an EU long-term residence permit.
This time I’m going to talk about the EU long-term residence permit.
Table of Contents
1. Estonian citizenship vs. the EU long-term residence permit
2. Advantages of the EU long-term residence permit
3. Conditions to get the EU long-term residence permit in Estonia
4. Case study: Zooks
★Summary
1. Estonian citizenship vs. the EU long-term residence permit
I will discuss detailed conditions on the EU long-term residence permit, and yet if you meet all the conditions, you can apply for Estonian citizenship or the EU long-term residence permit. I guess that without any strong will or lots of advantages, few Japanese people would want Estonian citizenship.
This is because we have to lose our Japanese passports once we get another citizenship in Estonia. Japan doesn’t allow us to have double nationalities.
People from Pakistan, Bangladesh or other African countries whose passport ranks are relatively low seem to tend to get Estonian citizenships. That makes sense as then they can travel to more countries.
On the other hand, as of 2022, our Japanese passports are stronger than Estonian ones, (or even the strongest in the world), getting Estonian citizenship is rather disadvantageous for me in my opinion. However, the EU long-term residence permit is the option for such people.
With the EU long-term residence permit, we can get similar rights as other EU citizens whilst we can keep our Japanese passport as we are not EU citizens. In addition, it is said that we can freely live and work in other EU countries except for Ireland and Denmark. Moreover, (perhaps) depending on the university, the tuition fee appears to be free… (This information is questionable according to my own research. I need to research further. However, it would be more than pleasant if the tuition fee is free or discounted.)
2. Advantages of the EU long-term residence permit
According to EU Immigration Portal, there are several benefits of the EU long-term residence permit. Here is a list (but excluding some):
- Access to employment and self-employment (this may not apply for some activities which are only for nationals or EU citizens, such as access to some positions in the public administration);
- Education and work-related training, including study grants;
- Recognition of diplomas and qualifications;
- Social protection, social assistance and social security as defined by national law (EU countries can limit social assistance to basic benefits only, such as the minimum income);
- Tax benefits;
- Access to goods and services (e.g. transport, museums, restaurants, etc.);
and so on.
As an example, I contacted the Swedish Migration Agency, and figured out that even if I move to another EU country, the EU long-term residence permit is moved to Sweden, which does not mean that I would lose the EU long-term residence permit itself.
This makese sense.
I highly recommend you research as this kind of information should be searched on one’s own.
3. Conditions to get the EU long-term residence permit in Estonia
There are basically two big conditions. One is the residential period, and the other one is the language level.
Let’s talk about the residential period first. This is determined by the EU, and 5 years are minimum. If you come to one EU country as a student, you should probably ask the migration agency or something . (I’ll explain later on.)
The other one is the language level. This seems to be dependent on a country, and yet in Estonia Estonian B1 is necessary.
There are some other conditions such as financial one or health insurance, so you should perhaps check these before or when thinking of applying for the EU long-term residence permit.
4. Case study: Zooks
In my case, I came to Estonia in August, 2017, although I received my first TRP card in September in the same year. Then it expired in June, 2019 when I graduated from the postgraduate school, and the second TRP card was issued in the beginning of September in the same year. In short, I had been a student for approximately 20 months. However, such a period is counted only 10 months. (In other words, they count legal stay as a student by multiplying 0.5.)
Since I got the second TRP card in September, 2019, it means I would legally have been staying in Estonia for literally three years in September of 2022.
Therefore, as of the time I was getting information, I have lived in Estonia for three years and 10 months. I need to stay in Estonia one year and two months more, so in November, 2023, I should be able to apply for the EU long-term residence permit.
I took an Estonian B1 exam, and passed it in June in the same year, so all I need to do is just wait. However, they also have some limit that I can be away from Estonia, hence I need to be careful with that. It has to be no more than six months in a row and no more than 10 months in five years. In Estonia, usually the annual leave is around one month per calendar year, so if you work for one Estonian company, then you will get one-month annual leave five times. Because I had been a student for “10 months”, I will definitely not exceed 10 months in total anyways.
★ Summary
Waiting one year seems long, but considering my career, I still want to be in Estonia at least one more year. Therefore it was good timing. Due to the fact that I still don’t understand a few things, I think I will update this article from time to time whenever I get information.
Aitäh! 🙂
zooks.ee 