The Chamber supports the amendment that speeds up job changes during the validity of a fixed-term residence permit for employment

The Ministry of the Interior has prepared a draft act amending the Aliens Act, which would allow a foreigner holding a fixed-term residence permit for employment to change jobs without having to apply for a new residence permit. The Chamber supports the planned amendments, as they will give companies greater flexibility in hiring foreign workers.

The process of changing jobs is planned to be made simpler
According to the planned amendments, a foreigner holding a fixed-term residence permit for employment will be able to change jobs during the validity of the permit without applying for a new one. For this purpose, a regulation on the registration of job changes will be established, meaning that the employer submits an application for registration of the job change to the Police and Border Guard Board, after which the Board will check that employment with the new employer meets the conditions for granting the residence permit and registers the job change. For example, in the registration process, the Police and Border Guard Board will verify that employment with the new employer complies with the conditions set out in the law regarding employment, including salary requirements, the requirement for a permit from the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund, and other conditions for employment established in the Aliens Act. Importantly, during the job change registration procedure, only circumstances related to the new job and the new employer are verified. In addition, in the case of a job change, it will also be possible to amend the basis for employment specified in the residence permit.

As a result of the amendments, a foreigner will no longer need to apply for a new fixed-term residence permit to change employers, nor will the new employer need to submit an invitation, but it will be sufficient if the new employer submits an application for registration of the job change to the Police and Border Guard Board.

Under the planned amendments, a foreigner will also be allowed to change jobs within the same employer without additional registration, provided that the conditions of the residence permit and the professional and qualification requirements of the new job remain the same. If these conditions change, however, the employer must also submit an application for registration of the job change to the Police and Border Guard Board.

The planned amendments will make the job change process significantly faster and simpler, considerably reducing the administrative burden for both the employer and the foreigner. Under the new system, the deadline for processing the registration of a job change will be only 30 calendar days, which is much shorter than the current 90-day procedure for applying for a fixed-term residence permit. The need for additional registration of short-term employment will also be removed, which currently helps companies bring in new employees more quickly.

Unemployment will be permitted during the validity of a fixed-term residence permit
The amendments will allow a foreigner holding a fixed-term residence permit for employment to be unemployed during the validity of the permit. The permitted period of unemployment depends on how long the foreigner has held a fixed-term residence permit for employment. A foreigner may be unemployed for up to three months if they have held a fixed-term residence permit for employment for less than two years, and up to six months if they have held such a permit for at least two years. The reason for unemployment — whether the employment relationship ended due to the employer or the foreigner — will not matter.

Under the current regulation, a foreigner holding a fixed-term residence permit for employment is not allowed to be unemployed. The only exception is that unemployment for up to 90 days is allowed if the employer terminates the employment contract extraordinarily for economic reasons.

According to the draft, the amendments will enter into force on 22 May 2026.