How to register your residence
You can submit a notice of residence via the e-population register or, if necessary, by submitting a paper copy to the local government. You can find the reception times for residence and family procedures at the local government here.You can submit a notice of residence for yourself, your minor children or wards and other adults living at the same address (joint notice of residence). If the person submitting the notice is not the owner of the property, the notice of residence must be accompanied by the consent of the owner(s) or a document proving the right to use the property. The owner's consent or a document proving the right to use the property does not need to be attached for a person belonging to the owner's family (spouse, minor child or disabled parent) or for whom a personal right of use is entered in the land register.
If you change your place of residence in Estonia, move to a foreign country or move from a foreign country to Estonia, you must submit a notice of residence to register your new place of residence in the population register:
- within 14 days of moving into your new place of residence in Estonia,
- within 30 days of moving abroad.
Legitimate request of the owner
If a person's place of residence is registered as a property belonging to someone else, which they are not entitled to use as their place of residence and which they do not use as their place of residence, the owner of the property has the right to submit an application to the local government with the corresponding address to change the details of the persons registered as users of the property. The owner can view the details of the persons registered as users of their property on the e-population register or apply for a list of residents through the local government (free of charge).
The property’s owner must submit a written application to the local government (as an online service on the e-population register or through a digitally signed e-mail, by mail or in person at the local government), stating:
- the address of the property in question;
- the name of the person who is registered as a resident of the property in question in the population register;
- a confirmation that the person does not have the right to and does not use the property as their residence.
The local government will notify the person of the property owner’s application within 10 working days by way of registered letter sent to the e-mail address entered in the population register or to the address entered in the population register, as well as through the journal ‘Ametlikud Teadaanded’, if the obligation to notify has not been fulfilled in any other way. If a person provides documents proving their right to use the property as their residence within one month, or if there is a litigation over the right to use the property, the owner's application will be rejected.
However, if the proceeding results in the legitimate request of the owner being granted, the person's place of residence in the population register will cease to be valid.
Contact information
Anneli Ritsing
registrar of the population register
higher education, social work
Last updated: 20.11.2024
