So, in today's news we will talk about how is the life in Estonia for Indians.

The salaries here, the average monthly wage is 1832 euros, meaning 1832 euros that you can normally earn. Every person can earn around this much if you do a full-time job. If you work less, then it depends on how many hours you work. And the salaries depend on your experience and skills — which field you belong to, how much experience you have, and how skilled you are. Based on this, your salary depends. For example, IT salaries here are definitely higher compared to other sectors. If you work in IT, then you can earn double compared to other sectors if we compare any sector with it. And here IT jobs are more.

If you have no skills or any experience, even then you can find jobs here. There are a lot of jobs available. For example, if you do Bolt, the Bolt food delivery work, you can do that too. Many people do this during student life. You can also work as a taxi driver. And another thing, there is very good news — earlier, if you had an Indian driving license, you had to give exams again to convert it here, the theory and practical exam. Now you do not need to give that. If you have an international driving license, this is very good news. So if you want to work as a taxi driver, you can do that too. If you have experience or even if you don’t, you can still find work here.

Now let’s talk about education. The quality of education here is definitely very good. There are private schools and public ones, and in the same way, universities are also public and private. In schools, the difference between public and private is that the studies here in public schools are completely in Estonian language. And recently they have done this: earlier, the public Russian schools used to teach in Russian language and not in Estonian. Now it has become compulsory that all schools must teach in Estonian language, and Russian will not be allowed here. And if you send your children to study in a private school, then it is definitely more expensive than a public school, but all their studies are in English.

And in universities, in public universities, there are limited seats for one course. For example, if there is a software course and it has 40 seats, then there will be only 40 seats — they will not take more students than that. And the studies, you can choose whether you want to study in Estonian language or in English language. Obviously, if you are international, you will study in English language. One very good thing about studies here is that if you are studying, there is no stress for you regarding work. So if you are a full-time student, you can also work full-time. There is no restriction that you can only work a fixed number of hours. You can work as much as you want, but your studies should not be affected. So you have to keep this in your mind — that your studies should not be affected, but you can work as many hours as you want.

Now let’s talk about transportation. Transportation here is completely free. If you have a residence permit, then you absolutely do not need to spend money inside the city. Everything is very close here; you can also go by walking — nothing is very far. If you need to catch a bus to go to the city centre, it takes you around 15–20 minutes, but in some areas there is a lot of traffic, at morning time around 8 o’clock when people are going to work, and at 5 o’clock when people are coming back home. Otherwise, transportation here is very convenient. You can go at whatever time you want. And if you need to go nearby, you can walk — there is no problem. Transportation here is very good. You can take a tram, bus, or train; transportation is very convenient.

And now let’s talk about housing. Students who come here usually stay in hostels, but generally, people here live in apartments and houses. There are two types — houses are definitely more expensive than apartments. Living in an apartment is a bit cheaper. It depends on which area you live in. If you live in the city centre, it is expensive. If you live in an outer area from where it takes 15–20 minutes to reach the city, then it becomes cheaper. So now let’s talk about whether getting a house on rent here is difficult. For some people it is difficult, for some people it is not. Some brokers only speak Russian and Estonian, they do not speak English, and because of that, it can be difficult for you. But some owners prefer giving their house to a settled person who has a job and works properly — they want someone permanently for 2–3 years or however many years. They do not want someone who stays only 6 months, after which they must find a new tenant. And especially, we have heard that they do not prefer giving to international students because they worry whether the student will pay rent on time or not. That is the only reason — otherwise, there is not so much racism here.

If you are working well and your life is settled, then if you talk to the owner that you are looking for a long-term place and they know that you work well and your salary is stable, then they easily become ready to give you the house. So there is not much issue in this.

Now let’s talk about social life. To be very honest, you do not have a very active social life here if you are not an extroverted person. If you are not very active in making friends, then your friends — some people make them during university time or while living in the hostel. They become very close friends, and you can talk to them about anything. But finding such friends here is very difficult. And people here do not have a lot of free time — everyone stays busy with their work and home.

And another thing, people in Estonia are very cold, meaning introverted. It takes time to become friends with them. But if you become their friend, then they are very nice people. And one more thing about Estonians — they are very friendly when they are drunk. Otherwise, they do not talk much; they keep a lot of distance and do not talk too much to anyone. But when they are drunk, they tell you so many stories around them.

Last topic — permanent residence. For permanent residence, if you live in Estonia for 5 years on the basis of a temporary residence permit, then you can apply. And your Estonian language must be clear. The main rule: of course, you must have a job, you must be registered in the population registry, and your taxes must be paid. That is obvious.

But if you came here for studies — for example, if you came here for a master’s degree which is two years — then it counts only as one year. Meaning, the permanent residence that you were supposed to get in 5 years, you will now get in 6 years. There is no rule that you will get it in 2 years if your Estonian language is completed. You must stay 5 years in Estonia on TRP basis and your language must be clear. Only then you become eligible for permanent residence.

Today we will tell you those secret things about Estonia, the ones you don’t know. We will share school facts about Estonia. So let’s start the news.

So fact number one:
Estonia is one of the most advanced societies in the world. Estonia is the first country that started e-Residency.
This means that even if you are not living in Estonia, you can still set up your business in Estonia. All the services are provided to you online. You don’t even need to stay in Estonia — you can operate your business online. All the government services in Estonia are available online. Even online voting — you can vote from home; you don’t need to go anywhere.
From A to Z, the whole system is online.
If you want to do anything — book a doctor’s appointment, book a haircut, go somewhere, or do anything — everything is available online. You don’t need to go anywhere; you can sit at home and do everything yourself.

The second fact is:
Estonia is the startup hub of Europe. Many big companies were founded by Estonians.
For example: Skype, TransferWise, Bolt.
You must have definitely heard their names. If you haven’t heard of Bolt, you must have heard of Skype, and you must have heard of Wise. With Wise you can transfer your money from one country to another easily without worrying about exchange rates.
These big companies were founded in Estonia.
And Estonia has one of the highest rates of startups per capita in Europe. The government also helps people a lot in setting up startups and businesses.
Setting up your company in Estonia is very simple. You can do it yourself; you don’t need any lawyer. It takes 15 minutes to set up a company, and the whole process is very simple in Estonia.

The third fact is:
Estonia is the cleanest country in the whole world — not even just in Europe. We found this out recently. Cleanliness we can already see — the roads and everything are so clean, we see it everywhere — but we didn’t know that Estonia ranks number one in cleanliness.
We feel very good when we get to know such good things about the country we live in.
The air here is also very clean, the environment here is very good — really very, very good in Estonia.

Fourth fact:
Free public transportation. Who doesn’t like free public transportation? We think everyone likes it.
And personally, it’s our favorite. This is one of the reasons we like Estonia so much. If you want to go anywhere, you can easily take a bus, tram, or train and go.
In Estonia — especially in Tallinn city (the capital) — it is free.
If you go to another city like Tartu or Pärnu, then it is not free, but you can easily get bus passes made. It is not that difficult.
But in Tallinn, the capital city, everything is easily accessible and very simple.

Fifth fact:
E-Estonia and the Digital ID card.
What does this mean?
If you live in Estonia, you get a residence permit card. Through that card, you can do many of your tasks yourself — such as online banking, signing documents, or getting medical access.
You don’t need anyone’s help; it’s very easy.
We don’t know about other European countries — We know they definitely give residence permits — but we don’t know how easy it is to do your tasks yourself there.
For example, here if you want to access your medical records — when you last visited the doctor, what your results were, what the doctor prescribed — you can check everything yourself.
If you want to download a bank statement or sign any document or contract, you can sign it through Smart ID or Mobile ID and continue the process yourself.
Everything is very easy.

And the last fact:
Estonia is the first country to declare internet access as a human right.
This means Estonia believes that internet access is very important for humans.
In other countries, we hear that education is very important or something else. But for Estonia, internet access is very important.
Everywhere there is internet — it is easily accessible.
Even if you go to the forests or anywhere you want — the whole country has full WiFi coverage.
You can easily access the internet.

If you are from India or from any other country and you want to come here on a student visa or settle with your family, then today we will talk about exactly that. And we will tell you the stories… they might be my friends’ stories or mine. So let’s begin.

So in short, yes, Estonia is a safe country with a very low crime rate.
Here, we have never heard of anything like a robbery or a big fight happening. Nothing like that. And like we hear in the USA about shootings, here we have never heard of anything like that. we have never seen a big fight or anything dangerous. So because of all this, Estonia is very safe.

And we have heard many stories from my colleagues, which we are going to tell you now.

So, a girl who works with me, she is Estonian. She told us that one day she was coming back from shopping and she forgot her bag in the tram. Someone found her bag and gave it to the driver. Later, she went to the same tram stop around the same time and got her bag back from the driver. So here there is no situation of theft like someone will steal your belongings—nothing like that.

Many people say that Estonia is much safer compared to other European countries.

If we talk about the people here—what can we say, we’ve mentioned in many videos—Estonian people are very calm.
They mind their own business. They have nothing to do with what you are doing, where you are going, what you are wearing, when you come or when you go. Nobody cares. Everyone lives their own life peacefully, and they don’t interfere with others.

But there is one thing—they are very protective about their language. If you don’t speak Estonian, they can be a bit harsh, asking why you aren’t speaking Estonian even after living here for so long. We’ve heard this from many colleagues who only speak English. Some locals say, “Why are you not speaking Estonian language? You have been living here for so long.” This can happen. But otherwise, people are calm and don’t bother anyone.

We have also heard from some people that there is a little racism here, but personally I have never felt it. No one has been harsh to us because of our colour. We have just heard about it in some groups—personally, We never felt it.

We can understand why people here behave in certain ways—they are protective of their language, culture, and country. They are very calm people, and they don’t like noise or chaos. If you disturb their personal space, then definitely they will react. We feel that if you are coming to another country, you should follow their culture so that you blend in and nobody else feels uncomfortable. You should learn their language first so you can communicate better with them.

Another thing—Tallinn is so safe, Estonia is so safe, that even small children go to school by themselves. Parents don’t go with them. Kids go on their own using public transportation. It was shocking for us because small kids are usually a concern for parents. But here, you don’t need to worry—nothing will happen. Kids easily use public transport and go to school.

Another thing—the people here don’t show emotions on their face. Their face is like a resting face. You won’t see a smile. It’s very common here that people don’t smile randomly. You won’t even know who your neighbours are because people keep to themselves. Sometimes you might feel like people are irritated with you because of their expression, but it’s not that—they are naturally like that. Even if they are happy, you might not notice because their expression doesn't change.

You will sometimes see drunk people in certain areas, but there is nothing to fear. They don’t say anything to you. They just stay near bus stops and sit there. Sometimes you will think they are trying to talk to you because they look at you, but actually they just want to ask for a cigarette or a lighter.

So in short, Estonia is a very safe country, whether you are coming for studies, travel, or settling with your family. You don’t need to worry about anything here.

Today’s topic is about how much money you need every month to live a comfortable life in Estonia. If any student wants to move here, the first question that comes to mind is how much will my monthly expenses be. It’s important to plan your budget in advance: if I earn this much, how much will I spend, how much can I save, and can I cover my study expenses myself. So today, we will talk about this topic.

We can’t give you an exact number, but we can give you an average range for the cost of living because it depends on your lifestyle. It depends on whether you eat out or cook at home and what extra expenses you have.

If you want to move to Estonia as a student, your main expenses will go to accommodation, groceries, and Wi-Fi/internet connection. These are the main essentials you cannot avoid. We’ll cover each of these topics.

Accommodation: Students usually stay in shared apartments because it reduces costs. For example, if you rent a two-bedroom apartment and four people live there, each bedroom has two people, the cost is divided among everyone, so your cost is lower. Some students prefer hostels because the fees are also lower. For shared apartments or hostels, accommodation costs can range from €350 to €400 per month.

bIf you mostly cook at home, you spend less; if you eat out often, it will be higher. On average, it’s about €250–€300 per month, but it can be as low as €200 if you manage your meals.

Public Transportation: In Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, public transport is free if you have a green card, which comes with your residence permit. Once you have it, you can travel anywhere in the city without extra cost.

There are mostly three businesses that provide Wi-Fi and internet service: Leetu, Telia, and Elisa.Internet cost depends on your speed requirements. The average monthly cost is between €11 and €20. A lot of students just use mobile internet with unlimited data and connect their devices to a hotspot, which saves them money on home Wi-Fi.

Other Extra Costs: You may also spend on winter jackets, shoes, home essentials, shopping, or haircuts. These extra costs depend on your preferences and lifestyle.

As a student, your monthly living costs in Estonia will be between €500 and €700. You can spend more if you want to.

Now you do not need to give any travel agent 5 or ₹1 lakh. Whenever you have to apply for Estonia’s tourist visa, because in this news we are going to tell you all those secrets due to which your visa gets refused, and most agents do not want you to know all these things. And they do not want you to know these things because they have to take extra charges from you. If you have all the knowledge, then how will they take extra money from you?

And Estonia’s one visa is approved in this week itself, and regularly our Estonia visas keep coming.

So now let’s talk about the requirements. Whenever we apply for any country, mainly we have to focus on the requirements. Some basic requirements are there. Some embassy needs are there which are necessary for travel. And we will also tell you about three major documents in this news which are important documents.

So first of all, the basic documents are four documents. Your passport should have 6 months validity. Only then will you be able to get the VFS appointment. And apart from this, two passport size photographs will be required, 35/45 size. If you are married then marriage certificate will be required. And if you also have children then children’s birth certificate will be required.

Now let’s talk about those documents on which you have to pay special attention, which can also get you the visa, and your visa gets refused because of these documents. So those documents are your bank balance, your occupational proof, and your ITR. And it is not just necessary to have these. Everyone has these. But how to align them is more important.

Now we will tell you in a very easy way in this news. You also have to understand everything very carefully that your bank balance is important because if we live in India and we want to go outside for traveling, then we should have money at least. And how much money is needed? You need three or four times the amount of your expense. And if your expense is ₹1 lakh, then you will need ₹3 to ₹4 lakh. And if it is ₹ lakh then you will need ₹ lakh. And it is not only necessary to have bank balance, but from where this bank balance came is also important. That means the work you do, the occupational proof you are attaching — whether money is coming into your bank account from the same source or not? Have you filed the ITR according to that or not? This is also necessary.

And these three documents must be aligned. Whenever you apply for a tourist visa. Because on the basis of documents we should look well-settled when we are applying for a tourist visa. Only then we will get the visa. And we have seen people who even after being refused three, four, or five times do not upgrade anything in these basic requirements. And even they do not know what the actual embassy requirement is and how we have to represent our file. Even after refusal, visa can come. But if you do not know these three documents properly, then how will your visa come?

We get calls every day and even the market situation is very bad at this time. If 10 people apply, 8 people are getting refused. And why are they getting refused? Because of these three documents they are getting refused.

Apart from this, some other documents are also important. So visa application form, your covering letter — because you yourself are not going. Your covering letter will represent you in the embassy. So the covering letter should also be well made. And according to how many days you want to go for traveling, you will also have to make an itinerary according to that. Air ticket will also be required, travel insurance and hotel booking will also be required.