According to EPL's information, Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) data reflects that the number of people from third-country nationals to come to Estonia for short-term employment broke all previous records this year: 20,195 applications were submitted in the first 11 months of 2018.

This figure nearly tripled compared to last year, when just 7,766 applications were filed through November 2017, and exceeded 2016's total of 1,821 applications 11 times.

For employers, the simplest and fastest means of employing a third-country national in Estonia is to register them for short-term employment, valid for a period of up to 12 months.

Short-term employment does not count against Estonia's annual immigration quota, which is subject to different rules. In order to register for short-term employment, however, employers must generally ensure foreign employees wages equalling Estonia's national average wage.

Of the over 20,000 applications for short-term employment filed with the PPA through the end of November, 15,686, or three quarters, were for Ukrainian nationals. Also registered in significant numbers were Belarusian (1,296) and Moldovan (860) nationals.

EU citizens are free to live and work in any EU member state and are thus not reflected in the PPA's statistics on foreign workforce.

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