Residential address
According to the Population Register Act, a person is required to ensure the correctness of the residential address of the person, his or her minor children and persons under his or her guardianship.
Persons shall submit the residential address where they permanently or primarily reside for entry in the population register.
If a person has multiple residences as his or her permanent or primary residence, he or she shall submit the addresses of all such residences for entry in the population register and select one of them as the residential address with legal effect. Other residences shall be entered in the population register as additional addresses.
Residential addresses entered in the population register do not grant a person the right to use the space at that address as his or her residence if the person has no right to use the space on the bases provided by law.
The data on place of residence entered in the Population Register have legal effect in Riigikogu, European Parliament and local council elections, referendums and polls for which they are used as a basis.
The data also have legal effect on the payment of taxes into the budget of the local governments as well as for the performance of public duties, if the performance of this duty is linked to the place of residence.
People in Tartu who have registered their place of residence will be guaranteed nursery and school places, free public transport (for people aged 65 and over, or for families with four or more children), a supplementary childbirth allowance, the gift of a silver spoon, the opportunity to vote on the participative budget, etc. In addition, the city also takes care of people in difficulty. Social renting, rehabilitation of the long-term unemployed, subsidies paid to adapt dwellings to meet the needs of people with disabilities, etc., are organised.
A local government can provide services to the extent necessary if it is able to collect taxes from its residents and if it knows how many people have registered their permanent residence in the local government. If more people are actually living within the territory of the local government, the quality of services may suffer, and it is not only those with incorrect residence data who may suffer, but also those who have duly completed the registration obligation.
Data on residence in the population register are amended:
- on the basis of a submitted notice of residence;
- on the basis of a notice of residence or an application for registration of permanent residence in a foreign state, if the person is moving abroad permanently;
- upon the legitimate request of the owner of the space;
- on the basis of a judicial decision whereby a person loses the right to use the space;
- changes in the administrative territorial organisation which is the basis for the residential address or in the names and numbers of the objects to which the address is assigned.
Amendment of the residential address of a person in the population register shall not be based on the entry or placement of the person to receive in-patient treatment, the entry or placement of the person in a social welfare institution that provides 24-hour social service, the entry or placement of the person in a custodial institution, or the entry or placement of the person in military service.
Time limit for submission of new residential address
Upon permanently settling in another residence, a person shall submit their new residential address for entry in the population register within 14 days after permanently settling in the new residence
Upon settling in a foreign state, a person must within one month notify the local authority of their last residence in Estonia or the Estonian foreign mission of data on his or her place of residence abroad.
A person may submit the date of birth of a child as the start of validity of data on the residence of the child within three months of the birth of the child, if the birth of the child is registered in a foreign state and there are no data on residence of the child in the population register.
Aliens shall submit data on their residence in Estonia within one month after arriving in Estonia on the basis of a residence permit or right of residence Aliens residing in Estonia at the time of issue of the residence permit is obliged to register his or her place of residence in the procedure prescribed by the Population Register Act within one month from the date of notification of the decision on the issue of the residence permit.
Citizens of the European Union, Member States of the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation shall submit data on their residence not later than three months after their arrival in Estonia.
Upon taking up residence in Estonia, citizens of the European Union, Member States of the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation may, when submitting data on residence, provide an advance notification regarding the date of leaving Estonia and their precise residential address in the foreign state or, in the absence thereof, at least the name of such a foreign state.