The Government extended the short-term employment opportunity of Ukrainians until the end of May

Minister of the Interior Kristian Jaani explained that the regulation extends the right to work in Estonia of those citizens of Ukraine who cannot apply for temporary protection here as they were already living and working in Estonia before 24 February, when their home country was attacked by the Putin regime, and whose registered period of short-term employment has ended or is about to end. ‘They have a legal basis for staying in Estonia and the regulation permits them to work in Estonia until 31 May. By this time, the required amendments to the legislation will hopefully have been adopted, based on which the employment of the target group will not be subject to the provisions of the Aliens Act on short-term employment,’ said Jaani.

Furthermore, if the registration of the short-term employment of a Ukrainian citizen is valid at the time of entry into force of the regulation, it will not be necessary to re-register short-term employment at the same employer at the Police and Border Guard Board if the employment relationship continues. ‘In order to enable Ukrainian citizens to cope independently during their legal stay in Estonia, it is reasonable for them to carry on working if they have an employer in Estonia,’ the Minister of the Interior specified.

Those Ukrainian citizens whose short-term employment periods have expired or will expire before entry into force of the regulation must observe the current procedure. ‘No one will be left in limbo – the employers of those individuals will simply have to re-register their short-term employment at the Police and Border Guard Board. We estimate that there are five hundred such individuals,’ said Jaani.

The regulation is enforced based on the emergency response plan which is being implemented since 11 March. The regulation will enter into force on Wednesday, 16 March.

The Government also amended the temporary border control regulation and expanded the circle of those individuals who are checked upon entry into the country on the border between Estonia and Latvia. So far, only Ukrainian citizens and their family members have been checked on the border to provide smoother assistance from the state. In the future, all citizens of third countries who have left Ukraine due to the military conflict will be subjected to border control.