Look inside
The plan for Estonia, from the inside
These are all 29 steps of the Estonia journey, exactly as they appear in your personal plan — with the lead time and the costs next to them. Not a brochure: this is the file that feeds the platform. Pick another country below if you're heading elsewhere.
For which country?
Every country has its own steps, its own order and its own clocks. Switch as often as you like.
- Steps
- 29
- Phases
- 5
- Official sources
- 38
- Only for your situation
- 8
Phase 1
5 steps
Orientation
Administratively, Estonia is the lightest country on this site — if you know the order. One registration gives you five years' right of residence, and the ID card that follows it is the key to almost every service. This phase teaches you how that system fits together, and clears up one persistent misunderstanding straight away.
- 1.1
Understand what free movement arranges — and what e-Residency is not
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 1.2
Know the digital system: the ID card is the key
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
1 official source
- 1.3
Get a picture of what it's going to cost
- Lead time
- 1-2 hours with the calculator
- Costs
- none
- 1.4
Take the decision together
- Lead time
- no fixed one; take your time
- Costs
- none
- 1.6
Choose your target date
- Lead time
- one moment, and it may shift later
- Costs
- none
Phase 2
11 steps
Closing the Netherlands
The familiar closing list — with one Estonian windfall almost nobody knows: the lowest healthcare contribution of all corridors on this site for whoever is insured via the CAK.
- 2.1
Arrange your healthcare: report, and the lowest country-of-residence factor on the site
- Lead time
- start 3 months before departure
- Costs
- none; the Estonian cover or treaty contribution replaces your Dutch premium
2 official sources
- 2.2
AOW and pension: what continues and what stops
- Lead time
- an afternoon of research; registering is possible up to 1 year after departure
- Costs
- voluntary AOW continuation: 17.9% of your income (min € 569, max € 5,693 a year, 2026)
2 official sources
- 2.3
The tax wind-up: M return, and a treaty without a country page
- Lead time
- preparation now; the return follows after the emigration year
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.4
Stopping child benefit and allowances
- Lead time
- report as soon as the moving date is fixed
- Costs
- none; the Estonian child benefit comes in its place — € 80 per child per month
2 official sources
- 2.5
Deregister with the municipality — on the departure day itself
- Lead time
- 15 minutes at the counter or online
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.6
DigiD, bank and your vote: keep the lines with the Netherlands
- Lead time
- an evening
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.7
Documents: multilingual extracts, no apostille needed
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks
- Costs
- extracts: municipal fees; translations only where really needed
1 official source
- 2.8
Partner comes along without a job of their own
- Lead time
- an evening together, then a few things to arrange
- Costs
- none — the consequences are in the article
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.9
Living partly in the Netherlands: the eight-month rule
- Lead time
- one decision, before you commit to anything else
- Costs
- none
4 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.10
The house in the Netherlands: sell, rent out or keep
- Lead time
- one conversation with the mortgage lender and one with a tax adviser
- Costs
- advisory hours; when renting out possibly an interest surcharge from the bank
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.11
Children staying in the Netherlands: DUO, healthcare and the house
- Lead time
- an evening, and after that one report a year
- Costs
- none
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
Phase 3
3 steps
The move
Within the EU moving isn't a customs matter — the move itself is here mainly a logistical sum over 2,100 kilometres. The real pitfall is the car, because the Estonian arithmetic on that dates from 2025 and almost every guide is older.
- 3.1
Plan the move: no customs, but 2,100 kilometres
- Lead time
- quotes 1-2 weeks; plan 6-8 weeks ahead
- Costs
- see the cost estimate — a part-load is often the logical choice here
- 3.2
The car: the arithmetic is new, and it starts before departure
- Lead time
- an evening of calculating, now
- Costs
- registration fee (one-off) + annual motor vehicle tax; the BPM refund on export softens it
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.3
The pet: EU passport, done
- Lead time
- 1 vet visit; rabies jab at least 21 days before departure
- Costs
- pet passport and jab: a few tens of euros per animal
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
Phase 4
5 steps
Registration in Estonia
One registration opens everything, but the order matters: first a home, then register the address, then the ID card — and with that card the rest of this journey consists mainly of logging in.
- 4.1
Find your home — the registration is waiting for it
- Lead time
- weeks to months; start before departure
- Costs
- deposit (often 1 month) + often an agent's fee of 1 month
- 4.2
Register your place of residence: within 14 days, and it opens everything
- Lead time
- online in minutes, at the counter in a quarter of an hour
- Costs
- free
2 official sources
- 4.3
The ID card: apply within a month, and then everything is possible
- Lead time
- application in person at the PPA; card ready within a few weeks
- Costs
- € 45 per adult at the counter (€ 35 via the self-service portal; child and state-pension age € 20/€ 15)
2 official sources
- 4.4
Connect the healthcare: via your work, or via the CAK
- Lead time
- the employer arranges the registration; cover after a 14-day waiting period
- Costs
- no premium — the healthcare runs via the social tax your employer pays
2 official sources
- 4.5
Open a bank account — with your ID card it's a small job
- Lead time
- with an ID card often the same week
- Costs
- ordinary accounts: a few euros a month
Phase 5
5 steps
Arrival
The last counters — of which in Estonia only one is a real counter. The car has the tightest deadline of the whole journey; the rest is logging in with your new card.
- 5.1
The car on Estonian plates: five working days
- Lead time
- inspection + registration; start in the first week
- Costs
- registration fee (see step 3.2) + inspection + plates
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.2
Taxes: the flat tax, and a return in minutes
- Lead time
- reading step now; the first return comes in February
- Costs
- none
1 official source
- 5.3
School: enrol with the municipality, and weigh the language honestly
- Lead time
- enrol as soon as the address is registered
- Costs
- public education is free
Only if this applies to you
- 5.4
Your driving licence: nothing is required, exchanging is allowed
- Lead time
- no action needed until your driving licence expires
- Costs
- none
1 official source
- 5.5
Choose a GP and get to know the e-health system
- Lead time
- register with a perearst with an open list
- Costs
- GP free; specialist via referral, small co-payments
8 of these steps aren't always there. They appear only when your answers call them up — a pet, a car, children staying behind. That's the difference between a plan and a checklist in which you have to work out yourself what applies.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Estonia journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 2.1 of your plan
Arrange your healthcare: report, and the lowest country-of-residence factor on the site
- Lead time
- start 3 months before departure
- Costs
- none; the Estonian cover or treaty contribution replaces your Dutch premium
Report your move to your health insurer: the Dutch insurance stops as of the moving date. If you're going to work in Estonia, the public insurance takes over as soon as your employer registers you (phase 4 — mind the waiting period of fourteen days). If you move with a Dutch pension or a benefit, your healthcare runs via the treaty route: the CAK (the Dutch body for healthcare abroad) passes your entitlement to Tervisekassa with an S1 document.
And here's the windfall: the treaty contribution is multiplied by the country-of-residence factor, and for Estonia in 2026 that stands at 0.3057 — the lowest of all destinations on this site. A retired couple therefore pays less than a third of what the same cover costs in the Netherlands, and also keeps the right to the healthcare allowance. Start three months before departure; the CAK application is done within a few weeks.
Where you arrange it
What this step rests on
This is step 2.1 of 29. The other 28 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
And what you don't see here
This page shows the content. What a page can't show is the work the platform does for you afterwards:
- The clocks that start running the moment you begin, and a nudge at the moment something is asked of you — not earlier.
- Your documents in one place, with their expiry dates watched, so nothing lapses while you wait for something else.
- The ticking off, together with your partner on the same journey.
- The steps that drop out or appear based on your answers, so your plan holds only what really applies to you.
Ready to start on Estonia?
All 29 steps, set to your situation and with the deadlines watched. € 199 once, no subscription.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Estonia: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in Estonia really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
Thirty-six journeys are fully ready — Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Canada, Panama, United States, Suriname, China, Dubai, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.