Activity licence for social services in Estonia

Certain social services in Estonia may only be provided with an activity licence issued by the Social Insurance Board (Sotsiaalkindlustusamet)¹¹⁰. The Social Welfare Act names these services one by one and sets the requirements for the provider, the people who work directly with clients and the place where the service is provided.

Information as of 11 November 2026. Every numbered statement of this page was checked in the official text named below and re-checked by a second reviewer on 2026-11-11. The page is general information, not legal advice; the authority decides on every application.

What the activity is

The Social Welfare Act (sotsiaalhoolekande seadus, SHS) requires an activity licence for the following social services¹:

(1) childcare service for a child with high care and assistance needs (suure hooldus- ja abivajadusega lapse hoiu teenus);
(2) substitute care service (asendushooldusteenus), except substitute care in a foster family;
(3) shelter service (turvakoduteenus);
(4) general care service provided outside the home (väljaspool kodu osutatav üldhooldusteenus);
(5) everyday life support service (igapäevaelu toetamise teenus);
(6) employment support service (töötamise toetamise teenus);
(7) supported living service (toetatud elamise teenus);
(8) community living service (kogukonnas elamise teenus);
(8¹) day and week care service (päeva- ja nädalahoiuteenus);
(9) 24-hour special care service (ööpäevaringne erihooldusteenus).

A separate licence is required for the rehabilitation service (rehabilitatsiooniteenus)².

Examples:

General care outside the home is for an adult who cannot cope independently at home; when provided around the clock it includes accommodation and meals³.
Substitute care is provided by a foster family, a family home (perekodu) or a substitute home (asenduskodu)⁴. A family home has up to three family parents and up to six children at a time; a substitute home has educators and up to six children at a time, with exceptions the act names⁵.
High-needs childcare is for a child who, because of mental or physical health, needs more care and support than usual for the age; one childminder may care for up to five children at a time⁶.

Not covered: substitute care in a foster family does not need an activity licence; the foster family is entered in a register kept by the Social Insurance Board instead⁷. Holders of former childcare-service licences had to choose by 1 December 2025 between continuing under the SHS or as childcare operators under the Preschool Education Act (alusharidusseadus)⁸.

The legal act and the authority

Act: Social Welfare Act (sotsiaalhoolekande seadus), §§ 147–155¹. The SHS service requirements are also economic activity requirements, and the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act (majandustegevuse seadustiku üldosa seadus, MSÜS) applies with the SHS's special rules⁹.
Authority: the Social Insurance Board decides applications for the services in SHS § 151 and for the rehabilitation service¹⁰.
Register: licences are recorded in the Register of Economic Activities (majandustegevuse register, MTR)¹¹.
State fee: State Fees Act (riigilõivuseadus)¹².

Who must apply

An activity licence is required to provide any of the listed services¹. The MSÜS and the SHS licensing rules also apply to public-law legal persons and state and local government agencies insofar as their nature does not require otherwise⁹. The business may start only from the grant of the licence (or a later date or condition stated in it)¹³.

Exemptions named in the act:

substitute care in a foster family (see section 1)¹⁷;
the Social Insurance Board itself does not need a rehabilitation licence²;
during a state of emergency or a state of war, and for 90 days after it ends, the licence requirement of SHS § 151 does not apply; the provider must instead notify the Social Insurance Board before starting¹⁴.

A shelter for children and a shelter for adults need separate licences¹⁵.

Requirements for the applicant

Whether capital, management or anti-money-laundering requirements apply is specified for the client's situation. The licence checks (SHS § 153)¹⁶:

the applicant, the service and every person who provides the service directly meet the requirements of the SHS and the regulations under it;
the person who provides the service directly has no conviction for an intentional crime;
the place of service meets the SHS and the Public Health Act (rahvatervishoiu seadus) and the requirements set under them;
the place of service meets fire safety requirements;
for high-needs childcare, substitute care and shelter services, the requirements of § 20 of the Child Protection Act (lastekaitseseadus), which bars persons convicted of the offences it lists from working with children¹⁷.

Staff requirements (main points):

General care outside the home: care is provided by care workers and assistant care workers; a care worker needs vocational or in-service training aimed at the care-worker occupational standard, or the care-worker professional qualification; the minister may set staff numbers by regulation¹⁸.
High-needs childcare: the childminder needs at least secondary or vocational education plus the childminder qualification (or work experience with children), first-aid training within the last 24 months and a health certificate¹⁹.
Shelter for children: at least secondary education plus professional or higher education in pedagogy, psychology or social work, or in-service training completed within a year of starting work²⁰.
Substitute care: among other conditions, a family parent must be at least 25; at least secondary education, experience of working with children and in-service training (or a commitment to complete it within a year) are required²¹.
Special care services (points 5–9, including 8¹): the activity supervisor (tegevusjuhendaja) needs at least secondary education and suitable training or education; detailed training requirements are set by ministerial regulation²².
Rehabilitation: the provider must have a rehabilitation team of at least three different specialists, one of them a social worker; the others are drawn from the professions listed in SHS § 68(2). The provider must also ensure fire safety, access under the Building Code and an internal complaints procedure²³.

Each social service licence carries secondary conditions: the maximum number of persons served at the same time and the permitted place of operation (for 24-hour special care, also which client groups may be served)²⁴.

Documents filed with the application

The application to the Social Insurance Board contains:

General data (MSÜS § 19(2)): the general data of a licence application; a company being founded files a document proving its founding instead of a registry code²⁵.
All social service licences (SHS § 152(3)): the number of persons to be served at the place of operation and, for a first licence, the written consent of the persons who will provide the service directly to start work²⁶.
Shelter, high-needs childcare, substitute care (SHS § 152(4)–(5)): health certificates of the direct providers on infectious-disease checks; if the service is provided in the childminder's or family parent's home, also the home owner's consent and the health certificate of each adult sharing the home²⁷.
Special care services (SHS § 152(7)): the activity supervisor's health certificate²⁸.
Rehabilitation (SHS § 148(2)): the activities, from the list set by ministerial regulation, that the provider will offer within the service²⁹.

State fee and processing time

State fee: EUR 100 for examining a licence application for each service group in §§ 286–286⁵ of the State Fees Act; EUR 50 for an application to change the place of operation in the licence¹². The fee is paid when the application is filed³⁰.
Time limit: the Social Insurance Board grants or refuses the licence within 30 days of the application³¹. The period runs from the filing of all required data; the authority may ask for data, may suspend the period for up to 30 days, and may extend it once by up to 30 days³². A first reply is due by the third working day after filing³³.
Licences under SHS § 151 are always issued with secondary conditions (section 4), and the MSÜS excludes a licence being deemed granted by silence where it must be issued with secondary conditions³⁴.
A licence is issued without a time limit unless a law provides otherwise³⁵.

These are the law's time limits, not a promise; the outcome depends on the authority's decision.

What LexorCorp Global OÜ does and how to order

LexorCorp Global OÜ provides the service "Activity licence application documentation": it identifies the requirements of the act for the activity from its official text, prepares the application documents, files them through the Register of Economic Activities and handles the written follow-up of the authority's questions³⁶. The client pays the state fee³⁷. LexorCorp does not provide legal advice, audit or tax advice and cannot promise the licence, a date or any decision of the Social Insurance Board.

The price for a social service licence is given on request: choose the service in the "Social care" section of Licensed activities in Estonia and use "Request a price" (request form); the reply comes by email³⁸.

Sources

SHS § 151 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 147(1)–(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 20(1), (3) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 45⁵(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 45⁷(1), (1¹); § 45⁸(1), (1¹) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 45¹(2); § 45³(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 45¹⁰(1)–(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 160⁷(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 1¹(1)–(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 152(1); § 148(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
MSÜS § 8(1)–(2) — text in force from 01.09.2025
RLS §§ 286, 286¹, 286², 286³, 286⁴, 286⁵ — text in force from 01.11.2026
MSÜS § 16(4) — text in force from 01.09.2025
SHS § 155¹(4) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 37(4) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 153 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
LasteKS § 20(1)–(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026
SHS § 22(3), (4), (6) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 45⁴(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 36(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 45¹³(1) p 2, 8, 9, 12 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 86(1), (7) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 149; § 68(1)–(2); § 66 p 4, 5, 7 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 154 — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
MSÜS § 19(2), (4); § 15(1) — text in force from 01.09.2025
SHS § 152(3) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 152(4)–(5) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 152(7) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
SHS § 148(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
MSÜS § 19(7) — text in force from 01.09.2025
SHS § 152(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026 (redaction valid 01.10.2026–30.11.2026; §§ 147–155, 22, 66–68 unchanged in the redaction from 01.12.2026)
MSÜS § 19(6); § 20(1)–(3) — text in force from 01.09.2025
MSÜS § 19(5) — text in force from 01.09.2025
MSÜS § 20(4); SHS § 154 — text in force from 01.09.2025
MSÜS § 24(1) — text in force from 01.09.2025
LexorCorp Global price list and service description (price list)
LexorCorp Global price list and service description (price list)
LexorCorp Global price list and service description (price list)

Official sources

The laws this article names, each linked to its official text, as read on 9 October 2026. For the Estonian acts we read the English translation in Riigi Teataja; the legally binding text is the Estonian one.

State Fees Act — Riigi Teataja, English translation

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