A woman in Tallinn said hello to her neighbours every day for five years. Recently, one of them finally answered. "Now the neighbor says hi back," Kaisa told the audience.

Kaisa Üprus-Tali, head of the Tallinn Migration Centre, shared the story during the GoMigro podcast, and it sums up the centre's work: immigrant integration in Estonia is built from small acts, practical help and a public system that explains itself. The centre is run by the city and supports newcomers in Estonia.

What is the Tallinn Migration Centre?

The Tallinn Migration Centre (Tallinna Rändekeskus) is a city-run service point for all newcomers. According to the city's own description, staff assess what kind of help a person needs first and then advise on social welfare, child protection, youth work and support for victims of domestic violence. Coordinators act as support persons and the centre links people to public services, ministries, non-profits and diaspora groups.

As a matter of fact, it did not even start as a general service. No. It started when the centre opened when Ukrainian refugees in Estonia arrived in large numbers after the full scale invasion and many came to Tallinn. Kaisa remembers elderly people sitting there in the first days, completely unsure where they were or what would happen next.

“I've seen really old people sitting in the center … with kind of hopelessness in their eyes. They didn't know where they are. They didn't know what's going to happen.”

From the start there was an agreement to widen immigrant integration support to other nationalities once the first wave was under control and that is how a crisis desk became permanent migration support. The centre now sits at Endla Street 8.

How did the head of the centre get into this work?

Looking at Kaisa's journey, her route began about ten years ago, during the refugee movement caused by the war in Syria. She worked at Estonia's Ministry of Social Affairs and had a long background with survivors of abuse, and in fact, she joined a team sent to Turkey, Greece and to a smaller extent, Italy as well. The team interviewed people who could then be resettled in Estonia.

Afterwards she watched newcomers in Estonia struggle with daily life which included from small practical matters to big fears. She says helping is part of who she is, and the job feels closer to a lifestyle. She is careful about credit: alone, no one can do anything.

What do newcomers ask for first?

Interestingly, Kaisa calls it the entry question. People phone or walk in with one clear request on their minds and and the most common is a school place for a child. There is usually a short official answer but it often does not solve the problem.

So the staff keep asking, because immigrant integration works only when they act with the person, not for them. Within a few questions the real list appears.

• What the person asks first
• What often sits behind it
• A place in school for my child
• Housing, work, language, family safety
• Help paying rent or buying food
• No income, no job, unclear benefits
• How to learn Estonian
• Isolation, career options
• Transport questions
• Access to services and daily routine
• Anything at all
• Gender based violence

Source: Kaisa's account in the GoMigro live conversation.

“We don't do things for people, but we do things with the person who needs help...And then we ask more and usually a lot of stuff comes out from questions … about transportation to gender based violence...People come in and say that they … do not have money to pay the rent … or … to buy food or they don't know how to find job or they don't know how to learn Estonian.”

The pattern holds whatever the legal basis of someone's stay, and the question about children tends to come first.

What does support look like in one real case?

Gender based violence came to Kaisa's mind first when she was asked for one story and these cases are secretive, as she explained. A person in a strange country may not know how things work, may lack words for what is happening and may fear that someone will take the child away.

Where the abusive partner is Estonian or holds a residence permit and the victim's own status depends on theirs, threats of divorce and deportation are common. One woman helped by the Tallinn Migration Centre had heard exactly that. In the end she could not tolerate it any longer and ran to a shelter.

Empowerment mattered most for her immigrant integration, says Kaisa: going to court, handling custody, understanding the process. The woman was more motivated than many Estonian clients Kaisa had met earlier in her career and today she speaks the language, holds a good job and helps others in the same position. Finally, the former partner is no longer in Estonia, and the woman is safe.

“She like I said is now in Estonia but the other part is not anymore. So she's safe as well.”

Legal help is part of this migration support. The Estonian Human Rights Centre runs free legal counselling for newly arrived adults in Tallinn with the Tallinn Migration Centre. Referral goes through the centre's case manager or coordinator, in Estonian, Russian or English (Estonian Human Rights Centre, ESF+ funded).

How big is the group the centre serves?

In the first weeks of the war, ERR News reported that 29,928 refugees had arrived in Tallinn, more than 2 percent of Estonia's population. By August 2026 the Police and Border Guard Board counted 30,709 people holding a residence permit under temporary protection, according to the EU Agency for Asylum.

Do note that the two figures count different things so they are not growth. The useful reading is that an emergency has settled into a resident population and in the first five months of 2026 Estonia granted temporary protection to 1,805 people and an official described migration pressure as stable and under control (ERR News, 2026).

Settling brings other questions. In early 2024, 57 percent of Ukrainians with temporary protection were employed and earning on average €1,424 against €1,933 for Estonians (ERR, via Eurointegration, 2024). Temporary protection now runs to March 2028 for eligible applicants (Ministry of the Interior, via EUAA, 2026).

So the Tallinn Migration Centre's job moves from first day triage to long term immigrant integration: language, jobs, schools, pay gaps and belonging.

What do immigrants need to belong?

In Kaisa's own short version: it is about people, not immigrants. The world is polarised, she says, and the habit of seeing us versus them makes people notice skin colour, religion or language before the person.

“World is really polarized. It also tends to be us and them us versus them. It's not about immigrants, it's about people. We tend to see only I don't know skin color or religion or language spoken or something.”

Estonians, she adds with humour, warm up slowly, and many newcomers find Estonian faces hard to read but a hello costs the speaker nothing and can mean a world to someone new. Hence the neighbour story.

Tania, founder of GoMigro, also added a view from living between India and Germany: people spot differences first and results improve when you start from similarities and invite several perspectives.

“Let's identify the similarities amongst us. The kind of life we have lived or the kind of…experiences we had had...I live in Germany. Ask me about it! I'm also coming from India so I've lived…both worlds.”

Kaisa's warning is plain: a person who feels welcome feels at home, wants to contribute. A person pushed into a corner, risks poor mental health and loneliness and real immigrant integration needs both sides.

Is the system built for the people who use it?

Her biggest lesson, Kaisa said is about the system she has worked in for most of her life, which is usually built for native people but at the Tallinn Migration Centre she saw more glass ceilings. She has learned to go around some and help break others.

“What I've learned mostly…is not actually about the immigrants. It's more about the system where I've actually worked pretty much my whole life...System is usually built for native people...We see way more those kind of a glass ceilings...I've learned, I suppose…how to…sometimes go around them or sometimes how to…at least contribute to breaking them.”

She knows the blind spot from policy work. You picture someone like yourself, not Ahmed or Tania, and whether they can read the information or reach the service.

On bureaucracy her message was quite direct and refreshing. It is hard enough for native residents, and people should not have to chew through it. Officials are paid by taxpayers to explain and simple information keeps frustrated people from dropping out.

Tania resonated this with her ideology behind GoMigro which she founded in the first place so immigrants can find correct information in one accessible place instead of scattered fragments.

Where can newcomers and neighbours start?

To make it simple, newcomers in Estonia can contact the Tallinn Migration Centre for counselling on +372 600 0677 (Monday to Friday, 9 to 17). The crisis information line 1247 runs around the clock as per the centre's website.

Neighbours, colleagues and officials have a simpler task for immigrant integration. Say hello. Explain things plainly. 

If you are an immigrant or support immigrants through your work, GoMigro invites you to join its community.

FAQ

What does the Tallinn Migration Centre do?

The Tallinn Migration Centre is a city run service that assesses newcomers' needs and offers social welfare advice as well as child protection support, help for victims of domestic violence and practical and helpful guidance from coordinators. It also links people to public services, non profits and diaspora groups, supporting immigrant integration across Tallinn.

Who can use the centre?

Primarily it supports newcomers living in Tallinn and it all started with Ukrainian refugees after the full scale invasion and the plan was always to extend help to other nationalities. Kaisa says staff hear similar questions whatever a person's residence permit and with children and school places usually first.

What is the "entry question" in migration support?

Kaisa uses the term for the first and the most simple request a person brings which is often a school place for a child. Staff answer it, then keep asking because they understand that the real needs usually follow like rent, food, work, Estonian lessons, transport or gender based violence. The approach is to work with the person rather than for them.

Why does bureaucracy matter for immigrant integration?

Because people who cannot follow a process often give up on it and Kaisa argues that public systems are built for native residents and hide barriers that she calls glass ceilings. Clear information and officials who explain, rather than only process and help newcomers reach the services they are entitled to.

You can watch the entire video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=einpds7qogU 

Sources

• Tallinn Migration Centre, City of Tallinn: sport.tallinn.ee/en/randekeskus and icg.tallinn.ee/en/randekeskus (services, contact details, new address)
• Estonian Human Rights Centre, legal counselling for newly arrived immigrants: humanrights.ee/en/activities/legal-counselling-for-newly-arrived-immigrants/ (service details)
• ERR News (2022), Almost 30,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Estonia since war began: news.err.ee/1608563704
• ERR News (2026), Estonia reports slower rate of Ukrainians seeking shelter: news.err.ee/1610055598
• European Union Agency for Asylum, Estonia developments (13 August 2026), Government extends temporary protection until March 2028: dip.euaa.europa.eu
• Eurointegration (26 July 2024), Number of employed Ukrainians in Estonia rises to almost 60%: eurointegration.com.ua/eng/news/2024/07/26/7190986/
• GoMigro live conversation, "The impact story of immigrants" (transcript supplied by the client)