Help center.
How requesting a home, paying your provider and airport pickup work — and how to reach a person.
Getting started
- What is Empire After Services?
- Housing and the first weeks after arrival for international students who come to Europe through Empire Overseas Education. We list student homes in Riga, Vilnius, Kaunas, Warsaw, Tallinn, arrange an airport pickup with a named driver, and a person from Empire answers on WhatsApp in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil.
- Which cities do you have homes in?
- Our cities are Riga, Vilnius, Kaunas, Warsaw, Tallinn. We have homes in Riga and Warsaw. Not every city has a home at every moment: the housing page and the map show what is listed right now, and for a city with nothing listed yet you can tell a person from Empire your dates and budget on WhatsApp.
- Does it cost anything?
- No. Browsing homes, the map, asking Terra or a person from Empire, and requesting a home are all free — Empire charges you no fee and no card is needed. The rent is the provider's, and you pay it to them directly once they confirm.
Requesting a home
- What happens when I request a home?
- Free to request — no card needed. You choose your dates and send the request; nothing is held or charged. The provider has 24 hours to answer. If the provider confirms, you pay the rent to the provider directly.
- How do I pay the rent?
- Directly to the provider, after they confirm. Your request page then shows how they take payment — their own payment link, or their bank details with a reference to put on the transfer — and any instructions they wrote, such as deposit terms. When you have paid, tell them with the "I've paid" button. Empire never holds or receives the rent.
- What does the rent cover?
- The rent for the stay you chose, by the day. Some listings say that utilities or a deposit are on top of the rent; those are the provider's own terms, and the listing and the provider's payment instructions say what they are.
- Can I withdraw a request?
- Yes, while it is pending, from your bookings page. Nothing was charged, so there is nothing to refund. Once a provider has confirmed, any rent you have paid is between you and the provider — Empire never received it — and a person from Empire can help on WhatsApp.
- I paid by card for an earlier request — what about that?
- Requests sent before booking became free held the rent and a service fee on your card and were charged when the provider confirmed. Your bookings page shows what happened to yours; for anything about it, message a person from Empire on WhatsApp.
- How does a home get on the site?
- A provider lists it, and it goes live as soon as it passes our checks: a real photo of the home, a title, the rent, the city and a pin on the map. Our team can take a home off the site at any time.
Airport pickup
- How does airport pickup work?
- Send us your flight on WhatsApp — the number, the date and the arrival time — and a named driver meets you at arrivals with your name on a sign. The price is not published on the site; we confirm it when we arrange the pickup.
Account & privacy
- How do I reset my password?
- Click "Forgot password" on the sign-in page and enter your email. The reset link in the email works for 30 minutes.
- How is my data handled?
- Our Privacy Policy says what we keep and why, and the Data Deletion page says how to ask for your account and data to be removed.
Only need a car from the airport?
Book a ride and see the price before you ask. If a verified driver is free, they take you right away, and you pay the driver directly — Empire takes no fee. Rides are for right now; an Empire airport pickup is the one you book ahead.
- From Riga Airport
- From Vilnius Airport
- From Kaunas Airport
- From Warsaw Chopin Airport
- From Tallinn Airport
Still need help?
A person from Empire answers on WhatsApp (+91 97784 18074) in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil.