Estonian e-residency

Hello!

In the last episode of Tek Syndicate Logan mentioned that he wanted to get e-residency in Estonia. So to get things started here, I'll just open this post to all the questions you all might have about this thing.

Just to introduce:

The idea of e-residency is to simplify and make it convenient for foreigners to use estonian digital services. So this is not the same ID card as an Estonian has. With your card you would have recieved an e-resident's digital identity.  To read more about it: https://e-estonia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/eResident_leaflet.pdf

What this basically means is: You can digitally use "Estonian" banks, sign documents, it's easyer to create a business etc.

So who is this for?

Well, businessmen and entrepreneurs mostly. Registering a business is easy. https://e-estonia.com/component/e-business-register/ . e-residency and good internet connection/speeds (and overall the strong focus on technology) are ment to attract more businesses to operate in Estonia. (Because after watching a lot of Tek Syndicate talks about internet in other countries, maaan has it made me proud of the connection here... It's relatively cheap and we get the speeds we are promised (or sometimes more..). No monopolies I guess)

About businesses. there is an article I found (didn't have time to read it yet) about the tax situation. I will add this part later when I have had time to read it and it's clear to me aswell :)

Anyhow, also if you plan travelling to estonia, an ID card might make it easyer to complete some tasks that can be done digitally so you wouldn't need to physically visit offices. Transferring money, signing documents. I mean I might seem like a broken record now already, but I myself really do use these services all the time (Use the ID card).

How do I get one?

"During the beta phase, applications are submitted via Police and Border Guard service points in Estonia. As we move on to the next phase in spring 2015, it will be possible to apply through Estonian embassies and consular offices around the world." - This is one of the sources I found. Other sources say that application in other countries might be possible by the end of 2015.

They will take your fingerprints, photo, and information about your identity. Then they'll check it and if all seems correct you will get your e-ID.

It costs 50 euros...just like my real one did..

What can i do with it?

Like said, create business, open bank accounts etc. But I can't pinpoint every single use for it, I simply don't know all the possible uses. If you are interested I can call and find out. But what can I do with my ID card digitally? Well, here's the list: https://e-estonia.com/components/ It is only logical that an e-resident can't use all of these services... e-voting?..no... But this list includes the services an e-resident might want to use. (and like I said I can call or just search for more info if you have any questions).

They also promise to add more services and make it more attractive for people.

Just a summary (TL:DR):

Bottom line: You wont be needing it if you don't want a business in estonia or don't plan to travel here and use the e-services. Otherwise it's like a pirated e-book, it seems interesting and you download it, but you never read it.

 

I know this post is sort of messy, but I didn't have enough time to work on it :)

I'll gladly answer any questions you might have (If I can :) ).

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US Government would probably claim that this is a threat to national security. Bans the site, and probably declared war on Estonia

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Found the post that finally made me to create an account on TEK forums.

One application that i thought that would be practical even for non-entrepreneurs is the signing and encrypting documents between two e-residents.

In practice you can sign a document with your verified e-resident card and encrypt it to specific person, so only he/she can decrypt it using their e-resident card.

Digital signing http://www.id.ee/index.php?id=31008

Encrypting http://www.id.ee/index.php?id=31009

 

I totally forgot about it. It's very easy to use and comes in handy. I've used it myself quite a lot.

Dear current and future e-Residents of Estonia,

We have some great and eagerly awaited news to share with you: we are
expanding the issuing of e-Residency to Estonian embassies and
consulates abroad! You will soon have a chance to apply for an
e-Resident ID-card in 34 countries around the world. Although, you are
still always welcome to visit our lovely country, too

Our foreign representations will be technically ready to take your
applications from 1 April 2015. In the first weeks you will still be
required to come to the office twice (once to apply and then again to
get the card). Starting from May 2015 aka soon it will become much
easier: you can then fill out an application online ahead of time and
only come in yourself once.

See here for the list of countries where we are opening up the
application process and the exact procedures that will need to be
followed: https://e-estonia.com/e-residents/apply-2/

Our hats go off to all 1,274 of you who already have visited our Police
and Border Guard offices in Estonia to apply for e-Residency. It means
that with the first 4 months there are already more than a thousand
e-Residents out there!

As far as the services go, we continue to be in the beta stage of
development. You can see the currently available digital services here: https://e-estonia.com/e-residents/services/. Our work goes on to expand the list while making the existing services run as smoothly as possible for you.

For all existing e-Residents out there - feel free to get in touch with our team at [email protected], should you need any support with any services or have any feedback on how we could make them better.

Finally, do read more about the experiences of existing e-Residents:

  • see what one of the "local" e-Residents is blogging: https://hamidtahsildoost.wordpress.com/

  • the latest issue of "Life in Estonia" magazine had a feature on the programme:http://investinestonia.com/images/PDF/LIE_spring_2015_ISSUU.pdf (pages 24-27)

Thanks for being with e-Estonia on this exciting journey!

You can look forward to another update soon, when our online application site will be ready for you to use.

Kaspar Korjus

e-Residency Program Director

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Let me get one thing straight for anyone browsing around who haven't heard about this before;

THIS IS NOT AN EU RESIDENCY

Digital services only.

More information https://e-estonia.com/e-residents/about/
The portal has been now opened to public for applying to e-residency program https://apply.e-estonia.com/

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So apparently the Estonian system that processes the applications is over capacity due to the large influx of interest. ... This thing just might take off.

Glad you posted, I missed this. Is this how shell companies begin?

Who likes graphs? I know i do. All the e-residency stats live here https://app.cyfe.com/dashboards/195223/5587fe4e52036102283711615553
So far the 2015 goal of 5000 e-residents has been reached.

Next hurdle to overcome is being done as we speak(money laundering law change proposal). Registering an estonian bank account without visiting the bank. Owning a estonian bank account is very cheap(low monthly and other fees) and it is comfortable if you are doing business in SEPA area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area

Nice introduction video

Five years ago I honestly thought South Africa was going to sweep through the digital market.

After Brexit, want to stay in digital europe? Use Estonia’s e-residency programme
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/how-to-keep-your-eu-citizenship-after-brexit-a7081186.html

People living anywhere in the world can sign up over the internet to receive an Estonian government ID and gain a special category of residency.
This scheme doesn’t give you Estonian citizenship or even proper rights to live in the country – but there are some advantages.
If you’re worried about losing your European Union citizenship for business reasons, you can use the e-residency to set up an Estonian company.
This will by extension be an EU company and allow you to trade in all EU countries.
You don’t have to actually physically go to Estonia to do it and you can administer your Estonian company from anywhere in the world – including the UK.