🇪🇪 Estonia · Mobile eID / app
e-Residency digital ID
Estonian e-Residency digital identity card
e-Residency is a transnational government-issued digital identity for non-residents, giving a smart card to authenticate and digitally sign documents and run an EU-based company online. It does not grant citizenship, residency, or travel rights.
What it does
Online authenticationIdentity verification / KYCQualified digital signatures
Country:🇪🇪 Estonia
Type:Mobile eID / app
Status:Live
Launched:2014
Issuer:Police and Border Guard Board; programme run by Enterprise Estonia / e-Residency
Who can get it:Non-resident foreigners worldwide who apply and pass background checks
Format
Smart card
Identity attributes
Legal nameDate of birthe-Resident identifier
Authentication methods
PKI smart cardPIN
Common use cases
Company registrationDigital signaturesBanking / KYCTax
Standards
eIDAS LoA HighX.509 PKI
Coverage
More than 100,000 e-residents from around the world have been issued digital IDs
Interoperability
Built on the same PKI as the national ID-card; primarily used within Estonian e-services
Privacy and trust
e-Residency provides a verified digital identity only and confers no physical residence or citizenship, with applicants vetted by the Police and Border Guard Board.
Official source
https://www.e-resident.gov.ee/e-Residency digital ID: frequently asked questions
- Does e-Residency give me the right to live in Estonia?
- No. It is purely a digital identity for online services and does not grant citizenship, residency, or the right to enter or live in Estonia or the EU.
- What is e-Residency mainly used for?
- Most e-residents use it to start and run an EU-based company entirely online, sign documents digitally, and access Estonian e-services.
Educational reference, not official guidance. Confirm current details with the issuing authority. all Estonia schemes · identity verification vendors