An e-resident will be a physical person who has received the e-resident’s digital identity (smart ID-card) from the Republic of Estonia. This will not entail full legal residency or citizenship or right of entry to Estonia.

Instead, e-residency gives secure access to Estonia’s digital services and an opportunity to give digital signatures in an electronic environment. Such digital identification and signing is legally fully equal to face-to-face identification and handwritten signatures in the European Union.

The card is not a physical ID-card or even a travel document  because it has no photo on it, but it does have a microchip with security certificates. These enable the card to be used with a small piece of software installed and a reader attached via USB to a computer. It works on two-factor authentication. To get access to a service or sign digitally, you need to enter secure PINs which only you will know.

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