E-residency, launched by the government of Estonia in December 2014, offers a digital identity to global citizens for running location-independent businesses online. E-residents can establish companies, open bank accounts, and manage their businesses digitally, though e-residency does not confer citizenship or residency rights. The initiative aims to grow Estonia's digital economy and they aspire to have 10 million e-estonians by 2025.

1. e-Residency
by the Government of the Republic of Estonia
e-Residency offers to every world citizen a government-issued digital
identity and the opportunity to run a trusted company online, unleashing
the world’s entrepreneurial potential.

2. e-Residency by e-Estonia

3. The Republic of Estonia is the first country to offer e-Residency - a secure
digital identity available to everybody in the world interested in running a
location independent international business online.
E-residents receive a smart ID-card to use for:
- secure digital authentication
- digital signing of any documents
This way, the eID gives access to digital services
which so far have been available only for Estonians.
e-Residency does not give a citizenship, physical or tax residency. It does not
provide any rights of travel and entry to Estonia or to the EU.

4. e-Residency launched on 1 December 2014.
As of 7 November, 2016:
- 14,600 applications from 135 different countries
- 13,800 cards issued aka actual e-residents out there
- 1,033 e-residents have established a new company
- 2,126 companies owned by e-residents
- 27,000 potential e-residents signed up to newsletter
From May 13, 2015 e-Residency is in public beta - everybody can apply and get
the card in Estonian representations in 35 countries around the world.
We look for user feedback to constantly improve and add the services.
Sept ‘14 Nov ‘14 Dec ‘14 May ‘15
Project kick-off Legislation approved First ever e-Resident Public Beta
Government-as-start-up: quick launch + iteration

6. Summary of freelancer’s pain points
Research by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (2015)

7. Solution
4. Digitally sign documents and contracts
3. Administer the company online
2. Open a bank account in Estonia
1. Establish a company online

8. 1| Establish a company online
● Registering a new company within a day
● Low startup and maintenance costs
● 0% company income tax means more money to reinvest
● Low bureaucracy and clear tax system
● Company belonging to EU legal framework
● Company registered in EU carrying a trustworthy image
● Estonia ranks first among EU countries in the 2015 Index of Economic Freedom
Steps for registering a company:
1. Contact a service provider to get a legal address in Estonia. Work in progress for
quicker and more cost-efficient possibilities how to get the required address.
2. Register a company online at the Company Registration Portal
3. Please find more information in the Investment Guide

9. 2| Open a bank account in Estonia
● Secure online banking transactions
● User friendly online account management
● Access to payment service providers
Steps for opening a bank account:
1. Visit a bank in Estonia - LHV, Swedbank, or SEB
2. Wait for the bank’s approval and contract
3. Sign the contract digitally and e-mail to the bank
4. You are now eligible to open a payment service provider account
Today opening a bank account requires one face-to-face meeting at the bank. Hopefully by autumn 2016, partner banks will be able to
“meet” with applicants who want to open bank accounts virtually via secure video chat.
e-Residency does not guarantee a bank account. It is up to each bank to decide to whom they desire to offer a bank account.

10. 3| Administer the company online
● Company e-administration from anywhere around the world
● No need to hire and trust a local director or representative (unless you want to!)
● Declaring taxes online saves your time and money
Steps for administering company:
1. Manage company online in e-Business Register
2. Declare taxes at the e-Tax Board
3. Use state provided online accounting software
The state provided online accounting software is currently in Estonian only and will be translated soon.

11. 4| Digitally sign documents and contracts
● Contracts can be digitally signed and sent to partners within minutes
● All internal documents can be signed digitally (e.g. reports)
● No need to pay for sending documents via expensive international couriers
● Digital signature provides higher level of security compared to handwritten
signature
Steps for signing documents digitally:
1. Download free DigiDoc software for digital signature
2. Find the ID-card reader in the e-Residency starting kit and plug it to your computer
3. Sign documents using the DigiDoc software
4. E-mail digitally signed documents to your partner to sign it also
4 Digital signing is legally equal to handwritten signatures in Estonia, between partners upon agreement and with many service providers
all around the world.

12. The aim: to make Estonia bigger
To grow our digital economy and market with new customers
Spark new innovation and attract investments
Also: to make life and business easier for everybody who already
have a business or other relation to Estonia

13. The road ahead: next steps
We constantly work with private sector to add new services and improve
current ones - based on user needs and feedback.
We also work to further smoothen and improve the application process.
We welcome new service partners from all over the world: get in touch with the
team to offer your services to e-Resident community.
Long-term aim: 10 million e-Estonians by 2025

14. How to become an e-resident?
4 steps, 1 month and 100 euros:
1. Fill in the application form at
e-resident.gov.ee
2. Wait for the background check
3. Pick up the card from the
chosen foreign representation
or in Estonia
4. Start using the first services

15. More information:
● Visit e-Residency website at e-resident.gov.ee
● Subscribe to newsletter at website
● Follow us on Twitter @e_Residents and #eResidents
● Send us any feedback at e-resident@gov.ee
● Join eResNetwork, the first networking platform for
e-residents - www.eresnetwork.eu
Here is a 2-minute video by e-Residency Program Director
Here is a 7-minute video by ABC News program