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I recently applied for an Estonian e-residency. Heres what I did: The first thing to know is that you have to physically be there to apply. I went to Estonia a

I recently applied for an Estonian e-residency. Heres what I did: The first thing to know is that you have to physically be there to apply. I went to Estonia and applied at the local police station. I know that sounds weird but thats how you do it. In Estonia, this is where you go to renew driver's licenses and a lot of governmental things. It was relatively painless. I didn't need to make an appointment. It's just like a DMV. You take a ticket and wait. The woman behind the counter asks some questions, for your passport, biometrics (photo and finger prints) and 50 euros. You then you wait to hear a response within two weeks. An annoying part is that you have to show up again in two weeks to pick it up in person. Mine is still waiting for me in Estonia as I've not been back yet and I can't have a friend pick it up for me (it has to be me!). Be prepared to spend two weeks in Tallinn, therefore, which isn't bad as the prices are quite reasonable and the food is good.

ProblemFactory 12y ago
From the linked website, it seems that they expanded applications to overseas embassies a few days ago, so visiting in person might no longer be necessary. Out of curiosity, what was your motivation for applying? It seems to me that the only obvious use-case for e-residency is to run a company registered in Estonia while living elsewhere.
- octaveguin 12y ago
  Yes it seems like it'll be easier now. Exciting really. I bet a lot of people will now take advantage of it. My motivation is eventual real residency. This just makes it easier.
  - mb_72 12y ago
    I'm not sure there is any path, now or planned for the future, for moving from e-residency to 'real residency'. Probably you've seen this information, but if not: http://www.investinestonia.com/en/investment-guide/coming-to-estonia http://www.investinestonia.com/en/investment-guide/coming-to...
coretx 12y ago
Congratulations, between now and whenever the Kremlin feels like it, a foreign entity now controls your identity and can create legally binding contracts in your name. Never forget that 70%> of the people living in Talinn are non-estonians, and mostly Russian. And gues what: They hold power over half of their parliament.
- dijit 12y ago
  Russian is the big bad and is trying to control you! /s Estonia is not Russia, not even close, they're part of the EU and constrained by EU law. Just because people in parliment are of russian descent does not make them pro-russia either. Stop being so racist.
  - coretx 12y ago
    Dijit, i'm not being racist here. I'm being political here. Russia having a "claim" on the baltic states is a public secret. Russia trying to subvert and destabilize the baltic states is publically known as well. Regarding your EU statements, have you read the offical opinion of the EU on Russia ? It's a THREAT to the European Union, especially regarding the baltic member states. However, the documents also note that Russian maffia connected to the Kremlin also has french mayors on their payroll. Please don't underestimate the geopolitical aspect of this topic. And certainly, don't downplay political arguments as "racism", because that's not what this is about.
    - cpursley 12y ago
      "Russia trying to subvert and destabilize the baltic states is publically known as well." What a crock of bullshit.
      - ptaipale 12y ago
        People in Baltics disagree with that. "Russian President Vladimir Putin was a "real and present danger" to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and NATO was getting ready to repel any aggression, British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said." [0] "Michael Fallon, the British defense secretary, warned that there is a real and present danger that Russian President Vladimir Putin will launch a campaign of undercover attacks to destabilize the Baltic states, in an interview given to the Daily Telegraph. Estonian politicians said that there is a reason to be vigilant, but asked to avoid hysteria." [1] While there is no imminent threat of attack, the Russian antagonism towards Baltic states has been very very evident to everybody since the Bronze Warrior clashes. "According to historian Alexander Daniel, the Bronze Soldier has symbolic value to Estonia's Russians, symbolising not only Soviet victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War, but also their claim to rights in Estonia.[18] Most Estonians considered the Bronze Soldier a symbol of Soviet occupation and repression following World War II.[19]" [2] Seeing how Russian proxies and provocateurs make propaganda, a claim about Russian attempts to destabilize Baltic states is not bullshit at all. [0] http://vm.ee/et/uudised/eesti-valismeedias-19-veebruar-2015-25-veebruar-2015 http://vm.ee/et/uudised/eesti-valismeedias-19-veebruar-2015-... [1] http://news.err.ee/v/International/21492b15-2486-4720-aeb8-89b206357581 http://news.err.ee/v/International/21492b15-2486-4720-aeb8-8... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Soldier_of_Tallinn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Soldier_of_Tallinn
qb 12y ago
You can write to the Estonian Police and Border Guard (teenindus@politsei.ee) and ask for your card to be sent (free of charge) from the police station where you applied to any Estonian embassy. My card was waiting in Tallinn as well since I don't have the time to go there again to collect the card in the next couple of months, so I had it sent to Berlin. Might take two or three weeks for it to arrive.
higherpurpose 12y ago
Step 1: get Estonian e-citizenship by giving them your fingerprint to keep in their centralized database Step 2: NSA, GCHQ, Russia and China steal the whole fingerprint database, which includes your fingerprint Step 3: Now your iPhone/Android phone that uses fingerprint reader is vulnerable to hacking
- retroam 12y ago
  From personal experience, the US has been fingerprinting non-US nationals at the airports for a decade now. So NSA has had such a database for a significant time. However, I still doubt they have figured out to hack the iPhone using said database. But this is just my personal opinion...
  - vinay427 12y ago
    Minor nitpick, but as Canada is not part of the US visa waiver program, Canadian citizens are also exempt from fingerprinting when entering the US.
brownbat 12y ago
> Be prepared to spend two weeks in Tallinn, therefore, I'd recommend everyone visit Tallinn. On a quick walk you can see a medieval castle, renaissance architecture, soviet architecture, and postmodern examples from the sprint west after Baltic independence. It's like a walking through a timeline of European history. I'd strongly advise against January though. :)
cryptophreak 12y ago
> The first thing to know is that you have to physically be there to apply. Not anymore, according to the article.

ProblemFactory 12y ago

From the linked website, it seems that they expanded applications to overseas embassies a few days ago, so visiting in person might no longer be necessary. Out of curiosity, what was your motivation for applying? It seems to me that the only obvious use-case for e-residency is to run a company registered in Estonia while living elsewhere.

octaveguin 12y ago
Yes it seems like it'll be easier now. Exciting really. I bet a lot of people will now take advantage of it. My motivation is eventual real residency. This just makes it easier.
- mb_72 12y ago
  I'm not sure there is any path, now or planned for the future, for moving from e-residency to 'real residency'. Probably you've seen this information, but if not: http://www.investinestonia.com/en/investment-guide/coming-to-estonia http://www.investinestonia.com/en/investment-guide/coming-to...

coretx 12y ago

Congratulations, between now and whenever the Kremlin feels like it, a foreign entity now controls your identity and can create legally binding contracts in your name. Never forget that 70%> of the people living in Talinn are non-estonians, and mostly Russian. And gues what: They hold power over half of their parliament.

dijit 12y ago
Russian is the big bad and is trying to control you! /s Estonia is not Russia, not even close, they're part of the EU and constrained by EU law. Just because people in parliment are of russian descent does not make them pro-russia either. Stop being so racist.
- coretx 12y ago
  Dijit, i'm not being racist here. I'm being political here. Russia having a "claim" on the baltic states is a public secret. Russia trying to subvert and destabilize the baltic states is publically known as well. Regarding your EU statements, have you read the offical opinion of the EU on Russia ? It's a THREAT to the European Union, especially regarding the baltic member states. However, the documents also note that Russian maffia connected to the Kremlin also has french mayors on their payroll. Please don't underestimate the geopolitical aspect of this topic. And certainly, don't downplay political arguments as "racism", because that's not what this is about.
  - cpursley 12y ago
    "Russia trying to subvert and destabilize the baltic states is publically known as well." What a crock of bullshit.
    - ptaipale 12y ago
      People in Baltics disagree with that. "Russian President Vladimir Putin was a "real and present danger" to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and NATO was getting ready to repel any aggression, British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said." [0] "Michael Fallon, the British defense secretary, warned that there is a real and present danger that Russian President Vladimir Putin will launch a campaign of undercover attacks to destabilize the Baltic states, in an interview given to the Daily Telegraph. Estonian politicians said that there is a reason to be vigilant, but asked to avoid hysteria." [1] While there is no imminent threat of attack, the Russian antagonism towards Baltic states has been very very evident to everybody since the Bronze Warrior clashes. "According to historian Alexander Daniel, the Bronze Soldier has symbolic value to Estonia's Russians, symbolising not only Soviet victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War, but also their claim to rights in Estonia.[18] Most Estonians considered the Bronze Soldier a symbol of Soviet occupation and repression following World War II.[19]" [2] Seeing how Russian proxies and provocateurs make propaganda, a claim about Russian attempts to destabilize Baltic states is not bullshit at all. [0] http://vm.ee/et/uudised/eesti-valismeedias-19-veebruar-2015-25-veebruar-2015 http://vm.ee/et/uudised/eesti-valismeedias-19-veebruar-2015-... [1] http://news.err.ee/v/International/21492b15-2486-4720-aeb8-89b206357581 http://news.err.ee/v/International/21492b15-2486-4720-aeb8-8... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Soldier_of_Tallinn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Soldier_of_Tallinn

qb 12y ago

You can write to the Estonian Police and Border Guard (teenindus@politsei.ee) and ask for your card to be sent (free of charge) from the police station where you applied to any Estonian embassy. My card was waiting in Tallinn as well since I don't have the time to go there again to collect the card in the next couple of months, so I had it sent to Berlin. Might take two or three weeks for it to arrive.

higherpurpose 12y ago

Step 1: get Estonian e-citizenship by giving them your fingerprint to keep in their centralized database Step 2: NSA, GCHQ, Russia and China steal the whole fingerprint database, which includes your fingerprint Step 3: Now your iPhone/Android phone that uses fingerprint reader is vulnerable to hacking

retroam 12y ago
From personal experience, the US has been fingerprinting non-US nationals at the airports for a decade now. So NSA has had such a database for a significant time. However, I still doubt they have figured out to hack the iPhone using said database. But this is just my personal opinion...
- vinay427 12y ago
  Minor nitpick, but as Canada is not part of the US visa waiver program, Canadian citizens are also exempt from fingerprinting when entering the US.

brownbat 12y ago

> Be prepared to spend two weeks in Tallinn, therefore, I'd recommend everyone visit Tallinn. On a quick walk you can see a medieval castle, renaissance architecture, soviet architecture, and postmodern examples from the sprint west after Baltic independence. It's like a walking through a timeline of European history. I'd strongly advise against January though. :)

cryptophreak 12y ago

> The first thing to know is that you have to physically be there to apply. Not anymore, according to the article.