Last year, the Ministry of the interior, the Police and Border Guard Board and BLS International Services Limited signed an agreement to increase the accessibility of the e-Residency programme in different parts of the world.

Digital IDs can currently be picked up at 50 issue points across the world and there are plans to expand to another 15 destinations.

Ruth Annus, head of the Citizenship and Migration Policy Department of the Ministry of the Interior, said the e-Residency programme has a positive effect on both Estonia's economy and image as an innovative e-state.

"The companies established by e-residents enrich the business landscape, bring significant revenue to the state treasury and create jobs for Estonian people. The international renown gained thanks to the programme also brings foreign investments and facilitates the export of the e-services of Estonian companies," she said.

Managing Director of e-Residency Lauri Haav said: "Sao Paulo, Bangkok, Singapore and Johannesburg are important hubs for modern-minded world travellers or digital nomads of whom there are about 5 to 10 million in the world. We are happy to be able to offer them superb tools for remotely managing companies by way of e-Residency."

E-Residency offers the citizens of foreign countries secure access to Estonia's e-services. The holder of an e-Residency digital ID card can digitally sign documents and log into all the portals and information systems that recognise the Estonian ID card. An e-Residency digital ID is not a physical personal identification document or a travel document and it does not carry a photo. E-Residency does not grant citizenship, tax residency, residence permit or permission of entry to Estonia or the European Union.

Estonia currently has over 80,000 e-residents who have established more than 16,500 Estonian companies. The majority of companies have been set up by German, Russian and Ukrainian citizens.   

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!