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Estonia offers digital e-residency

It is hoped 10 million people will sign up by 2025.

By Ed Adamczyk
E-residency in Estonia is available with a fingerprint check and other biometric data, and a $64 fee. (UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch)
E-residency in Estonia is available with a fingerprint check and other biometric data, and a $64 fee. (UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch) | License Photo

TALLINN, Estonia, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Estonia will offer "e-residency," an electronic presence in the country for financial and business transactions without actually being there.

Scheduled to be in place by the end of the year, the program will provide an electronic identification card to anyone, anywhere, willing to pay a fee of 50 euros ($64) to sign documents, open a business and have a financial presence in Estonia -- a country eager to develop a reputation as a leader in technology.

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The program offers an entry point to doing business in the European Union, and offers more flexible rules for entrepreneurship.

Ukrainian website owner Max Ischenko noted, "It's very complicated to do business from Ukraine. For instance, I can't sign up for Paypal Business payments, because it's not available."

E-residency differs from citizenship; Estonian passports or visas will not be available to e-Estonians. Registration required a visit to the country's border police to have identity verified through fingerprints and biometric data. Taavi Kotka, the country's information minister, said Estonian embassies will eventually offer the registration, adding Estonia hopes to have 10 million non-Estonian e-residents registered by 2025. "The Estonian state is going to offer a strong digital identity for foreigners," he said. "The card is an opportunity for people whose country of residence does not offer them a strong digital identity to come and get it from Estonia."

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