Estonian citizen’s Handbook

If an Estonian citizen is living abroad and the nearest Estonian embassy is many kilometres and hours away (sometimes in another country altogether), travelling to an embassy or consulate to get consular services can be tedious, time-consuming and expensive. Even if you live closer to the mission, digital communication with Estonia is much more convenient and cheaper.

In this handbook, you will find tips and tricks to save your time and money, and to make your dealings with the Estonian representation and the Estonian state easier, more convenient and cheaper.

What is described in the manual is intended primarily for use in the United States. Most of the tips described (for example, using your digital identity abroad or ordering documents from various digital self-service platforms) will work in other countries, but for others (such as ordering documents or sending them by post), it is worth discussing the matter with the Estonian Embassy outside the United States before using the advice in the handbook.

Table of contents

What is the easiest and most convenient way to use the digital identity of an Estonian citizen abroad?

What is the easiest way to apply for an Estonian citizen’s passport and ID-card when abroad?

What is the easiest way to enter a civil status event/family event registered abroad in the Estonian register?

Ordering certificates of civil status events/family events registered in Estonia

Registration of residence

What is the easiest and most convenient way to use the digital identity of an Estonian citizen abroad?

The ability to identify oneself digitally and sign digitally has made people’s lives in Estonia easier and more convenient for more than twenty years. Digital transactions also make life easier for Estonian citizens living abroad – for example, they can apply for a new Estonian passport or ID-card, vote in elections, perform notarial acts, order documents and use countless services offered by the private sector without leaving the comfot of their own home.

Estonian citizens can use their digital identity wherever they are, using ID-card, mobile-ID or Smart-ID. The ID-card or identity card is the basis of the digital identity of Estonian people, and for people living in Estonia, the ID-card is a mandatory document. The certificates that make up the digital identity (the identification certificate and the signature certificate) are located on the ID-card chip. In order to use your digital identity with an ID -card, you must have a computer with an internet connection, an ID-card reader connected to it and the necessary software (DigiDoc) installed, in addition to an ID-card with valid certificates and pin codes.

In the case of Mobile-ID, the certificates are on the SIM card issued by the Estonian mobile operator, to get a SIM card with Mobile-ID support you need to contact a mobile operator in Estonia. To use Mobile-ID, you will need a mobile phone and pin codes. Using Mobile-ID abroad is cumbersome as it requires an Estonian mobile number and may incur additional costs (sending text messages to Estonia).

With Smart-ID, the certificates needed to use a digital identity are stored on the user’s smart device. To create a Smart-ID account, you need to install the Smart-ID app on your smart device, and all you need is an internet-connected smart device and pin codes. In today’s smart device-centric world, Smart-ID is the easiest and best way for people abroad to use their digital identity, including when they do not have a suitable ID-card reader or a computer with ID-card software at hand. You cannot yet use Smart-ID to vote in elections, but most other e-services offered by the Estonian state are accessible with Smart-ID.

In order to activate Mobile-ID and Smart-ID, you must have another valid and functioning means of digital identification and signature – an ID-card, Mobile-ID or Smart-ID account.

Mobile-ID and Smart-ID are independent documents and their validity is not linked to the validity period of the ID-card. For more information on the Estonian digital identity and how to use it, please visit the official ID-card website id.ee (where you can also download the necessary software), and for more information on Smart-ID, please visit Smart-ID website.

Example: be like Maie!

Maie is a 67-year-old Estonian retiree who spends most of the year with her children and grandchildren in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Maie’s pension is deposited into an Estonian bank account, from where she transfers it to her American bank account using online banking and Wise. One day, Maie discovers that her ID-card expires in a few days, and because her fingerprints in the Police and Border Guard Board database are more than six years old, she can’t apply for a new ID at the self-service portal. Unfortunately, she will not be able to go to the Estonian embassy to provide new fingerprints anytime soon. Luckily, Maie will be able to register for a Smart-ID account before her ID-card expires, which will allow her to continue to manage her finances in Estonian banks even after her ID-card expires. She will apply for a new ID-card in Estonia, where she will be spending Christmas in a few months.

Did you know that

if for any reason you don’t manage to apply for a new ID-card in time, or if you don’t get to the embassy in time to pick up your new card, you can extend your digital mobility with Smart-ID. Smart-ID is valid for three years and is not linked to the validity of your ID-card;
if you don’t have a card reader that supports your ID-card, you can buy one from an (online) shop selling electronic equipment. The list of card readers tested with the Estonian ID-card on the official ID-card website will help you choose the right card reader. However, if you are still unsuccessful in finding a suitable card reader, ask the Estonian embassy for advice;
if you have forgotten your ID-card pin codes, contact the Estonian embassy or one of the the Police and Border Guard Board service office in Estonia that is convenient for you to get new pin codes. To obtain new codes from the embassy, you need to book an appointment and come to the embassy in person with your ID-card;
to ensure that notifications from the Estonian state (for example, notifications that your document is about to expire) reach you, you should set up your official e-mail address on the state portal eesti.ee: http://www.eesti.ee/postkast/et/seaded

Useful references

The easiest way to apply for an Estonian citizen’s passport and ID-card when abroad

The most convenient, easiest, quickest and cheapest way to apply for the recurrent Estonian citizen’s identity documents (Estonian citizen’s passport and ID-card) is to use a self-service portal of the Police and Border Guard Board, but Estonian citizens living abroad often cannot use the self-service because they do not meet the necessary requirements: the ability to identify themselves digitally and having valid fingerprints in the database. The lack of valid fingerprints is usually the biggest and insurmountable obstacle to using the more convenient application method. This obstacle can be avoided by updating your fingerprints between applications.

Fingerprints for Estonian passports and ID-cards are valid for six years in the database of the Police and Border Guard Board, and you can renew your fingerprints in the database while abroad without having to submit a new application – you just need to book an appointment at the Estonian embassy, bring your valid Estonian document and your fingerprints will be renewed in the Police and Border Guard Board database in a few minutes and completely free of charge. If a person is not sure whether his/her fingerprints are still valid, the validity of the fingerprints in the database can be checked online: the validity of the fingerprints given when applying for documents can be checked on the Police and Border Guard Board website or self-service, while the validity of the fingerprints given at the embassy between applications can only be checked at the Police and Border Guard Board self-service.

Tips:

if an Estonian citizen last provided fingerprints when applying for an ID-card, he/she can apply for the next ID-card at the Police and Border Guard Board self-service with the same fingerprints (ID-card is valid for five years, fingerprints are valid for six years);
if an Estonian citizen last provided fingerprints at the time of applying for a passport, new fingerprints will need to be provided for the next Estonian citizen’s passport (an adult Estonian citizen’s passport is valid for 10 years, while fingerprints are valid for 6 years). The applicant can renew his/her fingerprints at any Estonian embassy at a time convenient to the applicant, but should not do so more than six years before he/she plans to apply for a new Estonian document. Often Estonian embassies also offer the possibility to renew fingerprints at various events outside the embassy (e.g. temporary consular missions).

In order to identify yourself digitally at the Police and Border Guard Board self-service, you need an ID-card with valid certificates, pin codes and a card reader or a valid Smart- ID with pin codes. If the person uses a SIM card with mobile-ID capability from an Estonian mobile operator, mobile-ID can also be used to access the self-service. If the fingerprints are valid but there is no digital identification capability at the moment, the documents can be applied for by post directly from the Police and Border Guard Board. You can read more about the most convenient way to use the digital identity of an Estonian citizen abroad here.

Example. Be like Ants!

Ants, who lives in Florida, applied for an Estonian passport and ID-card at the Estonian Embassy in Washington DC on 3 November 2022. When applying, he also provided his fingerprints, which are valid until 3 November 2028. Before the ID-card issued to Ants at the beginning of December 2022 expires in 2027, he will submit a new application for the card at the Police and Border Guard Board self-service using the fingerprints he provided in 2022 and which are still valid at the time of application.

By the time Ants needs to apply for a new passport, however, the fingerprints provided in New York in 2022 would already be invalid, and Ants is trying to find a way to renew his fingerprints between applications. In the summer of 2028, while Ants is on holiday in England, he will also visit the Estonian Embassy in London to have his fingerprints renewed. When he applies for a new passport and ID-card in 2032, he will be able to do so conveniently via the Police and Border Guard Board self-service, as the fingerprints provided in London in 2028 will be valid until 2034.

Mari näidet ei tõlgi, kuna seal on NY konsulaat sees.

Did you know that

if you have the possibility to identify yourself digitally and your fingerprints are valid in the Police and Border Guard Board database, you can apply for new documents online at the Police and Border Guard Board self-service. Self-service is the fastest, most convenient and most affordable way to apply for documents, and the only way better way to do it would be doing it by the power if thought;
if your fingerprints are valid but you cannot identify yourself digitally, you can also apply for documents by mail, by sending the application directly to the Police and Border Guard Board (the application with the necessary supporting documents should be sent to the address Police and Border Guard Board, Pärnu mnt 139, Tallinn 15060, Estonia);
children under 12 years of age do not need to provide fingerprints, so for them the lack of fingerprints is not an obstacle to using the self- service, it is enough if the parent submitting the application can identify him/herself digitally. It is also possible to apply for an initial document for a child via the Police and Border Guard Board self-service, but only if the child is already registered in the Estonian Population Register. You can read about the registration of a child born abroad in the Estonian Population Register here;
Persons aged 70 or over do not have to provide fingerprints when applying for an ID- card, so they can apply for an ID-card at the self-service or by post even if they do not have valid fingerprints in the Police and Border Guard Board database;
Estonian embassies do not process Estonian passport and ID-card applications, the Police and Border Guard Board of Estonia handles the applications. If you have applied for a passport or an ID-card at an Estonian embassy, self-service or by post and you want to know how far the procedure is, please use the enquiry form on the Police and Border Guard Board website or contact them directly.

Useful references

The easiest way to register a family event registered abroad in the Estonian register

All family events involving Estonian citizens abroad, such as births, marriages, divorces, name changes or deaths, should be entered in the Estonian register in due time. Timely entry of a family event in the Estonian Population Register is of particular benefit to the parties concerned – if the details of the family event abroad are available in the Estonian register, subsequent administration in Estonia will be much easier and quicker. For example, it will be much easier to apply for the initial identity documents of an Estonian citizen for a newborn child, to apply for new documents after chaning the surname or to initiate inheritance proceedings.

In order to register a family event in the US in the Estonian register, you must submit a document – birth, marriage or death certificate or divorce decree – to the Estonian Embassy or the civil status office in Estonia. The certificate, attestation or judgment issued in the United States must first be authenticated with an apostille. In the US, the apostille is affixed by the states, in most states by the Secretary of State, and the documents issued by the court are authenticated by the court. A family event certificate issued in English in the USA does not need to be translated for use in Estonia.

When abroad, the quickest and easiest way to register a family event in Estonia is to apply to the Estonian Embassy, in the USA you must apply to the Estonian Embassy in Washington. It is possible to submit the documents to the embassy in person or by mail. In either case, you must present to the embassy an apostilled certificate, testimony, or court order attesting to the family event, a free-form statement in your own handwriting expressing your wish to have the family event entered in the Estonian register, and a copy of the passport of the alien (spouse or other parent). If the documents are sent to the embassy by post, a copy of the passport of the Estonian citizen who signed the application must also be enclosed. The original of the document confirming the family record will be returned to the applicant after the data have been entered in the Estonian register.

If the marriage certificate issued in the USA does not specifically mention the spouses’ married names, the Estonian citizen can still take the spouse’s surname if he or she wishes, in accordance with the rules in force in that particular state. It is easier to take a new name if the Estonian citizen who is changing his or her name has not applied for Estonian identity documents with his or her pre-premarital name after the marriage – in this case, the request to change the name must simply be included in the application to the embassy. It is important to clearly indicate in the application which part of the new name is the first name, which part is the middle name and which part is the surname. If the citizen has already been issued a document in the US with the new name (driver’s license, US passport, other document), a copy of this document should be attached. A name change is much more complicated if the person has already applied for Estonian documents with the old name after marriage – in this case, a separate name change procedure must be followed to obtain a new name.

Births or marriages registered abroad can also be entered in the Estonian register when applying for a passport or an ID-card. In this case, the document certifying the family event with an apostille is attached to the new passport or an ID-card application, and the details are entered in the register during the new document application procedure. As the family event documents must be submitted on paper, the application for a new document cannot be submitted at the Police and Border Guard Board self-service facility using this method, but must be submitted by post or in person. The original documents submitted in this way will be returned to the person together with their new passport or ID-card.

Example: be like Helen!

Helen, who lives in Nebraska, had a daughter in February 2025. Immediately after the birth of her child, she had the birth certificate apostilled by the State of Nebraska and sent the necessary documents by mail to the embassy in Washington, DC. The embassy entered the child’s birth in the Estonian Population Register, and Helen immediately applied for her daughter’s initial Estonian citizen’s passport at the self-service portal of the Police and Border Guard Board. Thanks to some smart planning, Helen received her daughter’s Estonian passport less than two months after her daughter’s birth.

Did you know that

if a family event registered abroad is also entered in the the Estonian Population Register, the entry in the register will be sufficient to prove the event to the Estonian authorities, and you will no longer have to submit documents to the Estonian authorities separately;
an initial passport for a child or a passport with a new (post-nuptial) name can be applied for at the Police and Border Guard Board self-service as soon as the entry has been made in the Population Register;
no state fee is charged for the entry of a family event registered abroad in the Estonian register; the data are entered in the population register free of charge;
if your next of kin with an Estonian citizenship has died in the USA and you have no way of obtaining a death certificate that meets all the requirements, contact the Estonian Embassy or a civil registry office in Estonia for advice;
if you need to have a family event that was registered in another country entered in the Estonian register, contact the Estonian Embassy or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia for advice on the requirements for authentication.

Ordering family event certificates registered in Estonia

Estonian citizens often need to prove abroad that a family event registered in Estonia has occurred; in most cases, they need documents relating to births or marriages registered in Estonia, and less often to other family status events such as death or divorce. This chapter describes the easiest and quickest way to order documents relating to civil status (or, more simply, family events) registered in Estonia while abroad.

In Estonia, family events are registered in the Population Register and, in addition to events that have occured in Estonia, the events that have occured and have been registered abroad can also be entered in the Population Register (for more details, click here). It is possible to order documents (certificates, extracts) from the Population Register both for family events in Estonia and abroad.

If a family event has taken place in Estonia, you can order a separate certificate (birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate, etc.) or an extract from the Population Register containing information about the event. An extract differs from a certificate in that, while a certificate refers to a single event, the extract can contain information on different events. It can also include other information about the person recorded in the register (place of residence, contact details, etc.). The only cases where a certificate cannot be ordered for a family event in Estonia is if the marriage has been dissolved by a court – in this case, the certificate is replaced by a certified and translated transcript of the court decision, but the person can order a Population Register extract which contains information on the marriage and divorce.

It is not possible to issue a certificate for a family event that took place abroad and is entered in the Estonian register, but it is possible to order an extract from the Population Register containing details of such events.

The easiest way to order certificates of family events and extracts from the Population Register without leaving the comfort of your own home is to order them directly from the e-population register. All you need to do to order a certificate or extract is to log in to the e-population register (you can use an ID-card, mobile-ID or Smart-ID), select certificates and extracts from the menu and follow the instructions. In the case of a population register extract, you can choose which data you want to see on it. The certificate of a family event is available in Estonian, English, German or French (except for the certificate of a name change, which can only be in Estonian), while the population register extract can be in Estonian or English. The certificate or extract ordered from the e-register can be issued by the embassy as soon as you have submitted the application in the e-register and paid the state fee (the state fee can be paid in the e-register either by bank transfer from a bank account in Estonia or by credit card). If you are in a hurry to receive your certificate or extract, we recommend that you inform the embassy by e-mail of the order you have made.

If you do not have the option to identify yourself digitally, you can also order family event certificates and extracts by contacting the embassy directly. In the USA, certificates and extracts are issued by the Estonian Embassy in Washington. The application can be submitted in person at the office, or you can order an application by mail. When ordering a certificate or extract by mail, you must send the embassy a form application (the application form can be found on the embassy’s website) and a copy of the ordering person’s identity document, as well as a document proving payment of the state fee or a cheque.

You can also order a certificate of a family event from a civil registry office in Estonia, but these documents must also be authenticated with an Apostille for use in the US. Be sure to order a certificate or extract from a civil status office in Estonia if you want to use the certificate in a country other than the United States, because certificates issued by the Estonian Embassy in the United States are only valid in the United States.

Example: be like Mari and Mihkel!

Mari and Mihkel live with their two minor children in Florida. In order to apply for a US green card, they have to provide the US authorities with birth certificates for themselves and their children, as well as a marriage certificate for Mari and Mihkel. Mari and Mihkel will place their orders for the certificates directly in the e-register without leaving the comfort of their own home, will add their wish to receive the certificates by mail to their order, and will further notify the Embassy in Washington D.C. of their e-register orders by e-mail. As a result of the clever use of the e-service, the requested documents will arrive in their mailboxes less than a week after the order is placed.

Did you know that

As a rule, a certificate or extract issued by the Estonian embassy can only be used in the country where the embassy is located. If you need a certificate or extract for use in another country, please consult the specific embassy or the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs before ordering a certificate;
Certificates issued in English by Estonian diplomatic missions located in the USA do not need to be endorsed or translated for use in the USA;
Although it is also possible to order a digitally signed certificate via e-mail when ordering a certificate or statement, a paper certificate must be ordered for use abroad;
For use in the US, an English-language Estonian certificate should be ordered; other types of certificates (multilingual standard form, CIEC certificate) cannot generally be used in the US;
you can order certificates and extracts for yourself, your minor child and for an individual under your guardianship from the e-register. In certain cases, it is also possible to order a certificate or extract from the embassy for other persons, but such certificates cannot be ordered through the e-register. Before ordering a certificate or extract for another person, it is important to consult the specific embassy;

There is no need to submit a certificate of a civil status event entered in the Estonian register to the Estonian authorities; the Estonian authorities can obtain the necessary information themselves from the Population Register.

Useful references

Residence registration

In addition to other information, the Estonian Population Register also records the residential address of an Estonian citizen. The residential address in the Population Register can be either Estonian or foreign, and the information is entered in the register either by the local government in Estonia or by the Estonian Embassy on the basis of the person’s application (residence notification).

In many cases, the residence data in the Population Register also have legal significance. For example, it is almost always assumed in official business that notifications sent to a person’s residential address in the population register will reach him or her, and failure to receive a notification sent to a residential address cannot be excused by the fact that the person does not actually live at that address. In addition, the information recorded in the population register is also relevant for the collection of taxes, the provision of local government services and participation in elections. For example, a person cannot vote in an election if his or her place of residence is not recorded in the population register at all, or if there is no record of his or her or his or her ancestors’ last place of residence in Estonia (it is not possible to determine a constituency).

It is in the interests of the person concerned to have correct information on their place of residence in the population register, even if they live abroad. Knowing how many Estonian citizens live in a country or region helps the state to keep in touch with Estonian citizens much better and to better plan the services offered by embassies or the state in general to Estonian citizens living abroad.

The easiest way to register or change your address is to use the e-population register – just log in to the e-register (ID-card, mobile-ID or Smart-ID can be used for identification), select Register residence from the menu and follow the instructions on the website. If an Estonian citizen is unable to identify themselves digitally, they can also register their foreign address as their place of residence through Estonian embassies. To register your residence, you must fill in an application (the application form can be found on the website of the Embassy in Washington DC) and bring it to the Embassy in person or send it by post (if you send it by post, you must also include a copy of your Estonian passport or ID-card). Do not forget to fill in the ninth point of the application form, where you should write down your or your ancestors’ last Estonian address with the accuracy of the local municipality (in Tallinn with the accuracy of the district, in Tartu with the accuracy of the city), as this information will determine the constituency where Estonian citizens living abroad can vote in the Riigikogu elections.

While the owner of a residence in Estonia has to give his/her consent to the registration of a residence in Estonia, there is no such requirement when registering a residence abroad. As a rule, a person’s previous residential address is deleted from the register only when the details of the new residence are entered in the register; exceptionally, an Estonian address can be deleted from the population register (in which case the person remains in the register without a residence) on the basis of an application by the owner of the dwelling (for example, at the request of the owner of a rented apartment if the tenancy has ended).

Example: don’t be like Aksel!

Prior to moving to Kansas in 2019, Aksel lived in a rental apartment in Tallinn, the address of which was also registered as his place of residence. After moving to the US, Aksel did not register his address in the population register as his US address, and because the owner of the rental apartment had the address of the rental apartment deleted from Aksel’s records at the end of the lease, Aksel was left with no address at all. On the last day of the electronic voting for the 2023 Riigikogu elections, Aksel wanted to cast his vote, but since he did not have a residential address in the population register, he was unable to correct his residential data in the register before the end of the electronic voting period, and the voting at the representation office was already over, Aksel was unable to vote in the Riigikogu elections due to incorrect residential data.

Did you know that

the address of the place of residence entered in the population register does not give the right to use the named place as his/her place of residence if there no such right provided by law;
when registering a child born abroad, the address of the child’s place of residence shall be the country of birth, but parents may, within three months of the child’s birth, apply to the local authority in Estonia for the child’s place of residence to be registered retroactively from the child’s birth;
a person applying for an Estonian citizen’s initial passport or ID-card in a foreign country will have his/her place of residence stated as the country where he/she is applying. The exact address of residence must be provided by the citizen either in the e-population register or at the Estonian Embassy after he/she has received his/her initial documents;

the application for registration of residence in Estonia can be submitted either electronically via the e-population register or by contacting the local authorities in Estonia, while it is not possible to register residence in Estonia via an embassy;
the obligation to ensure that the address of residence of an Estonian citizen and his/her minor child in the Population Register is correct (the data correspond to his/her actual place of residence) is established by the Population Register Act;
if you are staying abroad temporarily, you should register your temporary stay abroad instead of registering your residence .

Useful references