Estonia’s digital residency program reaches Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Estonia, known as the world’s most digitalized country, will now facilitate the opening of companies by Brazilians through a public program called e-Residency.

Applications can be made in the city of São Paulo. In the past, Brazilians were required to travel to New York, Madrid, or Lisbon to apply for digital residency in Estonia. The e-Residency is a digital identity that proves one’s authenticity in digital transactions and facilitates business with European countries.

The 1.3 million-inhabitants nation has had the stimulus program for startups and innovation since 2014. It was created to promote values such as empowerment, inclusion, transparency, and security.

Estonia, whose public services are 99% online, was one of the first countries to create a global digital identity program, which helped make it the country with the highest number of unicorns (companies worth over US$1 billion) per capita in Europe.

Applying for e-Residency is similar to applying for a visa, and the process takes up to 6 months. After this, opening a company in the country can begin the next day and all business management can be conducted through the internet.

Currently, 725 Brazilians have Estonian digital residency and 122 have companies in the country.

Since the program’s inception, 16,000 companies have been created and Estonia currently has 80,000 digital residents.

Bangkok, Singapore, and Johannesburg will also have the application collection process simplified, in addition to São Paulo.

The Estonian government has partnered with India-based company BLS International to issue digital residency cards in the new cities.

In São Paulo, the application collection point will be at: Ed. São Luis, 112, Cj. 404, São Paulo/SP, 01046-001.

“While the global pandemic has limited our ability to travel, work, and do business across borders, it has also hastened digital transformation among governments, businesses, and freelancers. As more people choose to live and work without being tied to a single place, there is a growing need for a location-free digital toolbox to support them. As the world’s first digitally transformed state, Estonia is pleased to welcome even more freelancers, entrepreneurs, business owners and self-employed people from around the world to join our e-Residency program,” Kersti Kaljulaid, Estonia’s president, said in a statement.