Registering a Business Globally with Estonia’s E-residency

I’ve lived in three countries in my life, and I travel on a regular basis. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that we should have global open borders, but there are ways that the life of the new breed of global entrepreneurs could be easier.

One of those is registering a business. Registering a business outside of your country of residence has historically been reserved for those who have big businesses or those up to no good (or both). I would guess that many of you reading this live in one country, have perhaps lived in (or have strong connections to) another, and work for clients in others—paid in a variety of currencies.

A Game Changer from Estonia

Enter Estonia’s e-Residency program, an intriguing idea with big aims.

e-Residency offers to every world citizen a government-issued digital identity and the opportunity to run a trusted company online, unleashing the world’s entrepreneurial potential.

I think it’s a fantastic concept, and I love that many smaller countries around the world have decided to try these sorts of ideas. They have nothing to lose, so are trying ideas that larger or older countries either wouldn’t or couldn’t ever try.

One of the main advantages of Estonia’s program is that Estonia is an EU member, which opens your business to the EU trading zone and gives you access to bank accounts and financial tools (e.g. PayPal) in Euros—a globally recognized currency.

I’m a British citizen, but lived in Australia for seven years (where my business is currently registered), and I’ve been living in Germany for the past year. Much of my contract and freelance work is undertaken with clients outside of Germany, and I remain uncertain what my best approach is.

To me, and many like me, Estonia’s e-Residency program seems a dream come true, and I was keen to give it a try. I was aware of the program already, and then met some of its representatives at an event in Finland who encouraged me to sign up on the spot. I wanted to research more first (and write this article), but the fact it was even possible was amazing.

This Is Not Citizenship

As an e-Resident of Estonia, your rights are purely for business. So for anyone looking for a loophole to EU citizenship, this isn’t it. You get no extra rights to entry that you’re not entitled to already.

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by Chris Ward via SitePoint