Estonia's E-Residency Program Is Growing Three Times Faster than Predicted

The small EU country of Estonia is experiencing a boom in e-immigration, with an online residency program launched in December growing more quickly than anticipated.

The digital residency program is the first of its kind, supposedly allowing e-citizens to more easily launch businesses in Estonia, which has a quickly growing tech scene. People from more than 118 countries have filled out more than 6,000 e-residency applications since it launched late last year, exceeding the country's original 2015 goal by threefold.

The country, whose IRL population is around 1.3 million, previously described the e-residency as "a state-issued secure digital identity for non-residents that allows digital authentication and the digital signing of documents," making business transactions easier for non-citizens who do business there.

As Estonia's e-citizens multiply, it is increasing security and privacy services for e-residents and working to ease banking laws, according to a newsletter sent out Thursday. It hosted a hackathon in September where participants developed tools including a social network for e-citizens and an automated visa application service.

Currently, Estonia laws still require e-residents to have a "face-to-face" meeting with a bank official to open account, but the country announced a video chat will replace the face-to-face meeting by autumn 2016, making it easier for entrepreneurs using the e-residency to facilitate cross-border business.

Estonia said it has had several well-known names virtually join the country, including the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe, former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki, and Swedbank President and CEO Michael Wolf.

The country's e-residency is currently still in beta phase, but it's clear the idea of making a country's services available outside its physical boundaries is gaining steam.