e-⁠residents can collect their card at 8 new pickup points

New mobile pickup points mean more options to pick up your e-⁠resident digital identity card

The e-⁠Residency team is always striving to improve the experience of e-⁠residents. From providing informative content, events and webinars, to offering features like the Marketplace and Funding Portal, and improving the renewal process, our team is constantly thinking about how we can make things easier and faster for our community.

Over the years, card collection has been a key area of improvement for us. In the early days, e-⁠residents had to come to Estonia to pick up their cards! Luckily, we quickly fixed this by partnering with the Estonian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and their network of embassies. Thus, since 2015, e-⁠residents have been able to pick up their card at over 40 locations around the world. To extend our pickup point reach even further, we've tested other solutions with varying success, including subcontracting to a third party, scheduling occasional consular missions, and piloting mobile pickup points.

Enabling card collection through mobile pickup points has been one of the more successful initiatives. So, we're running with it!

8 new mobile pickup points for e-⁠residents

We've recently added eight new locations to the list of possible pickup points:

• Barcelona, Spain (coordinated by the Estonian Embassy in Madrid)
• Frankfurt, Germany (coordinated by the Estonian Embassy in Berlin)
• Munich, Germany (coordinated by the Estonian Embassy in Berlin)
• Milan, Italy (coordinated by the Estonian Embassy in Rome)
• Lviv, Ukraine (coordinated by the Estonian Embassy in Kyiv)
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates (coordinated by the Estonian Embassy in Abu Dhabi)
• Edinburgh, United Kingdom (coordinated by the Estonian Embassy in London)
• Zurich, Switzerland (coordinated by the Estonian Embassy in Vienna, Austria)

How do I choose a mobile pickup point to collect my card?

On 27 March 2024, the Police and Border Guard Board added these locations to the e-Residency application and renewal environment. So you can already choose one of these new pickup points when applying for or renewing your e-⁠Residency card.

How does card collection at a mobile pickup point work?

Each new mobile pickup point is coordinated by the nearest Estonian embassy (as indicated in brackets in the list above). If an applicant chooses a mobile pickup point, their card will be delivered to the coordinating Embassy. The Embassy will notify the e-⁠resident via email about the arrival of the card, as well as the timing and exact location of the planned mobile pickup point. The e-⁠resident will also have the option of picking up the card from the Embassy itself before the mission takes place.

How often will mobile pickup points operate?

The missions to new PUPs will take place regularly every two months. Each coordinating Embassy will organise their missions to mobile pickup points independently. This means that the dates will differ between them. People affected will be informed about upcoming missions in a timely manner so they can smoothly schedule their card collection.

Who to contact to ask about the mobile pickup points?

If you have questions about collecting your card from a specific location, contact the embassy coordinating the mobile pickup point:

• Barcelona >> Madrid
• Frankfurt & Munich >> Berlin
• Milan >> Rome
• Lviv >> Kyiv
• Dubai >> Abu Dhabi
• Edinburgh >> London
• Zurich >> Vienna

If you have questions about card collection in general, first read this article on our blog, then the FAQs on our Knowledge Base, or contact our support team.

Can I change my existing pickup point to a new one?

If you already chose a pickup point in your application or renewal, it's possible to change your choice to one of the new mobile pickup points.

If it is within the same country (or coordinated by the Embassy responsible for that mobile pickup point), the change is free of charge. Contact the coordinating Embassy to make the change. In some cases, the Embassy will reach out to you proactively and offer the option of picking up your card at the next planned mission.

If someone wishes to collect their card at a new mobile pickup point in a different country, there is a change fee of €80. Please note that additional time will be needed to re-route your document to the new location. Contact the original pickup point you chose in your application or renewal. For example, if you originally chose to collect your card in Paris but now would like to change it to Frankfurt, inform the Embassy in Paris. You will be asked to pay the change fee, and the card will be sent from Paris to Berlin. The consul in Berlin will bring it to Frankfurt during their mobile pickup point mission for you to collect.

Share your e-⁠Residency pickup experience!

The e-Residency team love to see e-residents from around the world proudly showing off their new e-Residency kits. Please share your pickup experience with the e-Residency community on social media. And don’t forget to tag us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, so we can celebrate your news too!