No Valid e-Residency Card? Your Estonian Annual Report Can Still Be Filed

Every reporting season, e-residents ask us the same question: “My e-Residency card no longer works, so how do I file the annual report?” It is a fair concern, since almost everything in Estonia’s e-services runs on a digital signature. Yet a missing card is a practical problem, not a legal one, and there is a well-established way round it.

When you cannot sign with your e-Residency card

• The card has expired. Its certificates stop working, and a replacement e-Residency card takes time to be issued and collected, sometimes longer than you have before the deadline.
• The card is lost, stolen or blocked. Once its certificates are suspended, you can no longer sign with it.
• You never had one. For example, your company was set up without e-Residency, and you have no Estonian digital ID at all.

Annual report without an e-Residency card: what changes

Normally, the board member logs in to the e-Business Register with their card, grants the accountant access to the company’s report and, once the report is ready, signs it digitally. Without a working card, neither step is possible: you cannot give anyone access, and you cannot sign online.

That is not a dead end. Our accountant simply prepares the annual report outside the portal, as a PDF drawn up in line with Estonian accounting standards. Once you have signed it, we take care of the filing. In other words, “no card” does not mean “no report”; the report just reaches the register by a different route.

How the report is filed through a notary

When a report cannot be signed and submitted electronically, the register itself refers companies to an Estonian notary, who files the report on the company’s behalf. Depending on where you are and what the notary accepts, there are three ways to sign:

• At a notary’s office. The board member signs the report in person, and the notary sends it to the register.
• Through a power of attorney. The board member authorises us to handle the filing at the notary’s office, so there is no need to travel to Estonia.
• On paper, by post. The board member signs the printed report by hand and posts it to us. We then pass it to a notary who accepts hand-signed reports. This is often the simplest option.

You do not have to work out which option suits you best: we will recommend one based on your situation.

Step by step: from PDF to filed report

1. You let us know that your card cannot be used and send us your accounting documents.
2. Our accountant prepares the annual report as a PDF.
3. You take just one action: sign at a notary’s office, give us a power of attorney, or sign the report on paper and post it to us.
4. We arrange the filing with the notary and let you know as soon as the report is on the register.

The annual report deadline is the same with or without a working card, and documents sent by post take time to arrive. The sooner you get in touch, the less of a rush it will be.

Card expired? We arrange the notary filing for you

Whatever has happened to your card, your annual report will be filed. We prepare the report, deal with the notary and confirm the result; you only need to sign. See what our annual report service includes, or send us a short message describing your situation.

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