The Estonian identity card (Estonian: ID-kaart) is a mandatory identity document for citizens of Estonia. In addition to regular identification of a person, an ID-card can also be used for establishing one’s identity in electronic environment and for giving one’s digital signature. Within Europe (except Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and United Kingdom)^[2][1] as well as French overseas territories and Georgia, the Estonian ID Card can be used by the citizens of Estonia as a travel document.

The mandatory identity document of a citizen of the European Union is also an identity card, also known as an ID card. The Estonian ID Card can be used to cross the Estonian border, however Estonian authorities cannot guarantee that other EU member states will accept the card as a travel document.^[3]

In addition to regular identification of a person, an ID-card can also be used for establishing one’s identity in electronic environment and for giving one’s digital signature. With the Estonian ID-card the citizen will receive a personal @eesti.ee e-mail address, which is used by the state to send important information. In order to use the @eesti.ee e-mail address, the citizen has to forward it to his or her personal e-mail address, using the State Portal eesti.ee.

• Characteristics: Laser engraving for personal data on the driving licence (including photo and signature), digital photo (black and white) and safety background of digital signature, positive and negative microtext, pink-violet-pink IRIS combined with verification colour, hidden image (LFI – Latent Filtered Image), shadow image with microprint (map of Estonia), visible and invisible multi-coloured fluorescent print, optically variable ink (OVI) – changing between golden and green colour (on the back of the driving licence).  

The Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) on 25 September 2018 introduced the newest version of Estonia’s ID card, featuring additional security elements and a contactless interface, which will begin to be rolled out no later than next year. The new cards also utilize Estonia’s own font and elements of its brand. One new detail is the inclusion of a QR code, which will make it easier to check the validity of the ID card. The new design also features a color photo of its bearer, which doubles as a security element and is made up of lines; looking at the card at an angle, another photo appears. The new chip has a higher capacity, allowing the addition of new applications to it.

The reverse is also the case, meaning drivers’ licenses from these 39 countries will soon also be recognized in Estonia, Baltic News Service reports, though an international drivers’ license on the basis of two long-running international agreements should generally be applied for.

The development follows the government’s decision to join the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, and means an Estonian license is valid without needing to take any additional test. It also in effects means the vast majority of nations worldwide now recognized Estonian drivers’ licenses, and vice versa, though applying for an international drivers’ license is usually required.

The full list of the 39 new countries which will now recognize Estonian driving licenses is: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, the Republic of Congo, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Fiji, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Jordan, Laos, Lesotho, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, the United States.

The license will also be recognized in Hong Kong and Macau, BNS reports.

Estonia itself recognizes drivers’ licenses: