If you have received your Estonian e-resident card by now, you would know that it comes in a kit with your physical e-resident ID card and a card reader. In Estonia, people also use this type of card reader to be able to connect their cards to their desktop computers and sign documents online. However, it is not always practical to carry around such hardware and our clients experience various issues such as browser compatibility or missing DigiDoc extensions before they can use their e-resident cards for online signing.
Unicount recommends the Smart-ID app to avoid any software or hardware-related issues that our clients often experience. Therefore, we have prepared this step-by-step guide on how to register a Smart-ID with an Estonian e-resident card.
Step 1
The first thing to do is to download the Smart-ID application to your smartphone or tablet to start the registration. The iOS and Android app can be found on this link: https://www.smart-id.com/download/
Step 2
As it is your first time registering a Smart-ID for your Estonian personal identification code, continue with the option “Register new Smart-ID”.
Step 3
In the next step, you will be asked what is your country of residence. Estonia is the correct choice as your e-resident card and personal identity code is issued by the Estonian government. Smart-ID also operates in Latvia and Lithuania but the account you need is Estonian.
Step 4
Continue with selecting the “ID Card” option for the first-time Smart-ID registration.
Step 5
At this point, it would be asked of you to continue registration via computer. The reason for that is you need to use your eID card and card reader for authentication to register a Smart-ID account connected to your electronic identity.
You should continue with the option “Register an account” and connect your eID card to your computer via a card reader.
If you get the following error message during authentication, it means that there may be a problem with either your card reader not getting connected with your card or the browser extension for DigiDoc. Make sure your computer and browser support your ID card.
You would see the following box to select your eID with your name to authenticate your ID for Smart-ID. Select your name and click “OK”.
Step 6
After the authentication of your ID via PIN1 code, your personal information will appear on the following application confirmation page. After making sure your information is correct, continue with the green “Sign application” button.
You will see the following page with certificate selection with your name as you have connected your e-resident card with the card reader. Select your name and continue to sign with the PIN2 code of your e-resident card.
After entering your PIN2, the registration process continues with the phone application.
Agree to the terms and conditions to register your Smart-ID app on your device.
Step 8
After agreeing to terms and conditions, it is time to set up PIN1 and PIN2 codes to use for Smart-ID logins.
These new PIN codes do not need to be the same as the PIN codes used for the e-resident card.
Step 9
When the PIN1 and PIN2 codes are set for Smart-ID, you can confirm your name, national ID number, and device model information to get to the last stage.
Step 10
Now your Smart-ID is almost ready for use. The last step is to activate your account by logging in by using the PIN codes you just created for your Smart-ID and confirming Smart-ID account details one last time.
And that’s it! You have set up your Smart-ID successfully and it is ready for use! You can use it for registering a company and managing your virtual office subscription through Client Dashboard.
