Calling this e-Residency is a mistake. It's confusing enough that a commenter here was unsure if they were eligible because their country does not allow dual citizenship.
It's a government identity you can apply for and use online that allows you to register companies, among other things- right?
As an electronic resident of Estonia what are you entitled to that you can't do in Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, etc? The only difference I can see is that in those places you likely need to visit the country to setup the company. Those countries certainly wouldn't call that process airplane-Residency.
Electronic mail is mail that you send electronically. Here, e-Residency is not residency in any definition of the word, even the ephemeral kind. An e-Residency does not afford the bearer any entitlements not offered to a non-bearer, save for not requiring a flight to Estonia.
That said, I appreciate the innovation in an online government ID card for foreigners. The name is a mistake. More accurate would be to call it e-Airplane.
As I haven't read everything about this, I'm willing to admit there's a chance I'm wrong.
Residency in the usual sense isn't the same thing as citizenship -- lots of people are citizens of one country and residents of another.
And while the initial set of benefits don't seem a lot like residency (except insofar as being eligible for a digital ID of this type -- in countries that offer them -- is, itself, typically something that requires citizenship or residency, so in a sense calling the program that provides access to it to non-citizen non-physical-residents "e-residency" may be reasonable on that basis alone), its overtly an initial "beta" set with planned expansion.
I'm aware of the difference between residency and citizenship, that's not the issue. I deny what they are offering is typically something requiring residency. Anecdotally- I don't have residency (or citizenship to be clear) in Singapore but have government ID there I use for their services.
If they plan to expand the program to allow things typically afforded to residents of a country then that would be something. I doubt it however.
It's a government identity you can apply for and use online that allows you to register companies, among other things- right?
As an electronic resident of Estonia what are you entitled to that you can't do in Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, etc? The only difference I can see is that in those places you likely need to visit the country to setup the company. Those countries certainly wouldn't call that process airplane-Residency.
Electronic mail is mail that you send electronically. Here, e-Residency is not residency in any definition of the word, even the ephemeral kind. An e-Residency does not afford the bearer any entitlements not offered to a non-bearer, save for not requiring a flight to Estonia.
That said, I appreciate the innovation in an online government ID card for foreigners. The name is a mistake. More accurate would be to call it e-Airplane.
As I haven't read everything about this, I'm willing to admit there's a chance I'm wrong.