Why I Became Estonian After Brexit.

I know Brexit happened last year and it’s considered old news now but this post had been in cold storage for that long. Yes, I’ve been peeved for that long!

To begin the story, I had been toying for a while with Estonian e-residency ever since I came across it but it wasn’t until the Brexit that this made it crystal clear for me.

In the lead up to the Brexit, I was dismissive. I thought “Surely people are not that dumb. Surely they would not fall for the lies the ‘Leave campaign’ were spreading and fanning. Surely common sense will prevail.’

BAM.

My world turned upside down.

First thing I did after I learnt about the Brexit was submit my application for an Estonian e-residency. Looking back I think it was a knee-jerk reaction as emotional as the ‘leave’ vote but I have never regretted it because as a business I needed certainty. Brexit was not certainty. As an individual, I love the EU. Good or bad, it’s something that I believe in wholeheartedly. And frankly, I do everything online now, this was just a logical step.

Self preservation

I became Estonian for self-preservation. I do business in the UK and I’m not sure how it will go when Brexit is final and complete. I needed my own exit plan and Estonia e-residency gives me that option.

Re-affirming MY commitment to the EU

As a young 4th year law student, I took an elective class in the laws of the EU; ironically, it was taught by a British man. For a whole semester I learnt the ins and outs and if one can fall in love with a supranational organisation then that’s me. Call me a bleeding heart hippy or what have you but I believe in the EU and I felt that I needed to do something to re-affirm my commitment to the EU and taking this step to being an e-resident seemed like a great one.

Fun fact, when I went to the Estonian embassy to pick up my card I went to the EU Parliament Visitor Centre ‘Parlimentarium’ and did a tour. Learning about it and being in the centre of it are two different things. I massively geeked out at the visitor centre and I’m not afraid to admit it.

The allure of Estonia

What do we really know about Estonia? As an Australian, we only know Estonia as a country that participates in Eurovision and with a sketchy track record at that. But aside from that what Eastern European history do we learn? Nothing. We may encounter it in the context of the Cold War and the USSR but basically my knowledge of Estonia is zilch.

So when this little Baltic country announced the e-residency program only after 20 something years of the fall of the Iron Curtain when it took Sydney over 10 years to even introduce a smart card transport system, I sat up and paid attention.

Estonia was no longer just that country that couldn’t make the final round of the Eurovision Song contest; it piqued my interest. How could such a small country have such a forward thinking government. Forward thinking and fast moving! I needed to see this for myself.

Online convenience

I do everything online and if I could do more things online I would most certainly jump at that chance. Of course there are things like customer service that you want to have a human for but things that are purely transactional, I don’t see why I have to physically go anywhere, line up and get it done by another human.

Post office identity check

I love receiving snail mail. But I hate going to the post office.

When we have to prove our identity in Australia, we still have to go to the post office with our IDs. Not only that, we have to go with bills or letters addressed to us by various companies or government agencies to prove that we are who we are.

With e-residency, I have my ID card, I have my reader, I have my certificate signing software and 1 pin code to identify myself. I have another to approve an action. SIMPLE.

Also, as much as I love receiving snail mail, I don’t really need to send any and I love that I can send through contracts or documents via email that are legally signed and then encrypted.

Why do I even need post offices anymore?

AUSGOV

If you’re a business that operates in Australia or a citizen you would have encountered AUSGOV. The Australian government’s attempt at ‘going online’ with their services. What a sucky implementation of an idea that Estonia has seemingly perfected.

I have so many frustrations with AUSGOV that despite being a very online person, I would rather go physically into a service centre and fill out the paper forms. That’s how bad it is.

Online banking

I haven’t stepped into a bank in years. I use online banking and payment apps as frequently as I would eat breakfast. E-residency is now presenting me an opportunity to do business banking that way as well. Why wouldn’t I?

Physical office location

Unfortunately when you register a business you still have to state where it’s located and a lot of jurisdictions will not accept your company formation without a physical office location. And by physical office location I mean you have to show a lease for a premises that is under your name or your company’s name.

I use coworking spaces for meetings and a virtual address to forward mail. I don’t have a physical office location and certainly not a lease for a premises. I don’t want to be tied to one physical place if everything else I do is online.

Independence

In short, Estonia’s e-residency makes sense in my pursuit of location independence. At the risk of sounding too hype-y with buzz words such as digital nomad, perpetual traveller, remote worker etc I’m after independence.

I don’t want to be tied down to anything unless I want to be. That’s why I’ve gotten rid of snail mail, I don’t have a phsyical office location, I don’t need a bank manager — I don’t even have a landline and use Skype for my calls and meetings.

Estonia’s e-Residency program is not without it’s teething problems but right now, it makes sense. Especially in the face of the uncertain clusterf*ck that is the Brexit.