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A third of preliminary applicants who registered at e-estonia.com were from US, with most others coming from Finland and Canada, reports Baltic Business News.

The project that is pioneered by Taavi Kotka, deputy general secretary in charge of IT in the Ministry of Economic Affairs will enable foreigners to use Estonia’s e-services, but cannot be used for traveling.

The range of e-services available for holders of e-residency will be determined shortly.

The government says e-residency is being launched as a platform to offer digital services to a global audience with no prior Estonian affiliation – for anybody who wants to run their business and life in the most convenient, ie digital way.

The card is not a physical ID-card or even a travel document because it has no photo on it, it will have a microchip with security certificates. These enable the card to be used with a small piece of software installed and a reader attached via USB to a computer.

However, becoming an e-Estonian does not entail full legal residency or citizenship or right of entry to Estonia”.

To obtain an e-residency, applicants must visit a Police and Border Guard office in Estonia to submit an application and provide biometrical data (your facial image and fingerprints) for a background check. There is a one-off cost of 50 euros.

The Estonian ID card, introduced in 2007, serves as an identity document and, within the European Union, as a travel document.

In addition to its physical use, the card is also used as proof of ID when utilising online services including internet banking, online voting, but also for ‘real world’ activities such as using public transport.

Although the e-residency project, which offers non-residents access to all digital services in Estonia, will not become active for another few months, the test registration launched on Monday amassed more than 5,600 new potential "e-residents" in its first 24 hours, writes Estonian Public Broadcasting.

More than one-third of those who have registered so far are based in the United States, reports Eesti Päevaleht.

"All EU citizens and people from third countries, who are not residing in Estonia, can apply for e-residency from December onward," said Margit Ratnik from the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA).