Remote authentication and facial recognition

Remote Authentication  

Remote authentication enables the conduct of notarial acts via a video bridge created between the notary and the customer. Such authentication is equivalent to authentication at a notary’s office.

Remote authentication is an opportunity, not an obligation. It is up to the notary to decide, whether a specific transaction can be carried out by using remote authentication.

Subject to agreement with a notary, transactions using remote authentication can be carried out either at a place suited for the customer (e.g. at home) or at an Estonian embassy – in Helsinki, Stockholm, Brussels, Riga and London. 

Remote authentication can be used to perform all notarial acts, except certification of contraction of marriage and divorce.

In order to conduct an act by using remote authentication and be given the relevant advice, one should first contact a notary’s office. The contact data of all notaries can be found at www.notar.ee/et/notarid/nimekiri. One can also carry out the required act via the self-service portal of the Chamber of Notaries at iseteenindus.notar.ee (EE). A Republic of Estonia ID card, digital ID, mobile ID, Smart ID or an e-Resident’s digital ID can be used to log in to the portal and to sign documents to be authenticated. 

If the intention is to carry out the act by using remote authentication in an Estonian embassy, one of the five embassies can be selected in the self-service portal, by also indicating the desired dates. Based on the data submitted in the application the self-service portal proposes the available times that suit both the notary and the embassy. The times are proposed in accordance with the time zone in which the embassy is located.

Once the time for remote authentication has been set, these steps follow:

•  24 hours before the scheduled beginning of the transaction to be conducted by remote authentication, the message „The time of conducting a transaction via remote authentication is approaching” is displayed in the section „My transactions”. 

• Before starting to conduct the transaction, the user can confirm their readiness for remote authentication by clicking on the option “I confirm that I am ready for remote authentication” (This option becomes available about 15 minutes before the scheduled beginning of the transaction).

• In order to carry out a transaction using remote authentication at an embassy, the party has to go to the embassy, where the relevant official ascertains the identity of the party. Thereafter the party can use the embassy computer to log in to the self-service portal.

• Upon logging in to the self-service portal, the user can examine the transactions they have under way.

At the time agreed with the customer the notary launches the transaction via video bridge. The notary explains the transaction to be authenticated via the video call, the parties can communicate with the notary and ask questions.

During conducting an act via the video bridge, the parties should be aware of the following:

• In order to examine the data of the act, the notary displays the document on the screen, which can then be studied.

• After the document has been examined, the notary makes it available for the parties so that they can sign it.

• The document can be signed only in the environment for remote authentication; to do so, the parties must click on the option “Sign” and then add their signature.

After the document has been signed by all parties, the notary signs the document as well, thus bringing the process of remote authentication to an end and the document becomes available for the parties via the self-service portal.

The notary fee for conducting an act by using remote authentication is 24 euros (includes VAT). 

The following file contains detailed instructions on how to use remote authentication to conduct acts:

Customer Guidelines for Remote Authentication (PDF)