Applying for an ID card for a child

ID card can be applied for at a self-service portal or at a foreign representation of the Republic of Estonia.

To apply for an ID card, please find a suitable Estonian foreign mission and take an identity document with you.

Browse Estonian foreign missions.

Standard ID card application procedure

When opting for the standard ID card application procedure, the card will be ready within a maximum of 30 days after the application’s arrival in Estonia and acceptance for processing. You need to allow a longer waiting period when collecting an ID card ordered from abroad, as it takes longer to transport documents to Estonian foreign missions.

Please contact the foreign mission that you indicated as your document’s pick‑up location with any questions regarding your document’s arrival and collection at the foreign mission. For foreign mission contact details, please see the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Check the status of your ID card application.

Expedited ID card application procedure

It is not possible to apply for an ID card on an expedited basis from abroad.

Providing fingerprints

Children 12 years of age and up will have to give fingerprints when applying for an ID-card. Previously collected fingerprints are valid for 6 years.

Check the validity of your fingerprints.

If you need to give your fingerprints again, you can do so at an external representation of the Republic of Estonia.

Authorization to collect an ID card

If you would like to authorize someone to collect your ID card for you, you need to decide this when submitting your application. When collecting the document, the authorized person must present their own valid Estonian identity document along with the applicant’s existing ID card.

If a parent of child more than 15 years of age wishes to claim their child’s ID card, the child must authorize their parent to do so on the spot at the service office.

Applying for an ID card for the first time

When applying for an Estonian citizen’s document for the first time, an additional form has to be filled in and submitted.

When applying for an ID card for the first time, you need to present proof of your Estonian citizenship.

You can prove your citizenship by providing one of the following documents when applying for a document for the first time:

• an Estonian passport of the parent
• child's birth certificate
• an original document stating that a parent or grandparent of the document applicant has Estonian citizenship. You will also have to provide proof that you are related to the person in question (e.g. a birth certificate). To provide this information, please submit a query to the National Archives regarding your parents’ or grandparents’ Estonian citizenship

Document photograph

You can send your document photograph in digital format by email to ....

Requirements and instructions regarding document photographs

Application form

Fill out the application form either by hand or using a computer.

Add your specimen signature to the application.

Confirm the accuracy of your data by adding your signature at the end of the form.

Indicate on the form the client service office or Estonian foreign mission where you wish to collect your document.

ID card application form

Instructions for filling out an application form

State fee

To learn about the options to pay the state fee in person at an Estonian foreign mission, please contact the foreign mission where you will be submitting your ID card application.

Contact details of foreign missions

If you have paid the state fee before going to the foreign mission, please provide proof of this when you go to the foreign mission.

Child is born abroad

If applying for an ID-card for a child born abroad, you need to provide a birth certificate.

See below for the requirements of the birth certificate issued abroad.

Child birth or name change abroad

If there is a change in personal data while you are abroad, you will have to present a document substantiating the change when applying for a document.

Document translation

If the document is not in Estonian, Russian or English, it must be translated and the translation must be made by a sworn translator or notarised.

Some foreign documents do not need to be legalised

If the country that issued the document is a party to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, it does not need to be legalised. In this case, the public document must be certified by an apostille in accordance with the requirements.

Documents issued in these countries do not have to be legalised.

Applying for an ID card for a ward

Only a ward’s guardian may submit an application for an ID card on behalf of the ward.

Please provide proof of guardianship at the client service office.