A secure electronic signature is your own smart signature for electronic documents. A signed document shall have the same legal effect as a hand-signed paper document.

The obligation to recognise the secure electronic signatures of Latvia and other Member States of the European Union as equivalent to a self-written signature is enshrined in law (Electronic Documents Law and Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market). In accordance with Article 25(3) of the Regulation, a qualified digital signature in one Member State shall be recognised as qualified in all other Member States.

In Latvia, in the digital environment, this tool has two functions:

• a unique personal identification certificate (electronic data) attached to an electronically produced document (given name, surname, personal code, etc.), or is used to verify your identity in the digital environment, for example by authenticating the institutional portals, to certify that you are the same person in real life. This will be useful for working on Internet portals, information systems, workstations. The attestation of the e-identity shall be equivalent to the presentation of a personal identity document on the spot;
• individual signature of a person in an electronic environment (computer, smartphone, information systems) having the same legal effect as a hand-signed one. The person hereby signs electronic documents without printing them, such as contracts, invoices, complaints, submissions, letters, etc.

A secure electronic signature can only be used by its owner.

In Latvia, you can sign documents using a number of secure electronic signature tools provided by the state:

• identity card (eID card) on which a secure electronic signature is activated;
• mobile app eParaksts mobile (via eParakstsLV mobile app or portal eparaksts.lv);

You can also sign documents with others tools provided by public authorities and economic operators recognised in the European Union for example, SmartID, popular in Latvia (using Dokobit platform).

Regardless of which tools you are signing documents, the result will be the same: an electronically signed document with legal effect.

Signing documents with a secure electronic signature takes place in the same way as signing them in paper format, requiring the signature of all documents (files or files) that would have been signed if they were done in paper format. The e-signal on the document shall confirm all the information contained in the document, namely that each page should not be signed separately.

Identity assurance by means of secure electronic signature tools shall be equivalent to the on-the-spot verification of identity by producing a personal identification document. Latvian qualified tools are available to certify e-identity:

• mobile app eParaksts mobile;
• identity card (eID card).

Electronic identity can also be confirmed by other tools provided by public authorities and economic operators recognised in the European Union. Cases of e-identity assurance:

• websites, self-service portals, information systems (e.g. using e-services on the Latvija.lv portal);
• access to information resources (replacing password access and user name with secure electronic signature PIN code input).

Communication with public and local authorities, other public persons and their authorities, courts, persons and authorities belonging to the judicial system, as well as public service providers.

If you make lists with authorities on issues that are general and not relevant to a particular person, you do not need a secure electronic signature, but you can use it. For example, if you want to find out in your local government when the municipal road will be repaired.

On the other hand, where the institution is required to examine the case of the applicant and to provide an official response, such as the granting of the benefit, the document with a secure electronic signature will be required to be signed.

Accordingly, any written submission or request may be submitted to the national and local authorities by means of an e-document (The law of electronic documents), for example, requests for information and information, applications, permits, documents for receipt of certificates and licences, application to the school, submission of prepared forms, submission of reports, reports and statistics, etc.

Electronically signed documents shall also be accepted by the courts of the Republic of Latvia, where an electronically signed document may serve as evidence in the trial.

Electronically signed documents are also accepted by public service providers, such as companies providing municipal waste management, mail, energy, water management, etc.

The authority may be contacted electronically in a variety of ways, for example through e-services, or  e-address on the Latvija.lv portal, or other communication channels. Learn more here.

Transactions between legal persons

Business operators may use a secure electronic signature on a voluntary basis, by mutual agreement, for example by sending invoices, acts, contracts, letters, etc. The document may be signed separately or by means of recording or accounting systems incorporating secure electronic signature functionality.

Ensuring remote official communication with customers

Entrepreneurs can use a common authentication (access) tool to create their own portals and service environments, saving costs for purchasing new authentication tools. This is also a benefit for customers: to use a single authentication tool on portals from different entrepreneurs.

Operators whose services require an application on a specified sample form may ensure public access to the relevant forms in an editable form, with the possibility of downloading them so that it is possible to complete them electronically and sign them with a secure electronic signature. Different providers of electronic signature services may provide additional services. For example, entrepreneurs using Dokobit integration can also provide signing functionality immediately on their website. It makes it possible to sign electronically completed forms without downloading.

Empowerment of persons

If you need to authorise or receive an authorisation to act, for example, with movable or immovable property, you can arrange it electronically using the Latvian Sworn Notary Customer Portal www.latvijasnotars.lv. Consultation with the notary may take place in video mode - a personal identity card (eID card) with PIN codes is required or mobile app eParaksts mobile. Thus, a person who, for example, is currently in long-term absences abroad does not have to take the path to Latvia to give someone a mandate to act in his or her interests – for example, to deal with property management issues etc.

A notary may issue a derivative (extract) thereof in the form of an electronic document after the issuance of a power by signing with a secure electronic signature. It may be transmitted electronically to the authority which requested the authorisation.

Using a secure electronic signature gives you several advantages:

• more convenient – do not have to go to the authority to carry the document, is being used instead  e-address or e-mail;
• cheaper – the costs of preparing a paper document, transport or postal services, as well as the time spent in the institution, will be more expensive. The electronic document has no sending costs;
• a secure electronic signature on the eParaksts eID card and eParaksts mobile is available for free;
• more accessible and faster: no account should be taken of the working time of the institutions, electronic documents can be sent to the Authority 24 hours a day;
• mobility: You can use a secure electronic signature anywhere in the world where your computer and the Internet are available.

In Latvia, a secure electronic signature is available using a number of tools (regardless of the safe type of electronic signature that you use, the result will be the same - an electronically signed document with legal effect).

For individuals

A number of types of secure electronic signature shall be available to any individual registered in the Population Register who has reached the age of 14.

Secure electronic signature on identity card (eID card):

• eID card can be received in the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs and in Latvian embassies abroad.
• with effect from 1 January 2019, the EID Card, which contains an active eParaksts, includes an unlimited number of times of e-signing and e-identity assurance, free of charge.
• When you receive an eID card, an envelope with PIN codes is issued that are necessary to certify e-identity (PIN 1) and to sign electronic documents (PIN 2).
• For the necessary documents, manufacturing time and costs for obtaining the identity card (eID card), read here.

Mobile app eParaksts mobile:

• You can log in to a secure portal  www.eparaksts.lv using one of the identification tools (Internet banking, eID card or eParaksts card), completing an application and entering into a contract for receiving an eParaksts mobile service.
• Depending on the type of application, the eParaksts mobile contract can be concluded:
  • electronically with an eID card or eParaksts card - getting the service immediately via the portal  www.eparaksts.lv;
  • by applying for the signing of an online banking contract, it is possible to perform via a courier (2-5 working days) or through the use of Sworn notary services.
• the use of esigned mobile is free.
• You need to download the mobile app eParakstsLV before you can sign documents on your smartphone. Its use is free of charge and it is not necessary to enter into a contract.
• More detailed information on eParaksts mobile acquisition options is available here.

Mobile app for signing documents - eParakstsLV:

• To sign documents in eParakstsLV, you must first obtain the eParaksts mobile application. Information on the possibilities for acquiring eParakstsLV is available here.

• This mobile app supports signing documents on a smart device with a secure electronic signature, as well as checking documents that have already been signed.

Mobile app - SmartID:

• Note that the app version must be full or qualified Smart ID, not for the base variant.
• To sign documents with SmartID, you must select Dokobit platform (five documents per month can be signed for free).

For legal persons

Legal persons can use secure electronic signature tools, as can individuals.

However, an eParaksta card is also created directly for entrepreneurs, who use electronic documents frequently and more frequently in their daily lives.

In addition to the eParaksta tools, a legal person may also use eZimogs:

• the eseal is a signature attached to the company or authority document. The establishment or authority may certify certified statements, extracts from information systems, registers, certificates, certificates and other documents relating to the facts already occurring. It shall not replace the signature of the representative of the company or body. More information about login and costs here.
• esignal + functions are the same as eZeming, available on a smart card (eParaksts card). More information about login and costs here.

E-stamp services are also provided by Dokobit in Latvia. Dokobit offers an opportunity for companies to integrate it into their systems. For more information, see here.

Identity card (eID card)
To underwrite documents using the eParacsta available on the eID card, you will need:

• Internet-connected computer;
• Free program eParakstitajs 3.0 (available on the eParaksts.lv portal);
• Smart card reader (may be purchased in electronics and computer shops/Internet shops);
• An envelope containing PIN1, PIN2 and PUK codes issued with an eID card in the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs;
• Identifying with an eID card on portals or using e-services will require a PIN1 code and PIN1 and PIN2 when signing documents. The PUK code is required to replace or unblock the PIN codes. Read more about changing codes here.

You can sign documents with an eID card in three ways:

• via portal  www.eparaksts.lv and by signing the document online;
• using a free program installed on your computer for e-signing eParakstitajs 3.0;
• by signing documents in document management (for example, the recording system) or other systems.

Mobile app eParaksts mobile

Mobile eParaksts mobile is designed to certify identity in the digital environment as well as signing documents on the portal  www.eparaksts.lv and in the mobile app eParakstsLV.

Mobile app eParakstsLV

Mobile app eParakstsLV supports signing of documents on a smart device with eParaksts mobile and checking signed documents.

To sign documents in eParakstsLV, you must first obtain the eParaksts mobile application.

SmartID

To sign documents with SmartID, you must select Dokobit platform. You can sign five documents a month for free.

An electronically signed document can be viewed and verified for the validity of a secure electronic signature using:

• option Check Document on the portal eParaksts.lv;
• free program eParakstitajs 3.0;
• mobile app eParakstsLV.

The website of the European Commission may be used to check the electronically signed document from other countries of the European Union, including the document signed with Latvian e-signature tools (Trust List).

The trust list includes certification service providers recognised in EU Member States. This list lists certified service providers in 31 countries whose services are recognised in EU Member States.

When checking the document (validating the validity of the document):

• verify that it has actually been signed with a secure (qualified) e-signature;
• verify the identity of the signatory;
• make sure that the document has not been altered since it was signed;
• finds out the exact signing time.

Remember that the eID card is not only a personal identity document in person, but also in the digital environment. It also includes a person's self-congratulatory signature in the digital environment.

If you have lost an eID card or it has been stolen, please inform you about it the State police and immediately contact the VAS “Latvian State Radio and Television Centre” hotline 67108787 and ask to stop or cancel the certificates.

If the eID card is in place, you will be able to renew the security certificates. Read more on the OCMA website.

Daily precautions:

• The secure electronic signature PIN must be stored in a safe place, carefully.
• Be careful about signing PIN information to pages or notepads. Make sure that this information does not become known to others!
• Keep your PIN information available only and in a way that will allow you to see if someone else has accessed it!
• Do not carry the envelope with your PIN codes because the characters will fade as the paper sails.

If a PIN is lost, you may apply for a new PIN to be issued by applying for a visit to the territorial division of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs or to a foreign mission. You will receive a new PIN for free.

Getting a secure e-signature is expensive
With effect from 1 January 2019, the eID card includes an unlimited number of free e-signing times and is free of charge.
Apps eParaksts Mobile and eParakstsLV are downloadable and usable for free.

Secure electronic signature for a natural person different from an electronic signature for a legal person

Whether a natural or legal person applies for a secure electronic signature, it is intended for use by a particular person and is received by a specific person on his or her own behalf.

The right to sign company documents electronically shall be on the same legal basis as the right to sign paper documents.

A secure electronic signature appears on a document signed electronically

Electronically signed document content and appearance after signing assured – I don't see it in the document content. A secure electronic signature shall be a protective shell, a casing for any signed document showing that no changes have been made to the content of the document since the signature.

You can electronically sign documents of any format and choose the format in which they are signed:

• edoc;
• PDF;
• ASIC-E (common EU standard).

edoc is the standard for electronically signed documents adopted in Latvia. Similarly, the eDoc format is selected when you need to sign a set of multiple documents, or you need to sign files of other formats, such as pictures, videos, or audio files, not only text documents.

The format pf ASIC-E shall be selected if the document to be signed is addressed to the resident or organisation of another EU Member State. Check document eParakstable canhere.

State and local authorities shall not accept electronically signed documents

All national and local authorities have an obligation to adopt electronic documents from natural and legal persons since 1 January 2004.

issuer of eParaksta Latvian State Radio and Television Centre or other institutions see the content of the document to be signed

It is not possible to access the content because the security requirements prevent any access to the data to be signed. It can affect only the logical steps, not the content that you added a third party. Therefore, document or lost PIN code cannot be restored.

LVRTC stores electronically signed and sent documents

The signed document at any time to come into it. When signing a document with an eParaksts mobile, eID card, or eParaksts card, the document website  www.eparaksts.lv is stored for 24 hours and then deleted.

The document with a secure electronic signature cannot be read by others

Signing documents with a secure electronic signature is not encryption. Any person in possession of a securely electronically signed but unencrypted document may open it.

You can open an e-document in three ways:

• via portal  www.eparaksts.lv functionality "Check or sign”;
• downloading a free special program to your computer eParakstitajs 3.0;
• using a mobile app eParakstsLV.

Signed documents become invalid after a secure electronic signature expires

It is important that the signature is valid when the document is signed. At the end of the period of validity of the issued, secure electronic signature, the signed document shall not lose its legal effect. So, after the expiry date, you will no longer be able to sign a new document, but the existing, signed documents will remain legal, just as if they were signed by hand.

The State Radio and Television Centre of Latvia (SRTCL)

The Council of Sworn Notaries of Latvia (CSNL)

The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA)

The State Regional Development Agency (SRDA)

Officially to communicate with the authority electronically

Participation in public administration and public processes

Consumer protection

Leaving and receiving a legacy