An important step towards a digital visa-free regime: join the beta test of Diia.Signature, which meets EU requirements

Diia.Signature is now compliant with the European Union’s eIDAS regulation. It can be used to sign documents or contracts that are valid both in Ukraine and in EU countries. So far Diia.Signature-EU is available on two platforms. Later the functionality will be extended to other platforms.

Join the beta test to be the first to test the update. What is Diia.Signature-EU? It is the same e-signature in your smartphone that you can activate in a minute in the Diia app. But now, it meets the technical requirements of the EU.

It is a qualified electronic signature in Ukraine and an advanced one in EU countries. For example, with Diia.Signature-EU, you can sign a cooperation agreement with European partners. And an EU institution can verify the signature on the platform to be sure that you signed the document.

The platform allows you to verify Ukrainian signatures and seals on digital documents and confirm their validity. Previously, EU counterparties could not verify Ukrainian e-signatures due to a lack of technological compatibility.

However, the European Commission has recently published a list of countries included in the special TC AdES LOTL list. It contains information on electronic signatures and seals from countries that are not members of the European Union.

Ukraine is the first country added to this list. The EU signature is legally binding and may be accepted in court, even though it is not a qualified electronic signature in the EU.

However, EU rules allow non-EU electronic signatures to be used in the EU as advanced electronic signatures.

More information on the rules for using Ukrainian QES in the EU can be found here. How does Diia.Signature-EU work? When you activate Diia.Signature, a key that meets the EU requirements will be automatically generated in Diia.

At the same time, nothing has changed for Diia users, and the signing process remains as simple as blinking or smiling and entering your Diia.Signature code. However, on some platforms, you can now choose whether you want to sign a document with a Diia.Signature of the Ukrainian standard (Diia.Signature-UA) or the international standard (Diia.Signature-EU).

The next step is the standard signing process: pass the photo verification and enter the Diia.Signature code. How can you try Diia.Signature-EU? All users who have Diia.Signature can participate in the beta test. To do so, update the Diia app to the latest version, and you can sign with Diia.Signature-EU. To activate Diia.Signature you need to have at least one document in the Diia app: ID card, passport or residence permit.And then: go to the menu in Diia; click on Diia.Signature and Activate Diia.Signature; pass the photo verification – Diia compares your image with the image on your documents; come up with a 5-digit code for Diia.Signature. And that’s it! Now you have an electronic signature in your smartphone in two versions at once: the Ukrainian standard and the international standard. During the test, you can sign a document with Diia.Signature-EU on two platforms: ID.GOV.UA (ICEI) in the document management service Vchasno. The service is implemented by the Ministry of Digital Transformation with the support of the European Commission and the e-Governance Academy within the EU4DigitalUA project funded by the European Union.

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