How to Sign Documents with eParaksts: Latvia's National E-Signature, Step by Step

eParaksts is the umbrella name for Latvia's state electronic identity and signature services. They are operated by LVRTC (Latvian State Radio and Television Centre), a state-owned company listed in the EU Trusted List as a qualified trust service provider (QTSP). That status matters: signatures created with eParaksts tools are qualified electronic signatures (QES) — the strongest signature level under eIDAS, presumed equivalent to a handwritten signature across the whole EU. If the difference between signature levels is new to you, our overview of SES, AES and QES explains when each level is enough.

In everyday use, eParaksts comes in two main forms. eParaksts mobile is a smartphone app and the most common choice: it handles both authentication — logging in to state portals — and document signing. The eID card, Latvia's national identity card, carries signing certificates too and works with a card reader plus the free eParakstītājs 3.0 desktop application. Around these, LVRTC runs the eparaksts.lv portal, where anyone can upload, sign and verify documents directly in a browser.

According to LVRTC's public information, eParaksts mobile is free of charge for private individuals in Latvia, available from the age of 14. Getting it starts on your phone: download the official eParaksts mobile app from your app store, then follow the registration flow, which pairs the app with your verified identity.

The key step is identity verification. If you hold a Latvian eID card, you can typically complete registration online by authenticating with the card and its PIN code. If not — or if you prefer help — in-person registration is available at customer service centres. The exact flows and supported verification methods change over time, so treat eparaksts.lv as the source of truth for the current steps rather than third-party summaries.

During setup you create the security codes and signature credentials you will use later: codes for logging in and confirming actions, and a separate credential for signing documents. Treat them the way you would treat your own signature: private, never shared, never written into the document you are about to send. If a code is compromised, LVRTC provides ways to block and re-issue credentials — again, follow the official instructions.

Option 1 — the eparaksts.lv portal. Open eparaksts.lv in a browser and choose the signing tool. Upload the file (or several), pick the output format — eDoc, ASiC-E or PDF — and confirm the signature in your eParaksts mobile app when prompted. Download the signed container and send it to the other party. The portal also works in reverse: anyone can verify a signed eDoc or ASiC-E file free of charge.

Option 2 — the eParaksts mobile app lets you sign documents directly on your phone, which is useful when a document arrives while you are on the go. Option 3 — eID card + eParakstītājs 3.0. Install the free desktop application, connect a card reader, open the file and confirm the signature with the card's PIN code. This route suits people who already use the eID card for other services.

Whichever route you take, a good habit is to verify before you send: open the signed file in the portal's verification tool or in eParakstītājs 3.0 and confirm the signature is valid and the signatories are correct. Your counterparty can do the same for free — nobody needs commercial software just to validate a document signed with eParaksts.

eDoc is Latvia's unified format for electronically signed documents: a container that can wrap files of almost any type — Word, Excel, images — together with the signatures. ASiC-E is the equivalent EU-wide container format, built on the same idea and widely supported by European signing tools. PDF signing embeds the signature inside the PDF file itself, which means it only works when the source document is a PDF — but the result opens in any PDF reader.

Which should you choose? Within Latvia, eDoc is the customary choice and is accepted by institutions and businesses alike. For cross-border exchanges, ASiC-E or a signed PDF is usually easier for the recipient to open and verify. The practical rule: agree the format with the other party before signing, especially when several people must sign the same file — switching formats mid-flow creates rework.

eParaksts solves the moment of signing — and does it well. But most business agreements involve everything around that moment: drafting from a template, exchanging redlines by email, losing track of which version is current, chasing the other side to sign, and then storing proof of what was actually agreed. None of that is the job of a state trust service.

That is the layer DokDesk covers. It is a contract workflow for the Baltics and the EU: reusable templates, negotiation on one live version instead of email attachments, e-signing with Smart-ID and Mobile-ID through a secure link that requires no account from the other party, and a court-ready evidence base (see how the evidence trail works). DokDesk performs SES and AES signing with national eIDs; it is architecture-ready for QES but does not issue qualified signatures — so wherever Latvian law or your counterparty requires QES, eParaksts remains the right tool, and DokDesk complements the process around it. Data stays in the EU under GDPR.

A simple rule of thumb: for a one-off document to a state institution, eParaksts alone is all you need. For recurring B2B contracts — sales agreements, NDAs, service contracts that get negotiated and re-signed — wrap the signature in a managed workflow so versions, approvals and evidence do not live in inboxes. And if your counterparties are in Estonia or Lithuania, Smart-ID and Mobile-ID cover them without any Latvia-specific setup.