Guide

The EU Digital Identity Wallet: what eIDAS 2 actually promises

By Covered Abroad Research Desk · Last verified July 2026

Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 — eIDAS 2 — obliges each member state to provide at least one European Digital Identity Wallet within 24 months of its implementing acts entering into force. The wallet is a harmonised electronic identification means for authenticating and sharing identity-linked data across the EU; use is voluntary, services can't lock you out for not using one, and signing with qualified electronic signatures comes by default and free of charge.

What the wallet is

The regulation's recitals describe the goal: the European Digital Identity Wallet should provide natural and legal persons across the Union with a harmonised electronic identification means enabling authentication and the sharing of data linked to their identity — access to public and private services, securely, resting on verified proofs and an improved trust-services ecosystem. For a mover, the promise is the end of the photocopy shuffle: one wallet holding the attestations each country's counter currently demands on paper.

Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 (eIDAS 2) — EUR-Lex, read 8 September 2026.

The deadline and the free-of-charge floor

Article 5a of the amended regulation sets the clock: each Member State shall provide at least one European Digital Identity Wallet within 24 months of the date of entry into force of the implementing acts the article references — which puts national wallets on a 2026-27 runway. The floor is generous: users must be able to sign with qualified electronic signatures, by default and free of charge, without having to go through any additional administrative procedures — a capability that today often costs money or paperwork.

Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1183, Article 5a — EUR-Lex, read 8 September 2026.

60-second check

Not sure the policy you have meets your destination's written rule? Run it through the policy check now, before you build the rest of the file around it.

Check my policy

Voluntary — with teeth against lock-out

The regulation is explicit about choice: users should be under no obligation to use a European Digital Identity Wallet to access private services, and should not be restricted or hindered in their access to services on the grounds that they do not use one — while very large online platforms will be required to accept wallet authentication when a user voluntarily offers it. Translation: the wallet must open doors without closing any. As national wallets launch, the practical questions — which attestations, which countries, which counters accept them — will get country-specific answers, and this page will track the rollout.

Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1183, wallet provisions — EUR-Lex, read 8 September 2026.

Get a certificate that meets the published rule

Tell us your destination, visa, and who’s moving. Our team reviews it against the current requirement and calls you with a quote — no obligation.

Get my quote Check my policy first

Cover underwritten by Regency Assurance · every rule on this site cited and dated · a person calls back within one business day.

Before you request a quote: cover is worldwide but excludes treatment in the United States, and pre-existing conditions are not covered — including conditions you did not know about. We say this up front so a quote is worth your time.

Common questions

What is the EUDI wallet?

The European Digital Identity Wallet under eIDAS 2 — a state-provided app holding your verified identity and attestations, usable for authentication and data-sharing across the EU. Each member state must offer at least one.

When does the EUDI wallet launch?

The regulation gives member states 24 months from its implementing acts' entry into force to provide a wallet — a 2026-27 rollout runway, with each country launching its own. Watch your destination country's announcements.

What is eIDAS 2?

Regulation (EU) 2024/1183, the amendment to the original eIDAS framework — it created the wallet obligation, the free qualified-signature right, and the acceptance duties for large platforms.

Will I be forced to use it?

No — the regulation states use is voluntary and that services can't restrict you for not using a wallet. It adds options (and removes notary-queue afternoons); it doesn't remove the paper route.

Keep reading

What is the EES?ETIAS requirements ID numbers and first paperwork: NIE