Qualified electronic signature certificates for European business filings.

A QES certificate is a digital document issued by a Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP) listed on the EU Trusted List. It attests to the signer's identity and produces a signature whose legal value is strictly equivalent to a handwritten signature (Article 25.2 of the eIDAS Regulation).

It enables electronic signing of sensitive legal acts with maximum legal enforceability. In France, it is required for filings on the INPI single window (Article R123-5 of the Commercial Code), some public tenders, and remote notarial deeds. Equivalent registries exist across the EU: DPMA (Germany), UIBM (Italy), OEPM (Spain).

The eIDAS Regulation defines three levels. Simple signatures are basic consent (e.g. a checkbox). Advanced signatures identify the signer (typically via SMS). Qualified signatures additionally require a certificate issued by a QTSP on the EU Trusted List, this is the only level legally equivalent to a handwritten signature.

Since 1 January 2023, the INPI single window has replaced all French CFE registries. For sensitive acts (creation, dissolution, modification, trademark and patent applications), Article R123-5 of the Commercial Code mandates a qualified signature within the meaning of the eIDAS Regulation. Simple or advanced signatures are rejected.

Yes. A qualified eIDAS signature is recognized in all EU member states for any legal act (Article 25.3 of the Regulation). It is accepted by Infogreffe, DGFiP, URSSAF, chambers of trades and crafts (CMA) and chambers of commerce (CCI), equivalent EU registries (DPMA Germany, OEPM Spain, UIBM Italy), and by civil and commercial courts.

Any PDF document compliant with PAdES standards (PDF Advanced Electronic Signatures). This includes articles of incorporation, modification forms, Cerfa forms, contracts, transfer deeds, tax declarations, and any document generated by French government portals.

PDF only (extension .pdf). If your document is in another format (Word, image, scan), convert it to PDF before upload. Most modern office tools include native PDF export ("Save as…").

Yes. The PDF must not exceed 20 MB. Beyond this, contact our support for special handling. Most INPI articles and forms are between 200 KB and 3 MB.

Yes. The PDF must be finalized: all fields filled, all attachments embedded if needed. The qualified signature freezes the content, any subsequent modification invalidates the signature.

For a one-off INPI filing, one signature per certificate. If you need to sign multiple documents for different filings, you must order one certificate per filing. For firms processing >10 filings/month, contact us about a firm account with volume discount.

French national ID card (front and back), French passport, ID card from any EU member state, EU passport, or French residence permit (titre de séjour) currently valid. The document must be readable, in color, no blur or glare.

Yes. Any French residence permit currently valid is accepted: temporary, resident card, permanent resident card, multi-year permit. This distinguishes us from several competitors (notably CertEurope) who do not accept these documents.

For INPI filings, identity verification must guarantee residence or activity within the EU. If you are a French resident but a non-EU national, your residence permit suffices. If you reside outside the EU, contact our support: a specific procedure can be arranged.

You must be of legal age (18 years) under French law. For emancipated minors, specific documents are required, contact our support.

No. Our system handles all Unicode characters used in European ID documents (French accents, German ä/ö/ü/ß, Spanish ñ, Czech, Polish characters, etc.). The name in the certificate will exactly match your ID document.

Less than 10 minutes on average, from the moment your identity is verified. The service is available 24/7. You receive the signed PDF and verifiable record by email immediately after issuance.

No. Unlike several legacy providers, our identity verification is fully automated. You present your EU national ID or French residence permit, the system verifies it in seconds. No slot to book, no waiting.

Yes. The issuance procedure is fully automated and available 24/7, 365 days/year. Human support is available 7 days/week by email (average response under 2 hours weekdays, under 12 hours weekends).

Yes, within 48 hours of payment. Your order is saved and resumes exactly where you left it. Beyond 48 hours, you must restart from PDF upload (no additional charge).

The signed PDF is deleted from our systems 30 days after delivery (unless you explicitly request extension). The ID document is kept 10 years per eIDAS regulatory obligation (Article 24.2.h). The invoice is kept 10 years (accounting obligation).

€30 excl. VAT (€36 incl. VAT, French VAT 20%). No subscription, no hidden fees. The price includes the qualified certificate, issuance, identity verification, the verifiable signature record, support and the money-back guarantee.

Credit/debit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express), Apple Pay, Google Pay. Payment is processed in a PCI DSS Level 1 environment. No banking data is stored on our servers.

Yes, if your business is registered for French VAT. The invoice is issued with French VAT at 20%, recoverable under your usual tax regime.

Yes. If INPI rejects your filing due to a fault in the electronic signature, you are fully refunded. Submit the request to support@certifeurope.com with the INPI rejection notice. Refund processed within 14 days on the original payment method. Written commitment in our Terms (Article 7).

Per Article L. 221-28 13° of the French Consumer Code, the right of withdrawal does not apply to digital content not supplied on a tangible medium whose execution has begun with your express consent. You expressly waive this right from the moment certificate issuance starts. The "money-back if INPI rejects" guarantee remains applicable.

Yes. All exchanges are TLS 1.3 encrypted. Documents at rest are AES-256 encrypted. Encryption keys are stored in a separate KMS service. See our security architecture.

No. All signing and storage operations are performed on EU-hosted servers (Paris and Dublin regions). No data is transmitted outside the EU as part of operational service.

Yes. We maintain a processing register, our subprocessors are GDPR-compliant, your rights (access, rectification, erasure) are honored within 30 days. See our privacy policy.

No, never. Payment is fully handled in a PCI DSS Level 1 environment. No card number transits through our servers or is stored in our databases.

This service is operated by Main.llc, a US company registered in Florida. See about us and legal notice.