NEWS AND EVENTS
Latvian Republic
Taking into account that as of December 2007 Latvia has become a party to the Schengen agreement, residence permit of the Republic of Latvia (as well as of other Baltic countries) has become in great demand.
As starting from May 2004 Latvia has been a European Union country and from December 2007 the borders between Latvia and other countries that signed the Schengen agreement (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden) have been abolished, residence permit of the Republic of Latvia gives the right to reside and travel to all of the above mentioned countries on a visa-free basis. All other things equal, processing of a Latvian residence permit is much easier and faster if compared to process in other countries of the European Union.
The main legal act regulating issues associated with obtaining of the temporary residence permit, permanent residence permit and citizenship of the Republic of Latvia (including for foreign nationals carrying out business activity in Latvia and their family members) is “The Law on Immigration” which came into force on April 22, 2003.
Requirements
“The Law on Immigration” distinguishes a few categories for obtaining of temporary residence permit in the Republic of Latvia, such as: family reunification, course of study at an educational institution in Latvia, medical treatment, practicing of a religion, set up of a company or a representative / branch office of a Russian company in Latvia as well as acquiring of real estate.
Setting up of a company where the applicant will act as the Chairman or a member of the Board with signatory authorities is a sufficient base for obtaining of temporary residence permit in the Republic of Latvia. Whereby, the Cabinet of the Republic of Latvia stipulates the minimum wage rate for such cases at the level of 960 lats (~1 400 EUR) per month, and 33.09% should be deducted as social tax. The minimum amount of the charter capital for such a company at the moment is 2 000 lats (~3 000 EUR).
In order to get the residence permit by means of real estate purchase, the minimum cost of the real estate object(s) should be 100 000 lats (~145 000 EUR) for Riga, Yurmala and Riga layout region, or 50 000 lats (~72 500 EUR) for other cities of the Republic of Latvia. Hereby it should be mentioned that all real estate objects must be registered in the land registration book. Upon receipt of the residence permit under this category, an applicant will be issued with a work permit giving the right to work for any employer in Latvia, including holding the position of the Chairman or a member of the Board of his/her own company . In that case the minimum salary amount established for foreign nationals will not be applicable.
In order to process the residence permit for family members it is required to open a bank account in any Latvian bank and deposit 1 920 lats (~ 2 800 EUR) for a spouse and 1 152 last (~ 1 700 EUR) for each child.
Timeframe
The term for company’s registration is 2 weeks and the company can be actually set up without personal presence of the applicant. As soon as the company is set up or the real estate acquisition is effected, the applicant has the right to apply to a diplomatic post of the Republic of Latvia in order to get the entry visa and positive decision for further residence permit issue, period of processing varies from 5 up to 30 working days. Upon arrival in Latvia on the base of the immigration visa, the applicant will get the residence permit valid for up to 5 years. Annual registration with the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs is obligatory.
At the end of the 5-year period of stay under the temporary residence permit, the applicant is entitled to apply for a permanent residence status; however at this stage the language test must be successfully passed. In case if the exam is failed, it is still possible to re-apply for a temporary residence permit again.
Upon issue of the permanent residence permit and stay in the country in this status for another 5 years, the applicant gets the right to acquire the citizenship of the Republic of Latvia, whereby it is mandatory to pass some other tests, such as language, history, etc.
Dual citizenship
Dual citizenship is not stipulated by the legislation of the Republic of Latvia. Therefore, in order to acquire the Latvian citizenship, it is required to renounce citizenship of the Russian Federation (or any other citizenship which the applicant holds).
Advantages of the residence permit
Temporary residence permit in the Republic of Latvia empowers to stay on the territory of Latvia within unlimited period of time (more than just 90 days within a period of 180 days – standard limitation for stay in a country of the European Union).
Holding the Latvian residence permit, the applicant has free access to any country of the European Union, in other words there is no more need in getting a visa prior to a trip to Europe while the possibility to stay for up to 90 days in any country of the Schengen states is granted to residence permit holders as well.