Residence permits and visas in Latvia: help from Lex & Finance

You have a job offer from a Latvian employer and will live here while you work. We help the employer prepare the invitation and the documents it must provide, check the employment contract and help you put together your own documents for OCMA.

Russian citizens may only request a repeat permit, subject to the statutory employment and tax conditions.

For people who will work in Latvia on a long-stay visa rather than a residence permit, such as seasonal workers. We help the employer with the visa invitation and the related paperwork, and help you get your visa documents in order.

Russian citizens may request this visa only for seasonal work, and even then only in limited cases.

Minor children may join a parent who is a Latvian citizen, a Latvian non-citizen or a permanent resident of Latvia. A spouse and minor children may join a foreign national with a temporary residence permit, though not in every case, so we check that person's status. Then we help gather documents to prove the marriage or family relationship to OCMA.

Your spouse is a Latvian citizen, a Latvian non-citizen or a permanent resident of Latvia. You need to live together and share a household. We help assemble documents confirming your marriage and shared household, and if OCMA invites you for an interview, we help you prepare. If your spouse holds a temporary residence permit, the route is family reunification instead.

You plan to invest in the share capital of a Latvian company, either by increasing the share capital of an existing company or by founding a new one. We check whether the company and the investment meet the legal conditions and help prepare the documents OCMA needs from the company and from you.

Not open to Russian or Belarusian citizens.

For full-time students at an accredited university or college in Latvia. Once your place is confirmed, we help you prepare the documents for your residence permit and explain what the permit allows you to do, including the rules on working while you study.

You already live in Latvia with a residence permit and want to stay long term. Since 15 September 2026, the only form of permanent residence is EU long-term resident status, and the conditions have changed. We check whether you meet the new conditions before you start gathering documents.

Each EU country sets its own residence rules. Tell us which one you have in mind, and we will tell you whether we can help.

For a short trip to the Schengen area with Latvia as your main destination. We help you choose the right type of visa, fill in the visa form and put together the documents the embassy or consulate asks for.

Latvian embassies and consulates accept requests for short-stay visas from Russian and Belarusian citizens only in limited cases.

For Ukrainian citizens who had to leave Ukraine because of the war. We help you prepare the documents to request temporary protection status from OCMA and, if you already hold it, explain what you need to do to keep and extend it.