Latvia Golden Visa: The Complete 2026 Guide

Published: 2026-07-22 · Updated: 2026-07-25 · CORVUS Attorneys-at-Law

Three of Europe's most popular golden visa programmes have disappeared in under three years. Spain terminated its scheme in April 2025. Portugal removed the real-estate route back in 2023, leaving only fund investments from EUR 500,000. Greece raised its threshold to EUR 800,000 in Athens, Thessaloniki and the islands investors actually want. The Latvia golden visa is still here — and its entry point hasn't moved.

EUR 250,000 buys a qualifying apartment in central Riga with full legal title, or EUR 100,000 invested in the share capital of a Latvian company qualifies under the share-capital route. As of 2026, that makes Latvia the most accessible capital-city golden visa left in the EU, and one of the last where you directly own the asset your residence permit stands on.

We are CORVUS, an attorney-at-law office in Riga. Residence permits through investment are a core part of our practice — we've taken investor cases through the authorities from the first invitation to the positive decision, and we've watched applications succeed, stall and occasionally fail for reasons that were entirely avoidable. This guide covers what the permit actually gives you, both investment routes, the full cost picture, who qualifies, the realistic timeline, and where the law stands right now.

One clarification before anything else, because clients ask constantly: "golden visa" and "temporary residence permit" are the same thing. The official Latvian instrument is the Temporary Residence Permit — TRP, or termiņuzturēšanās atļauja — granted on the basis of investment. "Golden visa" is simply the name the world knows from Portugal, Spain and Greece. We use both terms throughout.

What a Latvian TRP Gives You (and What It Doesn't)

The core package: a residence permit for up to five years covering you, your spouse and your children under 18. You can live and work in Latvia without restriction, and travel through the Schengen area — 90 days in any 180-day period across the other member states, plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Here's the part that surprises investors coming from other programmes: there is no requirement to live in Latvia. One short visit per year — to register your annual card — is enough to keep the permit alive. Many of our clients treat the TRP as an extended long-term visa: a legal foothold in the EU they can activate whenever they choose, whether that moment comes next year or never.

There's no language requirement either. Not for obtaining the permit, not for renewing it. You can hold a Latvian TRP for decades without sitting a single exam — the Latvian language only enters the picture if you later choose to apply for permanent residence.

The quieter benefits matter more than most people expect. A TRP comes with a qualified electronic signature valid across the EU, which lets you establish companies and register ownership remotely — genuinely useful if you run businesses in several countries. Banking, insurance and medical care in Latvia become straightforward. You can buy and register vehicles, and request visas to other countries at embassies in Riga.

Now the limits. A Latvian TRP is not a residence right in Germany, France or any other EU state — it's Schengen travel, not EU-wide relocation. It doesn't make you a Latvian tax resident by itself (that requires 183+ days of presence or your centre of vital interests moving to Latvia — a separate analysis we run with our tax practice). And it stands on your investment: sell the property or withdraw the capital without a qualifying replacement, and the basis of the permit falls away.

Two Routes to the Same Permit: EUR 250,000 or EUR 100,000

Latvian law offers two investment routes we regularly advise on, and they lead to the same five-year TRP.

The real estate route requires a single property worth at least EUR 250,000, fully completed and registered in the Land Book — Latvia's land register, which is public and transparent. If the cadastral value sits below EUR 80,000 (common for new builds, where cadastral values lag market prices), you'll also need a certified valuation confirming a market value of at least EUR 250,000. Payment must go by bank transfer from your personal account. Cash doesn't qualify, and neither does payment through a company — a detail that has derailed applications before they started.

Its counterpart, the share capital route, asks for EUR 100,000 invested into the share capital of a Latvian company — one of the lowest golden visa entry points in the EU. On top of the investment itself, the state charges EUR 10,000 into the budget when the permit is granted. (EUR 100,000 is the standard figure; a EUR 50,000 tier exists for qualifying small companies — the small-company breakdown.) Both routes have dedicated deep-dives — the property rules and the share-capital mechanics — for when you've shortlisted one.

The two routes also combine elegantly, which is something we use often in practice. Suppose you've bought an apartment that's still under construction — it can't qualify for the real estate route until it's completed and registered. Instead of waiting, you invest EUR 100,000 into the developer's holding company now, obtain the five-year TRP immediately, and switch to the real-estate basis once ownership is registered. At that point the share investment is typically returned to you under the programme documentation, and your residence continues without interruption.

This structure is exactly how residence works at Riga Waterfront, the Eagle Hills development on the Daugava riverfront where we act as official cooperation partner for buyers — though we arrange the same permit through any qualifying investment, anywhere in Latvia. We're attorneys, not investment advisors: our job is making your chosen investment carry a residence permit, not choosing it for you.

What You'll Actually Pay: The Full Cost Picture

Investors compare headline thresholds; the real comparison is total cost. Here is what the Latvian numbers look like in 2026, beyond the investment itself.

On the real estate route, the big line item is the one-off state fee of 5% of the purchase price — EUR 12,500 on a EUR 250,000 apartment. Registering ownership costs a further 1.5% Land Register fee (capped at EUR 50,000), plus modest stamp and notary costs.

On the share capital route, the investor pays EUR 10,000 into the state budget upon obtaining the TRP.

Both routes then share the same processing fees per applicant: EUR 160 for the standard 30-day document review (EUR 280 for 10 business days, EUR 560 for 5 business days if you're in a hurry), and EUR 45–80 for issuing the card itself depending on speed. Every renewal at the five-year mark carries a EUR 5,000 state fee.

Running costs are light. The annual card registration costs EUR 75–290 for the review plus EUR 45–80 for the card. Each applicant needs a medical insurance policy from a local insurer — roughly EUR 50 per person per year. Translations, apostilles and legalization of foreign documents are extra and vary wildly by country (more on that below, because this is where budgets and timelines actually slip).

A worked example. A family of four — investor, spouse, two children — on the real estate route with a EUR 250,000 purchase, standard processing speeds: EUR 12,500 investment state fee, roughly EUR 3,750 Land Register fee, EUR 640 in review fees, about EUR 180–320 in card fees, and around EUR 200 a year in insurance. Call it EUR 17,500 in fees on top of the property, most of it the one-off 5%.

You'll also need to show financial means for the stay. The reference amounts are set annually — in 2026, around EUR 780 per month for the main applicant on the share-capital route and around EUR 2,340 on the real-estate route, with lower amounts for a spouse and children. A bank statement or employment agreement covers this; we confirm the exact applicable figures at the time of each application.

For worked family budgets and five-year totals, see the complete cost breakdown. Our own legal fee is fixed and agreed transparently before the engagement. It covers the immigration side once the investment deal is closed — document preparation, the OCMA applications, communication with the authorities, and accompanying you at biometrics. Legal support of the investment transaction itself and the D visa application are separate engagements, priced separately, so you know exactly what sits where.

Who Qualifies — and Who Currently Doesn't

The baseline requirements are undramatic: a qualifying investment, a clean criminal record (certificates required for everyone over 14), documented source of funds, proof of financial means, health insurance, and an address in Latvia. Your spouse and children under 18 apply on the basis of family reunion — each family member files a separate application rather than being added automatically.

The significant restriction concerns citizenship. As of 2026, the investment route is closed to Russian and Belarusian citizens: Latvian law currently prohibits them from acquiring real estate, and investment-based residence permits are not available to them. This isn't a gray area or a matter of structuring — it's a closed door.

Two important nuances soften that picture. First, holders of dual citizenship are treated under their other citizenship — a Russian citizen who also holds, say, an EU or Israeli passport is assessed on that passport, and EU citizens don't need the investment route at all. Second, the employment-based EU Blue Card remains fully open to Russian and Belarusian citizens, and we have guided both through the complete process. If that's your situation, the Blue Card guide is where to start.

Source of funds deserves a frank word. Investor applications come with comprehensive questionnaires — about the company you invested in, its office, employees and projects, how you chose the investment, whether you plan to live in Latvia. The volume looks overwhelming, and clients regularly ask whether they're being singled out. They aren't. These questionnaires are standard procedure across the EU's stricter entry environment, they come with firm deadlines, and in our practice well-prepared answers consistent with the application file are what keeps a case moving.

The Realistic Timeline: Three to Six Months, Honestly Broken Down

Formally, OCMA — the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, Latvia's migration authority — reviews an application in 30 days, with expedited 10- and 5-day options. Planning your life around that number is a mistake.

Across our completed cases, the realistic span runs three to six months between signing the engagement and holding the cards — and clean files built on EU-issued documents have closed in roughly three. Stage by stage (the dedicated timeline article maps every week): engagement and KYC take one to three weeks; completing the investment formalities — registration as shareholder or of the property — runs from two weeks upward; invitation approval takes two to four weeks; collecting documents with apostilles or legalizations takes three to eight weeks; the embassy appointment adds days to three weeks; then OCMA review.

That document-collection stage deserves emphasis, because it is the single most common source of delay. Documents from Hague Convention states (the USA, for instance) need only an apostille. Documents from non-Hague states — the UAE and Egypt are the ones we see most — need full legalization: first at the issuing country's foreign ministry, then at the Latvian embassy there. Criminal record certificates must be issued on paper, stamped and certified. Weeks disappear here if it isn't managed early and in parallel.

In investor cases specifically, plan for OCMA to extend its review by two to three months with additional questions. An opinion from the State Security Service is a mandatory part of every investment application, and its checks are confidential. An extension is not a bad sign — it's a normal feature of the process, and the right response is precise, prompt answers. (This is also why we prepare and review every questionnaire response before anything is sent.)

After the positive decision comes a step that catches people out: you need a national long-stay D visa issued specifically on the basis of the decision — not a tourist visa — to travel to Latvia and collect the card. Then a few days in Riga: a chest X-ray for the tuberculosis certificate (issued within a day or two), insurance policies, payment of the investment state fee, biometrics, and the card — 10 business days standard, 2–3 business days urgent. With good planning, the whole visit fits into a single short trip.

Five Mistakes That Cost Applicants Months

After enough investor cases, the failure patterns repeat themselves. These are the ones we see most.

Paying for the property the wrong way. Cash payments and payments from company accounts don't qualify — the purchase price must move by bank transfer from the investor's personal account. Unwinding a mispaid transaction is expensive; asking first is free.

Filing with an apostille still missing. It's technically possible to apply and supply the document later. We advise against it: the authority typically extends the review by two to three months and gives you a deadline of around two weeks to file the corrected document — a stressful combination. Apply complete.

Proving the share investment with an account statement. For share-capital investments, OCMA requires a document issued directly by the bank confirming the investment; an ordinary statement is often rejected. We arrange the correct bank confirmation with an explanatory cover letter as standard.

Booking travel around the 30-day formal deadline. See above — extensions of two to three months are normal in investor cases. Build the security check into your plans and it loses its power to disrupt them.

Treating the annual registration casually. The TRP is issued for five years, but the card is registered every year, and at each registration you confirm the investment is still in place. Selling the property or withdrawing the capital without a qualifying replacement removes the legal basis of your permit. Transitions can be structured — share capital to real estate, one property to another — but they need to be structured, not improvised.

Where the Law Stands in July 2026

You may have read that Latvia's golden visa is being abolished — we've analysed the legislative story in detail separately. The accurate picture, as of July 2026: no abolition is in force. The valid law remains the existing Immigration Law, including the real-estate route.

What actually happened: Parliament adopted a new Immigration Law, but it has not entered into force — the President returned it for a second review, asking Parliament to reconsider preserving the real-estate route for citizens of NATO, OECD, EEA and other Latvia-friendly countries. Notably, even the draft new law preserved the investment route through company share capital.

Nobody can promise you the rules of 2026 will be the rules of 2028 — we won't, and you should be skeptical of anyone who does. What we can say is that we monitor the legislative process closely, we advise clients on structures that remain robust under any outcome, and our engagement agreement expressly covers the scenario where a change in law makes an application impossible: in that case, the unused part of the advance fee is refunded.

Is the Latvia Golden Visa Right for You? Five Questions

Strip away the details and the decision usually turns on five questions.

1. Do you want EU residence without EU relocation? If you need a base you'll visit occasionally rather than a new home country, Latvia's one-visit-per-year regime is close to unmatched.
2. Does direct ownership matter to you? Latvia is one of the last programmes where the qualifying asset is a titled property in a capital city, not units in a fund.
3. Is your budget under EUR 400,000? Below Greece's prime-zone threshold and Malta's all-in cost, Latvia's EUR 250,000 property route or EUR 100,000 share-capital route are the realistic EU options in 2026 — the full map of what remains in Europe shows how short the list has become.
4. Is your citizenship eligible? Russian and Belarusian citizens need the Blue Card route instead — or a second citizenship that opens the investment door.
5. Might you want more later? After five years of actual residence and a language exam, permanent residence becomes available — and five years after that, citizenship. The TRP keeps that option open without ever obliging you to take it.

If you answered yes to the first three, the Latvian programme deserves a place on your shortlist — probably near the top of it. And if you'd rather read the route through your own passport's lens, we've written country guides for US citizens, Canadians, Turkish citizens, investors from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman, and Egyptian citizens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to live in Latvia to keep the golden visa?

No. There is no requirement to live in Latvia — a single brief trip each year, made to register the annual card, keeps the TRP in force. Many of our clients treat the TRP as a legal foothold in the EU they activate whenever they choose. The permit does stand on the investment, though: selling the property or withdrawing the capital without a qualifying replacement removes its basis.

Can Russian or Belarusian citizens apply for the Latvia golden visa?

No. As of 2026 the investment route is closed to Russian and Belarusian citizens — Latvian law currently prohibits them from acquiring real estate, and investment-based residence permits are not available to them; no structuring changes that. Dual citizens are treated under their other citizenship, and the employment-based EU Blue Card remains fully open to both nationalities.

Is there a language requirement for the Latvia golden visa?

No. No Latvian is needed to obtain the permit and none to renew it — the TRP can be kept year after year, indefinitely, with no language test ever taken. The language only enters the picture if you later choose to apply for permanent residence, which becomes available after five years of actual residence.

Is the Latvia golden visa still available in 2026?

Yes. As of July 2026, no abolition is in force — the valid law remains the existing Immigration Law, including the real-estate route. Parliament adopted a new Immigration Law, but the President returned it for a second review and it has not entered into force; notably, even that draft preserved the share-capital route. Nobody can promise the rules of 2026 will be the rules of 2028, which is why we monitor the process closely.

Can I include my spouse and children in the application?

Yes. The permit covers you, your spouse and your children under 18 for up to five years. Family members apply on the basis of family reunion, and each files a separate application rather than being added automatically. Criminal record certificates are required for everyone over 14.

Weighing the Latvian Route?

Which route fits — EUR 250,000 in property or EUR 100,000 in share capital — depends on your citizenship, your timeline and what you're actually buying. We assess your specific situation, flag the obstacles before they cost you months, and manage the process from engagement to residence card.

Contact CORVUS for an assessment of your situation →

This article is general information, not legal advice. State fees, subsistence amounts and thresholds are set by law and reviewed annually; figures are current as of July 2026 and may change. The immigration authorities' practice may impose additional requirements in individual cases. Contact us for advice on your specific situation. Official information on procedures and fees: pmlp.gov.lv (OCMA).

Author: Valērija Barišņikova — sworn attorney (Latvia), CORVUS Attorneys-at-Law (ZAB Corvus Vanags Legal SIA). Reviewed by Andrejs Voroncovs — sworn attorney (Latvia), founder of CORVUS Attorneys-at-Law. Mag. iur. with distinction, University of Latvia; member of the Latvian Bar Association and of its commission for tax and financial matters. Profile → The firm has handled migration cases since 2004 — hundreds of cases for clients from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Egypt, the UAE, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the USA and Canada. Member of the Russell Bedford international network.