Latvia Golden Visa New Law: What's Actually True in 2026

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

Most people who ask us about the Latvia golden visa new law arrive convinced of something that isn't true. Half believe the programme has already been abolished — they've seen the headlines about Parliament adopting a new Immigration Law. The other half believe nothing is happening at all — they've checked that applications are still being accepted. The legal reality sits precisely between those positions, and for anyone planning a EUR 100,000–250,000 decision, the difference between headline and statute is worth ten minutes of careful reading.

We are CORVUS, an attorney-at-law office in Riga. We monitor this legislative process closely — it's our clients' money on the line — and this article states what has actually happened, what is actually in force as of July 2026, and how a prudent investor acts while parliaments deliberate.

What Actually Happened, Step by Step

The sequence matters, so here it is without compression.

Parliament adopted a new Immigration Law. If it had entered into force as adopted, it would have reshaped the investment residence landscape — and this is the event the "Latvia abolishes golden visas" headlines reported.

Then the President returned the law to Parliament for a second review — a constitutional mechanism, not a formality. In doing so, the President specifically asked Parliament to reconsider preserving the real-estate route for citizens of NATO, OECD, EEA and other Latvia-friendly countries.

The consequence: the new law has not entered into force. As of July 2026, no abolition is in force, and the valid law remains the existing Immigration Law — including the real-estate route.

One detail from the adopted text deserves its own paragraph, because it's the strongest signal in the whole story: even the draft new law preserved the investment route through company share capital. Whatever Parliament ultimately decides about property, the EUR 100,000 share-capital route was kept in the version lawmakers voted for. Of everything on Latvia's investment menu, it's the option the legislator has been least inclined to touch.

What This Means If You're Applying Now

Today's applications proceed under today's law — both routes, standard terms. A EUR 250,000 property purchase or a EUR 100,000 share-capital investment qualifies exactly as described in our complete golden visa guide, with the usual fees, the usual review, the usual five-year permit.

What the legislative situation changes is not the rules but the calculus around timing. Three observations from our practice:

The window is defined, the deadline isn't. Nobody — including us — can tell you whether the current rules hold for another five years or another five months. Parliaments set their own schedules. What we can say is that every month of deliberation is a month the current rules remain available — and how any new law would treat applications already filed is precisely the kind of transitional question we track for clients as the text evolves.

Route choice now carries a legislative dimension. The President's return message named the real-estate route as the item to reconsider preserving — for NATO, OECD and EEA citizens specifically. The share-capital route survived even the adopted draft. For clients weighing the two routes on otherwise equal terms, that asymmetry is now part of the conversation.

Structures can be built to survive outcomes. The two routes convert into each other — share capital to real estate and back — and transitions are structurable. We advise clients on arrangements that remain robust under any legislative outcome, which mostly means: clean qualifying investments, no exotic constructions, documents in order, and no timeline that assumes the law will wait for you.

How We Handle the Uncertainty Contractually

A law firm that sells certainty about pending legislation is selling something it doesn't have. What we offer instead is precision about the current law and a contract that allocates the risk honestly: our engagement agreement expressly regulates the situation where the law itself changes and an application becomes impossible — in that case, the unused part of the advance fee is refunded. You shouldn't pay for a procedure that legislation has closed, and with us you don't.

The rest of our answer is operational. We track the legislative process as part of client work, not as a newsletter topic; clients with pending decisions hear from us when something moves, not when something trends. And we'll say plainly what we tell every caller who opens with the abolition headline: as of July 2026 the programme is open, the real-estate route is in force, the share-capital route has proven the more durable of the two on paper — and the only reliably wrong strategy is deciding based on a headline from either direction.

The Wider Context: Why the Headlines Keep Coming

Latvia isn't legislating in a vacuum. Spain terminated its golden visa in April 2025; Portugal removed its property route in 2023; Greece repriced. Investment migration is under political pressure across the EU, and headlines about any country "ending golden visas" now write themselves — our map of what remains in Europe shows how much the field has narrowed in three years.

That context cuts both ways, and honesty requires stating both edges. It means Latvian legislative risk is real: the direction of travel in Europe is restrictive, and the current law's survival to 2030 is nobody's promise. It also means the current Latvian rules — direct ownership at EUR 250,000, a EUR 100,000 corporate route, a capital city, one visit per year — are an offer the rest of the EU has already withdrawn. Investors who prefer to decide with full information rather than perfect information will recognise the shape of that trade-off.

Deciding While the Law Deliberates?

We'll tell you exactly what's in force the week you ask, which route your citizenship and plans favour under the current rules, and how your structure would fare under the scenarios on the table — with the refund clause in writing before you commit a euro.

Contact CORVUS for an assessment of your situation →

This article is general information, not legal advice. It describes the legislative status as of July 2026, which may change at any time; verify the current position before acting. Contact us for advice on your specific situation.

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.