Recently there have been made several amendments to the Immigration law in Latvia that will come into force on July 1, 2016. The new amendments have made changes regarding the repeated issuance of temporary residence permits in Latvia, temporary residence permits for foreign investors and the owners of real estate in Latvia, as well as general rules for suspension of temporary residence permits in Latvia.

First of all, from July 1, 2016 the repeated issuance of the temporary residence permit in Latvia will be a subject of the fee EUR 5 000.

These amendments have given the Cabinet of Ministers the right to evaluate the effect of the temporary residence permits on the national security and economic development of Latvia, and, if necessary, set the restrictions and limitations on the issuance of the temporary residence permits in Latvia for third country nationals for a certain period of time, which does not exceed a term of five years. Therefore, depending on the amount of certain third country nationals in the territory of Latvia, the issuance of the temporary residence permits can be suspended. 

The new amendments to the Immigration law in Latvia also broaden the possibility of obtaining the temporary residence permits for the owners of the immovable property in Latvia. Currently the law determines that the temporary residence permit can be obtained by the owner of the functionally linked and built-up immovable property in Latvia for which the value is not less than EUR 250 000. From July 1, 2016 it will be possible to obtain the temporary residence permit for the term not exceeding five years by the person that owns:

• one functionally linked and built-up immovable property in Latvia, the value of which is not less than EUR 250 000;
• not more than two functionally linked and built-up immovable properties outside the districts Riga, Jurmala, Adazi, Babite, Baldone, Carnikava, Garkalne, Ikscile, Kekava, Marupe, Olaine, Ropazi, Salaspils, Saulkrasti, Stopini for which the collective value is at least EUR 250 000.

The changes also have been made for the persons that are investing in the equity capital of the capital company, whether increasing it or founding a new capital company, and wishing to obtain the temporary residence permit in Latvia. For the small and medium companies that do not employ more than 50 employees and the annual turnover does not exceed EUR 10 million, the amount of the investment will be increased from EUR 35 000 to EUR 50 000. For large companies that employ more than 50 employees and the annual turnover exceeds EUR 10 million, the amount of the investment will be decreased from EUR 150 000 to EUR 100 000.

Moreover, there will be set a minimum tax amount that has to be paid during the economic year: for small and medium companies it will be EUR 40 000, but for large companies EUR 100 000. The amount of the foreigners that can request a temporary residence permit in Latvia that have invested in one capital company will be increased from three to ten foreigners. In addition, all investors have will have to pay the state fee EUR 10 000 in order to receive the temporary residence permit in Latvia.

Unfortunately, the President of the Republic of Latvia decided not to announce these amendments considering that the amendments have several essential imperfections, which have to be eliminated; therefore handing the amendments over to the Parliament of Latvia (Saeima) for the second review.

More detailed information about temporary residence permits in Latvia can be found in the homepage of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs of Latvia in here: http://www.pmlp.gov.lv/en/