Latvia work visa and employment residence permit

Your salary must be at least the average monthly gross wage in your sector according to the latest Central Statistical Bureau data, or the minimum wage fixed by a sector-wide agreement; OCMA publishes the sector table. If the sector average is higher than the national average of the previous year, the national figure applies, which OCMA gives as EUR 1,815. Income tax and social insurance must later be paid on the salary you declared, because OCMA checks this when the permit is registered or renewed.

Employer: EUR 17 for the sponsorship request (EUR 10 if filed online on Latvija.gov.lv), EUR 10 for each person included and EUR 85 for each request for the right to employment. Employee: review EUR 160 within 30 days, EUR 280 within 10 working days or EUR 560 within 5 working days, card EUR 45 and entry D visa EUR 90.

Third-country nationals can only fill a vacancy that has been registered on the State Employment Agency (NVA) portal and stayed open for at least 10 working days; the employer obtains the NVA opinion. The employer then files a sponsorship request (call) with any OCMA office, enclosing the employment contract or draft and your education documents. For a regulated profession a recognition of qualifications is required; for other jobs a legalised diploma or proof of three years’ experience in the profession. OCMA decides on employment-related requests within five working days, or 10 if extra checks are needed.

After OCMA approves the permit, you apply at the Latvian embassy or its visa application centre for a single-entry D visa valid for 30 days (fee EUR 90) and travel to Latvia. There you give biometrics at an OCMA office, pay the card fee and receive the residence permit card. As a permit holder you must declare your place of residence; the application form usually counts as the declaration, and later changes must be declared within one month, free of charge on Latvija.gov.lv or for EUR 4.27 at an office. You must also register with the State Revenue Service as a taxpayer.

When OCMA requires a valid permit to be registered, the registration review costs EUR 75 in 30 days, EUR 140 in 10 working days or EUR 290 in 5 working days and requires a new employer invitation, a passport copy, insurance and tax statements. For a repeated permit the employer files a new sponsorship.

The inviting employer or the foreigner may contest a refusal to issue or register a permit within 30 days of its entry into force, in Latvian, to the Head of OCMA; the Head’s decision can be taken to court.

You may work only in the profession and for the employer for which the right was granted. A change of employer or profession requires a new right to employment, and changes in working hours, place of work or pay must be reported. Short assignments can instead use a C visa (up to 90 days) or D visa (up to one year) with a right-to-work remark, which must be obtained at a Latvian mission before entry.