Riga’s old town rooftops and the Daugava, seen from above
Residency by investment

Latvia Golden Visa

EU residency from €50,000 is still real, still the lowest entry price in Europe. But a new Immigration Law, effective 15 September 2026, ends the passive routes and cuts the permit to two years. Here's what's left.

€50k
the only route still open, company equity, but an active, taxpaying business
2 years
the permit for applications from 15 Sept 2026, down from five; the ID card now runs for the permit's full term
None
minimum stay to hold the permit; absence limits only count on the road to permanent residency
90/180
Schengen days outside Latvia, visa-free across all 29 countries
10 years
to citizenship, permanent residency at five, with A2 Latvian and a culture and history course

One route left, after the September 2026 law.

Until 15 September 2026 Latvia had four routes. A new Immigration Law, effective that date, closes the three passive ones, real estate, government bonds and bank deposit, to new applicants. The €50,000 company route is the one still open, and it was always the most demanding, because it needs a genuine taxpaying business.

Route
You need
Permit in
You're here
Fits you if
1
Route
Company equityThe only route still open
You need
€50,000 into a Latvian company's share capital€50k into a company of up to 50 staff paying €40,000+/yr in Latvian tax, or €100k into a larger one paying €100,000+/yr; plus a €10,000 state fee
Permit in
1–4 months
You're here
No minimum stay
Fits you if
You're genuinely building a Latvian business, not parking money.

Applications filed by 14 September 2026 keep the old rules, the five-year permit and the now-closed passive routes. From 15 September, new applicants get the company route only, at a two-year permit. A €150,000 investment-fund route is written into the new law, but a bill to delete it went to a Saeima committee on 10 September 2026, so don't plan around it.

Latvia fits you if…

  • 1You want Schengen access and EU residency without immediate citizenship plans, at the lowest EU entry cost available.
  • 2You can genuinely operate a Latvian company paying at least €40,000 a year in tax (€100,000 on the larger-company tier), since 15 September 2026 that company route is the only one open.
  • 3You want EU residency for education or lifestyle, no minimum stay, full family inclusion.
  • 4Your existing passport is one Latvia lets you keep, EU/EFTA and NATO states, Australia, Brazil or New Zealand, if citizenship is ever the goal.

Not you? Here instead.

  • Dual citizenship and a shorter path, Latvia asks fluent Latvian for citizenship and, for most nationals, renunciationPortugal

The detail, when you want it.

The company-equity route places €50,000 into the share capital of a Latvian company with no more than 50 employees and turnover or a balance sheet of up to €10 million, plus a one-time €10,000 state fee; a larger company takes €100,000. The part most guides skip: that company must pay at least €40,000 a year in Latvian taxes to keep your eligibility, €100,000 a year on the larger-company tier.
For a founder genuinely building in Latvia, that is real value. For someone treating €50,000 as a parking mechanism, it either does not qualify or demands far more engagement than the entry price suggests, and since 15 September 2026 there is no passive alternative: the €250,000 routes that used to serve that purpose are closed.
A new Immigration Law is effective 15 September 2026. It closes the three passive routes, real estate, government bonds and bank deposit, to new applicants; applications must be filed by 14 September to use the old rules. The surviving company-equity route now grants a two-year permit, not five. A €150,000 investment-fund route is written into the law, but a bill to delete it went to a Saeima committee on 10 September 2026, so don't plan around it.
Alongside it comes a language rule: from 31 December 2027, anyone whose permits add up to 18 months or more, the investor included, needs A1 Latvian and a course in Latvian culture and history. Holders of permits issued under the old rules are exempt. Applications filed before 15 September keep the old five-year permit and the old route options.
Permanent residency comes after five years of continuous residence, with total absences under about ten months across the whole period and no single absence longer than six months, plus A2 Latvian by official examination and a course in Latvian culture and history. Latvian is one of Europe’s most complex languages for non-European speakers, a substantive barrier, not a formality.
Citizenship after ten years asks for fluent Latvian, well past the A2 residency bar, and requires renouncing your prior citizenship, unless yours is on Latvia’s exception list, which covers EU/EFTA and NATO states, Australia, Brazil and New Zealand. Turkey is a NATO member, so Turkish nationals can naturalise in Latvia without giving up their Turkish passport. If your passport is not on that list, keeping it and taking Latvian citizenship do not mix.
Main applicant: about €500 a month on the company route (the €1,500-a-month figure applied to the now-closed real estate route); about €150 a month per minor dependent.
On entry cost Latvia wins, €50,000 against €500,000 for Portugal’s fund. On almost everything else, dual citizenship, a shorter citizenship timeline, an easier language, Portugal, Greece or Malta offer more.
Choose the route, make the investment, gather documents (passport, criminal-record certificate, proof of funds, investment confirmation), submit to OCMA, and attend one in-person appointment in Latvia for biometrics. The law gives OCMA 30 days to decide, extendable to at most four months.

Official sources

Read more on Latvia.

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