The Law Office Rasa & Esenvalds has prepared a presentation about visa forming procedure in Latvia. The presentation briefly explains the process of forming the visa in order to stay or reside in Latvia.

1. Visas, 2015
© Law Office ‘Rasa & Esenvalds’
www.readvokati.lv

2. Types of Visas
1) A Visa (Schengen Visa – airport transit visa);
2) C Visa (Schengen Visa – short-term visa);
3) D visa (National Visa – long-stay visa)
C and D visas may be single entry, double-entry or multiple-entry visas.

3. Information Regarding Visas
• EU and Latvian law requires to submit certain documents to form a Visa;
• The documents regarding Visa are submitted in the Embassy or Consulate of Latvia in
the Client’s country or in other Consulate or Embassies Countries where Latvia is
represented in issuing Schengen visas by other Member State;
• The document examination period depends on the Embassy or Consulate, where the
documents were submitted for the visa (it may take up to 15 days).

4. 1. A Visa (Airport Transit Visa)
• The A Visa is an airport transit visa that is required for nationals of several countries
who need to change an airplane at the airport of a Schengen member state or whose
airplane lands in the airport of a Schengen member state;n
• A visa is required for citizens of such countries:
➢ Afghanistan;
➢ Bangladesh;
➢ Democratic Republic of Congo;
➢ Eritrea;
➢ Ethiopia;
➢ Ghana;
➢ Iran;
➢ Iraq;
➢ Nigeria;
➢ Pakistan;
➢ Somalia;
➢ Sri Lanka
➢ or foreigners holding travel documents issued by the aforementioned countries.
• However, there might be several exceptions when an airport transit visa for citizens of
these countries is not needed.

5. 2. C Visa (Short-term Visa)
• There are two types of C visas: unified visa and limited territorial validity visa (valid only
in Latvia or validity is excluded for a specified Schengen states).This visa allows to stay
in the territory of the state/states for which it is valid.
• The unified visa alows the holder to stay in the territory of all Schengen States (the
unified visa).
• The maximum residing period in Latvia with C visa is up to 90 days in any 180 day
period of time.

6. 3. D Visa (Long-stay visa)
• The D visa enables a foreigner to enter Latvia within the specified period of time, once,
two times or an unlimited number of times respectively, stay there for the term indicated
in the visa and depart from the country. The D visa can be formed if a foreigner needs
to reside in Latvia for more than 90 days within a 6 month period, it is possible to obtain
this visa if a foreigner:
➢ complies with international legislation;
➢ complies with the interests of Latvia;
➢ is justified by force majeure;
➢ is justified by humanitarian considerations;
➢ must stay in Latvia because of personal or professional reasons.
• D visa may be obtained if the Client must come to Latvia to obtain a Residence Permit;

7. Law Office ‘Rasa & Ešenvalds’ may assist you:
• in forming visas;
• in forming other documents regarding Visas;
• in forming an Invitation for you to come to Latvia;
• in document legalization procedure, if necessary;
• in document translation procedure;
• in procedure of obtaining Residence Permit also in case you are
interested to stay for a longer period of time than visa allows;

8. Contacts
Law Office „Rasa Esenvalds”
attorney at law partner Jānis Ešenvalds
attorney at law partner Armands Rasa
Kr.Valdemara iela 33-35, Riga, LV-1010
Tel.67280685, fax.67280603
info@readvokati.lv
www.readvokati.lv