Latvia: residence and citizenship

Property and bank investors can no longer apply, but existing holders stay. Their permits run until they expire and renew for up to five years on the same investment, with an unrestricted right to work, if the holder applies while the current permit is still valid. Applications filed by 14 September 2026 are decided under the old law. The Saeima adopted the new law on 20 August 2026, after the President returned the first version in June.

EUR 60,000 at the entry tier: EUR 50,000 of equity in a Latvian company with up to 50 employees and turnover or a balance sheet of up to EUR 10 million, plus EUR 10,000 to the state budget. The company then has to pay at least EUR 40,000 a year in taxes for the permit to stay valid, so the money has to sit in a business with real payroll and profit. Larger companies need EUR 100,000 of equity and EUR 100,000 a year in taxes. Russian and Belarusian citizens cannot use this route.

Five years of continuous residence lead to permanent residence, with absences of no more than six months in a row or ten months in total. The applicant also needs Latvian at A2, enough income and a completed course in Latvian culture and history. Citizenship takes five more years of permanent residence and exams in Latvian, history, the Constitution and the national anthem, so ten years is the minimum. A permit held from abroad reaches neither stage.

Latvia accepts dual citizenship with EU, EFTA and NATO states, Australia, Brazil and New Zealand. Applicants from anywhere else give up their first citizenship to naturalise, so for most investors from Asia, Africa and the Middle East a Latvian passport means losing their own.

The startup route needs no set capital and gives a permit of up to three years. Since 15 September 2026 it has been open to founders of every nationality except Russian citizens and nationals of the countries on the Cabinet's additional-checks list; before that, only nationals of OECD states, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino qualified. Within three months of the decision the founder joins the board of a Latvian company registered no more than a year earlier, and within 12 months shows early-stage venture capital or a progress report on the product. No more than five foreigners can hold permits for one startup.

Latvia's real structural advantage sits in corporate tax, not personal tax. Retained and reinvested earnings are taxed at 0%, with 20% due only when profits are distributed. On the personal side, capital gains are now taxed at 25.5%. The old 20% rate was abolished from 1 January 2025, surviving only, on a transitional basis, for disposals initiated before 31 December 2024. The top income rate reaches an effective 36%, with a 3% surcharge above EUR 200,000. There is no wealth tax and no inheritance tax, and gifts are exempt between spouses and relatives to the third degree. Latvia is a full CRS participant, and there is no personal exit tax.

The bond route no longer exists. An amendment to the Immigration Law adopted on 23 April 2026 deleted it from 20 May 2026, and the new law has no bond ground either.

Applications cannot be filed until the state sets up the fund and its manager. The route itself is law: a contract with the state fund manager, at least EUR 150,000 invested for five years or more and EUR 10,000 to the state budget give a permit of up to five years. The outgoing Saeima voted down a bill to delete it on 29 October 2026. Russian and Belarusian citizens are excluded.