Latvia Offers Fee Waiver for Residence Permit Applications on 3 Grounds

• Latvia's Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 707 outlines specific grounds on which applicants can be exempted from paying consular fees for residence permits
• The standard consular fee for processing a residence permit application through a Latvian mission abroad ranges from €180 to €252 depending on the applicant's category
• Latvia's regulations allow fee waivers based on specific reasons submitted through a motivated application

Latvia's government has outlined three distinct grounds under which foreigners can be exempted from paying consular fees when applying for a residence permit, according to Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 707.

The regulation, which governs the price list of consular fees charged by Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs at its diplomatic and consular missions abroad, specifies that fee waivers are not automatic.

A decision to exempt an applicant from payment must be taken by the Director of the Consular Department or an authorised official.

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The 3 Grounds for a Fee Waiver

According to Section 5 of the regulation, a fee exemption can be granted on three grounds. The first is compliance with international treaties that are binding on Latvia.

The second is when the exemption is considered to be in the interest of the Latvian state.

The third ground is humanitarian, where a person submits a motivated application requesting relief from the fee for humanitarian reasons.

For the third ground specifically, the applicant bears the responsibility of making a formal, reasoned case for why the exemption should apply to their situation.

What Latvia Charges for Residence Permit Processing

Outside of the exemptions, the regulation sets clear fee tiers for residence permit-related services at Latvian missions.

Processing and transmitting documents to Latvia's Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs costs €180 for three categories of applicants: students enrolled at accredited institutions, former Latvian citizens or non-citizens who later acquired another nationality, and spouses, minor children, or dependants of Latvian citizens, non-citizens, or holders of permanent residence permits.

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All other applicants fall into a general category that attracts a higher fee of €252 per request. An additional €90 fee applies for the scanning of documents submitted alongside residence permit applications.

Latvia clarifies residence permit rejections

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Latvia published a list of conditions under which a foreigner may be denied a residence permit to enter or live in the country long-term.

The list covers reasons ranging from missing documents and false information to criminal history and marriage fraud.

Source: Legit.ng