Foreign nationals holding a residence permit, or a document considered to be equal to one, issued by one of the Schengen Agreement Member States, including Latvia, may travel freely within the territory of other Schengen Agreement countries for a period up to 90 days in any 180-day period, if they comply with provision of Article 5 of the Schengen Borders Code:
- they are in possession of a valid travel document
- they can justify the purpose and conditions of the intended stay
- they have sufficient means of subsistence, both for the duration of the intended stay and for the return to their country of origin
- they are not persons for whom an alert has been issued in the Schengen Information System (SIS) for the purposes of refusing entry;
- they are not considered to be a threat to public policy, internal security, public health or the international relations of any of the Member States
Each Schengen Agreement member state decides on its own, with which documents issued by it, a person may travel to other member states. Information on these documents is included in Annex 22 to the Schengen Borders Code "List of residence permits issued by the Member States"
If it is not clear, whether a specific document grants such rights, one should consult the immigration institutions of his home state.
This procedure does not concern long-stay visas (D type) the use of which is regulated under the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council that entered into effect on 5 April 2010.
In accordance with this Regulation, a foreign national in possession of a long-stay visa (D type) issued by a Schengen state may enter and stay in the territory of other Schengen states no more than 90 days in any 180-day period.