To protect the personal data, rights and lawful interests of the holder of an identity document – an ID card or a passport – the following procedure for legalisation of passports and ID cards (hereinafter – a passport) has been laid down as from 18 October 2017.
1. The procedure for legalisation of a copy of Latvian passport is as follows:
- if a Latvian passport has been submitted to a public notary by a person other than the holder, for making a copy, the copy of such passport is taken for legalisation by the holder of the passport, who also presents their original passport;
- if Latvian passport has been submitted by its holder to a public notary for making and certifying a copy, another person can take the copy of such passport to be legalised.
2. If a copy of a passport issued in a foreign country certified by a public notary in Latvia is taken for legalisation by its holder, they shall:
- submit the passport copy to be legalised;
- produce the original of the passport that has been copied.
3. If a copy of a foreign passport certified by a public notary in Latvia is taken for legalisation by a person other than the holder, the said person shall submit the following documents:
- the passport copy to be legalised;
- a document issued by a competent institution in the respective foreign country certifying that the passport in question has not been listed invalid. Such a certification must be issued no earlier that one month prior to presenting it to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
- their passport;
- a notarised statement by the person whose passport has been submitted for legalisation giving permission to make a copy of their passport and specifying for what purpose the copy will be used.
If it is not possible for the person to present the above listed documents, they can request a notary of the issuing state to certify the passport copy and legalise the document at the competent institution of the issuing state afterwards.
As from July 1, 2019 certification of public documents with Apostille will be carried out by sworn notaries.
Information on service:
Latvian Council of Sworn Notaries
Phone: 67218955
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Last date for subumitting documents for certification with Apostille at the Consular Department is 28th June (certified documents can be received after 1st June).