Amendments to Article 4.⁴ of the Immigration Law enter into force on 1 September 2025. Under these amendments, third-country nationals who do not hold a visa or residence permit issued by Latvia will be required, prior to entering Latvia, to submit an Electronic Travel Declaration providing information about themselves and the purpose of their travel of their travel to the State Threat Prevention Information System at eta.gov.lv at least 48 hours before arrival in Latvia, including if a foreign national intend to cross Latvia in transit. More details about the Electronic Travel Declaration, including details on individuals who are exempt from the obligation to submit it, is available here.
Since 12 October, the new Entry/Exit System (EES) has been operational in Latvia, as in other European countries. For more detailed information, please visit here and here.
For inquiries regarding border crossing procedures, Electronic Travel Declaration, as well as Entry/Exit System, please contact the State Border Guard of Latvia.
Please note that starting from 1 January 2021, holders of the UK residence documents will not be exempted from the visa requirement to travel to Latvia.
A list of countries and territories whose citizens do not require a visa to enter and stay in Latvia for up to 90 days in any 180-day period is available here.
Citizens of third countries who are residents of the United Kingdom and wish to travel to Latvia may submit their visa applications exclusively at VFS Global in London, Manchester, or Edinburgh by prior appointment only. To schedule an appointment, please click here.
For any questions or clarifications, please contact VFS Global.
Holders of the following types of UK travel documents are required to apply for a Schengen visa to enter Latvia:
- Stateless persons travel document (being red coloured, issued under the Convention of 28 September 1954)
- Certificate of travel (also called a certificate of identity, brown or black, LTD visa)
- Convention travel document (blue, issued under the Convention of 28 July 1951).
For detailed information on entry into Latvia by citizens of Russia and Belarus, please click here.
Information on visa application fees is available here.
Please note that the possession of a visa does not guarantee the right of entry into the respective country. If a person has been issued a visa for entry into the Schengen Area, they may be required at the external border of the Schengen Area to provide additional information regarding their compliance with the entry conditions, as stipulated in Article 6 of the Schengen Borders Code.