Latvia

Business investment residence permit. After Latvia closed real-estate and bank-deposit golden-visa routes to new applicants on 15 September 2026, a two-year residence permit is still available for investing directly in a Latvian business.

Free · The law behind every answer · Checked Sep 27, 2026

Business investment residence permit

A temporary residence permit valid for 2 years, renewable while the investment and jobs are maintained.

Who qualifies

Invest at least €50,000 in a Latvian company with under 50 employees and €2 million in assets or turnover, or €100,000 in a larger company, plus a one-off €10,000 (about $11,000) state-budget payment.
Immigration Law (as amended, effective 15 September 2026), Art. 23(1)(1)–(2), business investment route
Real-estate (€250,000 property) and government-bond/bank-deposit routes stopped accepting new applications from 15 September 2026; applications filed before that date are still assessed under the old rules, and the permit term for new business-investment applicants is now 2 years rather than the previous 5.
Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, 2026 investor residence update

Whether you keep your U.S. citizenship depends on the route you take later.

Does it fit your family?

One question, from the program’s own rules.

Savings you could move or invest?

Not legal advice.

What it takes.

Investment: About $55,000.
Time: 2–4 months from investment to permit.
Cost: About $61,000–120,000 including the investment, the €10,000 (about $11,000) state fee, and legal fees.
The hard part: Meeting the job-creation and company-size tests that keep the permit valid at renewal, now that the passive real-estate route is closed to new entrants.

Dollar figures are converted from the local currency at the rate the program’s research used; the official figure is in the local currency.

Citizens by 2038.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

2027
First residence permit
2 years, renewable for 2 years at a time.
2029
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 2 years.
2031
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 2 years.
2032
Permanent residence
Under the Immigration Law in force from 15 September 2026, five years in a row on temporary residence permits, then Latvian at A2 by the state exam. Investors of more than €500,000 and people over 65 are exempt from the language test.
2037
Apply for citizenship
With a language test and a civics test.
2038
Citizenship
The decision usually takes 6–12 months.

Language: Latvian, by a state test in two parts (written, and a ten-question interview) at an everyday-conversation level. No CEFR level is published.
Civics: A test on the Constitution and on Latvian history and culture, plus reciting the national anthem.
Time away: Five years living in Latvia counted from the day permanent residence was granted. Breaks may add up to one year in total, but none in the last year before applying.
Two passports: It depends on the rules at the time and on your home country.

A temporary residence permit, so the years count toward permanent residence, provided the investment and jobs are kept at every renewal.
Law-firm summaries say the new Immigration Law allows at most 10 months abroad in the 5 years before permanent residence, and adds a Latvian culture and history course; the PMLP pages we read did not state either.
The law caps the decision at one year from a complete file; PMLP's own estimate is 6–12 months, longer if you must first renounce another citizenship.
LV-DNV: renewable once for a second year per the earlier research (2026-09-24); the PMLP page we read today mentions only the one-year visa.
LV-STARTUP: PMLP's partner LIAA confirms a permit of up to 3 years; the length of a renewal was not published on the page we read (3 years assumed).
LV-INVEST: the new law sets two-year terms 'in several cases'; that business investors fall under the two-year term was not confirmed.
Whether you can keep your current citizenship depends on the rules at the time and your home country.

The law behind these dates

Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, New Immigration Law takes effect (two-year permits) · checked 2026-09-25
Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, Naturalisation (Citizenship Law, Section 12) · checked 2026-09-25
Citizenship Law, Section 12(2): citizens of the EU, EFTA, NATO, Australia, Brazil and New Zealand keep their citizenship; others must renounce · checked 2026-09-25

Living there.

Time you must spend there: No minimum-days rule to keep the permit itself, but PMLP checks at each 2-year renewal that the investment and any job-creation conditions are still in place.
Tax: Latvian tax residence follows the 183-day rule; the investment itself has no separate tax regime.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

Start today.

Read PMLP's residence-permit page on the business investment route before committing capital.Open pmlp.gov.lv ↗
Round up the papers.
- Proof of the funds to invest: about $55,000, and where they came from
- Request your FBI Identity History Summary
- Health cover for the move

Or let us run it.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.Standard first year: $1,200. Everyone renews at $399.One membership, the whole family. Accounts and activation included.

20 steps, from the first paper to the passport. You do 4 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Accounts and activation are included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Accounts depend on provider availability. Government, record and approved third-party charges are extra.

Run it for my family →

ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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