An IMGlobalWealth.news Report
Latvia has approved a major overhaul of its residence-by-investment framework, preparing to replace its traditional property, company, bank-deposit and government-security routes with a more tightly controlled €150,000 fund-based option.
The Saeima reconsidered the new Immigration Law on 20 August, after President Edgars Rinkēvičs refused to promulgate the version adopted in June and returned it to parliament for further scrutiny. The revised law strengthens immigration and security controls, while retaining a route through which foreign investors may qualify for temporary residence.
“Russian nationals accounted for 64.7% of all applications”
Under the new provision, an applicant may seek a temporary residence permit for up to five years after investing at least €150,000 for no less than five years through a state-established alternative investment fund manager, alongside a €10,000 payment to the state budget. The investment must remain at or above €150,000 throughout the permit’s validity. The terms were confirmed by the Latvian Presidency when Rinkēvičs referred the legislation back to parliament on 19 June.
Following the President’s intervention, additional security screening was introduced for applicants using the new investment route. LSM, Latvia’s public broadcaster, reported that the reconsidered legislation was adopted by 60 votes to 26. A proposal to restore residence rights linked to property purchases did not secure parliamentary support.
The change marks a significant shift from Latvia’s existing Golden Visa architecture. A parliamentary investigation identified four current investment pathways: real estate, investment in company capital, subordinated liabilities with Latvian credit institutions and special interest-free government securities. The commission concluded that these existing programmes should be closed.
The numbers illustrate how dramatically their importance has already declined. Between July 2010 and the end of 2024, Latvia received 21,081 applications under investment programmes and issued 19,925 first-time temporary residence permits to investors and their family members. Russian nationals accounted for 64.7% of all applications.
Investment-related permits represented 53% of all first-time temporary permits in 2014, but just 0.94% in 2024. Since their introduction, the programmes have nevertheless attracted more than €1.6 billion, although their share of Latvia’s overall foreign-investment structure fell from above 11% in 2014 to just 0.3% in 2024.
Security has become an equally significant consideration. In 2024, Latvia’s State Security Service carried out 818 checks on temporary-residence applicants, 80% of them connected with foreign investment in real estate. More than 30 residence-permit holders have also been placed on Latvia’s blacklist following security assessments since 2022.
Latvia is therefore not abandoning investment migration altogether. It is replacing a broad menu of largely passive investment options with a narrower mechanism giving the state greater control over both the applicant and the destination of the capital.
The most significant provisions of the new Immigration Law are scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2027.
