Latvia golden visa now hinges on company investment
Sep 29, 2026
Category: Golden Visa Latvia Migration News Policy
New Latvia golden visa applicants can no longer qualify through property. Since 15 September 2026, Latvia’s new Immigration Law has closed the €250,000 real estate and €280,000 subordinated bank deposit routes.
Company investment is now the only route available. A €150,000 fund option exists in law, but the state fund it requires has not been created.
Applications filed before 15 September remain subject to the old law. Existing temporary permits remain valid until their registration or validity period expires.
Small stake, steady taxes
The company route starts at €50,000 for firms with no more than 50 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of up to €10 million. First-time applicants must also pay €10,000 into the state budget, bringing the initial cost to €60,000.
The company must then pay at least €40,000 a year into state and municipal budgets for the permit to remain valid.
For larger firms with more than 50 employees and more than €10 million in turnover or balance-sheet total, the minimum investment rises to €100,000. Annual tax contributions must also reach at least €100,000, including eligible taxes paid by Latvian-registered subsidiaries.
Permits last up to two years.
Fund stuck on paper
The fund route requires at least €150,000 (about US$172,000) to be invested for five years through a state-established alternative investment fund manager. Applicants must also pay about €10,000 (US$11,500) into the state budget.
Qualifying applicants could receive permits lasting up to five years. The fund manager would have to confirm that the agreement remains valid and the balance stays above €150,000.
Latvia’s Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) has confirmed that the fund does not yet exist. The route, therefore, cannot be used until the funding and application procedures are established.
President sends it back
The reform took three months to complete. The Saeima adopted the Immigration Law on 11 June 2026, but President Edgars Rinkēvičs returned it on 19 June.
He questioned the proposed source-of-funds checks and how capital raised through the fund route could be used. He also asked lawmakers to consider retaining a tightly regulated property route for citizens of NATO, OECD and European Economic Area countries, and possibly other Latvia-friendly states.
That proposal did not survive. Parliament passed the law again on 20 August with the fund route intact and no property option, and it took effect on 15 September.
Progressives take aim
The fund route could disappear before it opens. On 3 September, five Progressives lawmakers submitted bill 1521/Lp14 to remove it.
Faction chair Andris Šuvajevs joined Andris Sprūds, Liene Gātere, Kaspars Briškens and Jana Simanovska as signatories. The proposal leaves the company route untouched.
Its explanatory note objects to granting residence for “a financial, and in this case very minimal, investment.” It also cites security, money laundering, sanctions evasion and reputational risks.
The sponsors argue that investment permits prioritise wealth over labour-market needs, security and integration. They also cite a Saeima inquiry committee report approved on 26 May that recommended closing all existing investment routes, including company investment.
The note claims the fund route was adopted without “sufficient and data-based justification” and expects no budget loss because it has generated no payments. It contains no transitional provisions for applications filed before any repeal.
The proposal is part of a broader campaign. After the 20 August vote, Šuvajevs told LETA that the Progressives would again seek to end the golden visa programme, arguing that it would harm young people and families in Latvia.
During the debate, Sprūds, a former defence minister, told parliament: “We are generally against selling golden visas.” He added that “it is a security threat,” according to public broadcaster LSM.
On 10 September, the Saeima referred the bill to the Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee. Its chair, Raimonds Bergmanis, belongs to the United List, the party of Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs, who originally proposed the fund route as a lawmaker.
Viktorija Tomaševiča, a lawyer at EU Law Firm, cautions that legislation must still pass several stages. Referral to committee is “one of the first steps of its legislative journey,” she explains, adding that the firm will wait until after the 3 October elections before commenting further.
Property’s final tally
Property investment had been gaining ground before the route closed. Statistics released on 8 February 2026 show 201 approvals in 2025, up about 34.9% from 149 in 2024.
Real estate accounted for 48% of investment permits in 2025, up from 29% a year earlier. Company investment represented 49%.
Both figures remain far below the programme’s 2014 peak of 5,603 approvals. No year since 2015 has exceeded 900.
Europe sours on bricks
Latvia follows several European countries in moving away from property-based residence programmes. Portugal removed real estate from its golden visa routes in 2023, while Spain ended its programme in 2025.
Panama moved in the opposite direction. On 16 September, it retained a US$300,000 threshold for qualifying first-sale, new and unoccupied properties while raising the resale minimum to US$500,000.
Greece and Panama still offer property-linked residence routes.
One door left ajar
Latvia has replaced asset-backed routes with one tied to an operating business and another that exists only in law. Current applicants therefore face two-year permits and annual company tax requirements of €40,000 or €100,000, rather than the five-year property-backed permits previously available.
Even the remaining company route faces uncertainty. The May inquiry report cited by the Progressives recommended abolishing it, while Šuvajevs has signalled another attempt to end the programme entirely.
The state fund still needs investment terms, a mandate and application procedures. Bill 1521/Lp14 is now before Bergmanis’s committee, while the 3 October elections will determine the parliament that considers its future.