Documents for the approval of a letter of invitation may be filed with ANY regional office of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs.
A letter of invitation may be submitted only electronically:
- Using the electronic service “Approval of an invitation for requesting a visa or an invitation for requesting a residence permit in the Republic of Latvia” on the portal Latvija.lv.
- To a legal entity or employer - by sending the application and the documents attached to it electronically, confirmed with a secure electronic signature. Each attached document must be electronically signed.
The documents necessary for sponsorship approval may be submitted in Latvian, English, French, Russian or German.
The submission and explanations required for the sponsorship approval shall be provided by the inviter only in Latvian.
The procedure of approval of a letter of invitation is set forth by the Regulation of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 564 of 21 June 2010:
Approval of a letter of invitation
The documents for the approval of a letter of invitation are filed by:
- an adult citizen of Latvia or non-citizen of Latvia;
- an adult foreigner who holds a valid permanent residence permit in the Republic of Latvia;
- a citizen of a European Union Member State, a European Economic Area Member State or the Swiss Confederation that is residing in the Republic of Latvia with a registration certificate or a permanent residence certificate;
- a governmental institution of the Republic of Latvia;
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A registered legal person of the Republic or a foreign legal person, having a registered authorised person in the Republic of Latvia;
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a person who has reached legal age and obtained alternative status or temporary protection in the Republic of Latvia for the purpose of reunification with family members within the meaning of the Asylum Law;
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lawful representative of an unaccompanied minor, who has been granted refugee or alternative status in the Republic of Latvia and who wish reunification with his mother and father, if an opinion of the Orphan's Court has been received that it is in the interests of the minor.
An individual shall file the documents personally. If due to justified reasons the person is not able to file the documents personally and such is confirmed by a respective certification, the documents may be filed by an authorised person by presenting a notarised Power of Attorney.
The official of the OCMA shall make a decision regarding the approval of the invitation within two working days or, if the request for the invitation is related to the employment of a foreigner in the Republic of Latvia, within five working days after submission of the documents necessary for approval of the invitation. If an additional inspection is required to make a decision, the official shall inform the inviter thereof and the decision shall be made within 10 working days.
If the invitation is not confirmed, canceled or the inviter withdraws the invitation, the submitted documents shall not be issued to the inviter and the collected state fee shall not be refunded.