Your company develops and needs to hire employees from the countries outside the European Union? There are two ways how to invite a guest worker in Latvia - on the basis of a visa or residence permit.
This time we tell how to act, in order the invitation of a guest worker would be fast and without delays, if he/she is employed on the basis of a visa.
It is preferred to choose the procedure for arranging a visa, if:
- it is not planned to employ the employee for a long period of time;
- a probationary period will be determined for the employee or
- the employee has to start to perform the duties as soon as possible.
IMPORTANT!
A visa can be short-term - for a time period up to 3 months, or long-term - for a time period up to one year. The maximum period of stay in Latvia and other member states of the Schengen treaty based on the short-term visa shall not exceed 90 days during any time period of 180 days.
3 steps to be performed in order to ensure invitation of the foreign labour force for work in Latvia:
At first, you have to register the place of work with the State Employment Agency (SEA) on the portal of vacant positions, in order also inhabitants of Latvia would find out about that and could apply for work in your company.
- More detailed information on how to register a vacant position is available on the website of NVA;
- The vacant position shall not be registered with the SEA in advance in the case, if the employee of high qualification is invited for work, which will require the European Union Blue Card;
- IMPORTANT! When registering the vacant position, remember that the labour payment that you specify in the application shall correspond with at least the average gross salary in Latvia in the previous year. In 2020 the amount of the salary was 1143 euro per month before taxes, thus this will be the minimum labour payment, which should be specified both, in the registered vacant position as well as later on - in the employment contract with a third-country national.
- In case a suitable employee from Latvia has not applied for the position within 10 working days, then the invitation procedure of an employee from the third country can be commenced.
Secondly, prepare the INVITATION.
- Application for an invitation and the enclosed documents shall be sent to the e-mail address of the Office pasts@pmlp.gov.lv or electronic mail address of any territorial unit, confirming them with a safe electronic signature.
The application for invitation shall consist of:
- A SUBMISSION, the sample of which can be found HERE,
The following shall be specified in the submission:
- information about education of the employee, planned employment, personal data;
- purpose of invitation of the employee;
- certification of the employer regarding the fact that the company does not have tax debts;
- liability certification of the employer
- DOCUMENTS, confirming the qualification of the invited employee and being legalized or approved with a stamp APOSTILLE.
- When inviting a seasonal worker or employees of simple professions for work, as well as if the company is a member of the gold or silver level of the enhanced cooperation programme of the State Revenue Service, such documents shall not be submitted;
- Draft EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT, signed by the employer.
IMPORTANT! In certain cases it may be necessary to submit additional documents, the list of which can be found HERE.
A State fee shall be paid for review of the application, which is determined in the amount of EUR 69 for invitation of one employee.
The application is approved within 5 working days. If the company is a member of the enhanced cooperation programme of the State Revenue service, then it is recommended to specify it in the application and in such a case it will be approved within 2 working days,
Thirdly, after the Office has approved the application for invitation, the employee may go to the representative office of Latvia abroad and submit documents for requesting a visa.
You should remember that, when submitting the application for visa to the employee of the representative office of Latvia abroad, you should make the payment of the State fee and submit the following documents:
- a high quality copy of a passport;
- printed, completed and signed application for for a visa (https://epak.pmlp.gov.lv/NVIS.EService001.WebSite/);
- colour photograph (35 mm x 45 mm);
- travel medical insurance policy. It is important to remember that the insurance sum for a short-term and long-term visa differs;
- a signed copy of the employment contract.
After receipt of a visa the guest worker can go to Latvia and commence the work.