The identity document MUST NOT be damaged, discarded or destroyed when it has become unusable, incl. the document has expired!
We often face situations, when customers of the Office, when coming to arrange a new passport and/or eID card, have not maintained their previous personal identity document because it has become unusable, incl. at the end of its period of validity.
This is to remind you that the personal identity document is a property of the Republic of Latvia and it shall be returned to the Office, when it become useless!
What should be known and observed by a holder of the passport or eID card?
- Passport and eID card is the state property
A personal identity document is not a property of a particular person, but a property of the Latvian state.
When paying the State fee for a passport and/or eID card issuance, the person does not purchase it, but pays the State fee on the execution of documents for the production and issuance of an identity document. This means, after expiry of the validity period of the passport or eID card, it shall be delivered to the issuing authority - territorial division of the OCMA.
- A holder of a passport and/or eID card shall comply with the following rules:
- store document so that , in order it would not appear at the disposal of another person;
- store document so that, in order it would not become useless due to any damage;
- in case of loss of document, the OCMA, the State Police or State Border Guard shall be notified on that without delay;
- within one month after change of the legal status of the person or expiry of the validity period of the document, a passport and/or eID card shall be delivered to the Office;
- when finding a passport or eID card of another person, it shall be delivered to the Office, the State Police or State Border Guard;
- if a child has not attained the age of 14 years, the legal representative of the child shall be responsible for storage of the passport or eID card;
- if the document holder stays abroad, the diplomatic or consular representative of the Republic of Latvia should be visited, if there is any in the relevant country.
It is the duty of every document holder to carefully keep his or her passport and/or eID card!
- Is there any penalty if passport and/or eID card is not delivered, ifd that has become unusable?
- A warning or a fine in the amount up to 35 euro is applied for damage of the passport and/or eID or failure to deliver the invalid passport or eID card upon receipt of the new personal identity document;
- every case is assessed individually.
Read more about how to act, when a passport or eID card has been lost or if you find a passport or eID card of another person HERE.