Out of this number – 42 000 foreigners were issued a fixed-period residence permit and rest a permanent residence permit. According to statistics, immigrants that get residence permits and work permits increase.
Immigrants that come from third world countries have impacted the Latvian work environment as most of immigrants get work in transportation, communication and logistic fields. Lately it has been filled with applications to fulfill desire to work in European countries as the opportunities are much higher than in third-world countries.
As an immigrant citizens of EU Member States there are many benefits and easier procedures to become a resident in any country in European Union. As a third world country person, there are some other parts of procedure that take place to get a residence permit, work permit or visa to live in Latvia.
Procedure of work permit application
Latvia is in the Schengen Agreement zone. To visit and go to Latvia, there is a chance to apply to Schengen visa. Schengen visa is a visa that gives rights to a foreigner to stay in Latvia’s territory as well as in other Schengen states for a specific period that is indicated in visa stickers.
Third-country immigrant has the rights to request a temporary residence permit if the person is involved in some research or is a student in Latvia. As an employer of third-country foreigner there are some restrictions as the foreigner has to obtain visa, residency permits or right to work permits and the employer takes a lot of responsibility for this employee.
First step to getting a permit to get in Latvia as a third-country national is looking to vacancy as employee to Employment Agency. After the application is received, employer must send invitation form to Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs. Then with the help of employer, application to visa is submitted. Lastly the foreigner that got a visa for shorter stay or permit for longer stay and job in Latvia must register as tax payer to State Revenue Service.
Documents required to apply for a work permit
Applying for work permit to live and work in Latvia, there is some specific documentation needed. To start off the work permit process, the first document that should be ready is CV and education proof – diploma, certification, etc. This is needed to apply to any job in Employment Agency for Latvia’s work market. After the desired vacancy is found, the employer will send the invitation to Latvia through Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs.
Documents that are required to submit for further investigation is valid identification document (passport or ID), 2 separate photos, 2 applications to employment permit filled out, medical certification of good health, poof of funding (account statement), medical insurance documentation, fee for the application, marriage and birth certificates of kids and/or spouse, employment contract from employer in Latvia and lastly letter of intent from sponsor.
The documents need to be originals so the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs can investigate the person who is entering countries territory, therefore the third-country national must be willing to offer everything as a proof of good intent of living in the country.
Processing time of work permit application
Submitting the application for job in Latvia can take many months as in other cases, even inland job market is demanding and the applications need time to be reviewed. This depends on employer therefore the time limit is non-existing for application to work process.
After the employer confirms the vacancy is filled, then the real application process can start. This can last up to one month in total, as it depends on the time spent by employer to submit and register the employee, make an invitation to Latvia together with legal institutions.
Process time for submitted document investigation, review and approval to give out a work permit to third-world countries can take up to 15 working days. In some cases, like D-type visa is up to 30 days of approval or denial time.
After the process time has ended, the trip to Latvia can become a reality. Flying to Latvia is easy as the country has only one airport, therefore the transport according to job location is easier to manage than in larger cities and countries. Baltic countries are also a bit more expensive than third-world countries and the currency in Baltic countries is Euros. This has to be in mind when just arriving to Latvia to get everything ready for living and working in countries territory.