A rewrite that reshapes who can buy residence in Latvia

Latvia has moved to redraw the rules that decide who may acquire residence through investment. On 11 June 2026, the Saeima passed a new Immigration Law by 65 votes to 17, replacing the statute that has governed foreign residence since 2002. Eight days later, President Edgars Rinkēvičs declined to sign it into force, sending the law back for a second review over precisely the provisions that govern residence-by-investment.

For internationally mobile families weighing a European foothold, the episode is more than a procedural footnote. Stripped to its investment core, the rewrite does three things at once: it closes two of the routes the current law offers, keeps a third in shortened form, and creates a fourth that did not exist before. The catch is that the law is not yet in force, and the centrepiece of its future — a state-run fund — has not yet been built.

The two routes Latvia is closing

The statute now in force lets a foreigner secure residence either by buying real estate worth at least €250,000 (about US$285,000) or by placing €280,000 (about US$319,000) as subordinated capital with a Latvian credit institution. Neither survives the rewrite. The new grounds list leaves both out, ending the property route that drove Latvia’s programme for years and closing the banking option alongside it.

Holders are not stripped of what they already have. Applications filed and accepted before the new law takes effect will continue under current rules, and existing permits stay valid to their registration date, after which the holder reapplies under the law’s transitional provisions. A late attempt by Economy Minister Viktors Valainis to revive property as a fresh five-year ground — for assets worth at least €250,000 in Riga, Jūrmala, and a defined list of municipalities — was rejected in committee.

The new €150,000 fund route

The headline addition is a route absent when the bill entered its final reading. The adopted text grants a permit for up to five years where a contract has been concluded and a transfer made of at least €150,000 (about US$171,000), held for no less than five years, to a state-created alternative investment fund manager, against a further €10,000 paid into the state budget. The permit stays valid only while that manager confirms the contract has not been terminated and the balance remains no lower than €150,000.

What the route cannot do yet is take anyone’s money. The state-created fund that would receive the €150,000 does not exist, and the vehicle awaits separate legislation. The route also travelled a winding path: it was proposed by Andris Kulbergs while a member of the Saeima, before he became prime minister in late May, and reached the final text only after the responsible committee rewrote his version — replacing his private-fund model with a single state-run manager, dropping a local-investment requirement, and adding the €10,000 budget payment.

The route that survives — at a shorter term

One pathway carries over, though for less time than before. Under the company-share route, an applicant who pays €10,000 into the budget may invest at least €50,000 (about US$57,000) in a company with no more than 50 employees and turnover or a balance sheet under €10 million, or €100,000 (about US$114,000) in a larger company. No more than ten foreigners may qualify through any single company.

The principal change is duration. This route once granted a five-year permit, renewed annually; the new law cuts it to two. Its tax condition — at least €40,000 a year at the smaller tier and €100,000 at the larger — is unchanged. With the property and bank routes gone, the company route stands as Latvia’s only working investment-migration pathway until the fund is built.

The proposals that failed

Several other ideas reached the third reading and died there. Kulbergs floated a €150,000 stake in companies founded by Latvia’s special economic zone and freeport authorities, alongside a revival of a zero-interest government-bond route; both were rejected. Two separate moves to stretch the company permit from two years back to five — one from Kulbergs, one from the economy minister — also failed. So did a fiscal sweetener that would have let investors become Latvian taxpayers through a flat annual payment of €60,000 (about US$68,000).

Why the president sent the law back

Rinkēvičs built his case around the same investment provisions. The third reading drew 158 proposals, he noted, some technical and some that, in his words, “created a fundamentally new legal framework” around residence for investment, leaving several aspects he wanted the Saeima to reconsider. On real estate, he asked the chamber to weigh whether citizens of NATO, OECD, and European Economic Area states — and “possibly other countries friendly to Latvia” — should be able to request residence for buying property.

On the fund route, he raised a narrower concern, writing that the legislator must gain assurance that the rule is “complete and sufficient and that no delegation to the Cabinet of Ministers is needed,” for instance to verify where investors’ money comes from. His sharpest point concerned a gap the law had already exposed: as first passed, the fund route did not bar Russian and Belarusian citizens, and parliament rushed a separate amendment through on 18 June to close it — a fix arriving days before the law reached him, which signalled a package assembled in haste.

Source: Investment Migration Insider — Latvia’s Parliament Scraps 2 Golden Visa Options, Adds Fund Option

A decade of tightening

The direction of travel is not new. Latvia introduced its golden visa in 2010, when the country stood nearly alone in Europe, and Russian buyers dominated the intake until a 2022 ban shut them out — by which point demand had already fallen sharply from its 2016 peak. A critical 2018 Moneyval review pushed Latvia to tighten the regime and lean on its financial intelligence service to vet investors. Weeks before this latest passage, investigators were examining more than 20 firms over suspected abuse of the share-capital route, the same record of laundering risk cited by the party that asked the president to return the law.

What it means for HNWI

For high-net-worth families, the practical takeaway is one of timing and durability rather than panic. Nothing changes today for existing permit holders or for applications already accepted, and the company route remains open. But the property and bank options that long defined Latvia’s appeal are being retired, and the route meant to replace them is, for now, a clause without a vehicle behind it.

The episode is a reminder that a European residence programme can remain on the statute book while its usable options narrow and its rules are repeatedly reopened. Where residence strategy intersects with documentation readiness, banking usability, and broader cross-border planning, firms such as Stellar Pass may become relevant as part of a wider advisory framework — particularly for families who would rather not anchor a relocation plan to a route that has yet to be built.

FAQ

Is Latvia’s new golden visa law in force yet?

No. The Saeima passed the new Immigration Law on 11 June 2026, but President Edgars Rinkēvičs declined to promulgate it and returned it for a second review. Because the spring session closed on 18 June, any second vote falls to the autumn, so the law is not yet in effect.

What investment routes does the rewrite change?

It closes the €250,000 real-estate route and the €280,000 bank subordinated-capital route, shortens the surviving company-share route from five years to two, and adds a new route requiring at least €150,000 placed for five years with a state-created fund manager, plus a €10,000 budget payment.

Can investors use the new €150,000 fund route now?

Not yet. The state-created fund manager that would receive the money has not been built and awaits separate legislation. Until it exists, the route cannot accept any investment, and the company-share route remains Latvia’s only working pathway.

Are existing Latvian golden visa permits affected?

No. Applications filed and accepted before the new law takes effect continue under current rules, and existing permits stay valid to their registration date, after which the holder reapplies under the law’s transitional provisions.

Further reading: Investment Migration Insider — full report on Latvia’s immigration law rewrite