Consular
VISA INFORMATION
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Visas to Latvia
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Citizens of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, China and other countries, not included on the visa-free list, require a visa to travel to Latvia.
Tourists travel to Latvia on a Schengen visa, which is valid for staying in Latvia as well as in the other Schengen Area member states. Passport control on the border is only done once the person crosses into the Schengen Area. If the person has been issued a visa for a short-stay visit to a Schengen country, the maximum duration of the intended stay is 90 days within a 180-day period. If the person needs to stay in Latvia for longer than 90 days, he or she has to apply for a long-stay visa or a residence permit.
If you wish to visit several Schengen countries, you do not have to apply for a visa in each of the given Schengen country’s diplomatic missions. An application for a visa has to be submitted only to the mission of that country that is your main destination. If there is no main destination, you have to turn to a mission of the country whose external border will be the first to be crossed in order to enter the Schengen Area.
If a third-country national needs to enter a Schengen member state but there are circumstances forbidding him to have a uniform visa valid in all Schengen member states, he or she may be granted a visa with a limited territorial validity. It means that visa is not valid for entering all Schengen member states, but only those indicated on the visa.
Frequently asked questions about visas
APPLY FOR VISA
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Applying for a visa
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To apply for a visa, the following documentation must be submitted:
a passport,
a visa application form,
a photograph,
medical insurance policy valid for travel to the entire Schengen Area, documents justifying purpose of entry and other documents which areapplicable and pertinent. For further information about the documents required and procedures when applying for a visa, contact a diplomatic mission of Latvia, where you are intending to receive your visa or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia.
APPLICATION FORM
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Online application form for Schengen visa
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A public electronic service, “Schengen Visa Application” allows visa seekers to lodge a visa application electronically by filling in an online application form.
VFS GLOBAL
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Visa applications for entry into Latvia will be accepted at VFS Global visa centres in Turkey
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As of May 2, 2016 foreign nationals will be able to lodge visa applications for travelling to Latvia at visa application centres of the external service provider VFS Global in 9 different Turkish cities: Ankara, Antalya, Bodrum, Bursa, Edirne, Gaziantep, Izmir, Istanbul and Trabzon. Last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed an agreement with VF Worldwide Holdings Ltd, also known as VFS Global authorizing it to receive visa applications and forward them to Latvian consular missions in nine different countries. The Embassy of Latvia in Turkey the third to commence cooperation with VFS Global, Consular missions in other locations – Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, South Korea and Uzbekistan are to follow shortly.
Cooperation with VFS Global enables visa applicants to submit their applications at one of the visa application centres having scheduled an appointment in advance at a time of their convenience. The documents received will be forwarded to the Embassy of Latvia in Ankara for processing.
The visa application centres will also offer additional services, including consultations on the requirements, filling out electronic application forms, photocopying documents, taking photographs, arranging insurance policies, delivering passports to the applicants’ place of residence after processing, thereby facilitating the application process.
Since 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also been cooperating with Pony Express, a company which handles the reception of visa applications in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.
Tel: 0 850 840 0990
Fax: 0 312 436 6935
Mail: iletisim@vizedepartmani.com
CUSTOM
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Customs procedures
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Travelers in the European Union need to take into consideration that there are maximum amount restrictions on several kinds of goods that may be brought into a European Union member state – tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, coffee, and fuel. Should the maximum limit be exceeded, the goods have to be declared and the applicable excise tax on the goods exceeding the specified limit must be paid.
If you are travelling to the European Union from a third country, different restrictions apply. Persons arriving in the European Union, including in Latvia, have to observe stringent rules concerning food products that they may carry. Meat and meat products, milk and dairy products may not be brought into the European Union for one’s own consumption.