Can I get residency in Latvia if I buy a house? From today, 15 September 2026, the answer is no: Latvia's new Immigration Law, which entered into force this morning, abolishes the €250,000 real estate route and the €280,000 bank deposit route that together made up one of the best-known golden visa options in the European Union. Investors can still obtain a Latvian residence permit by putting €50,000 or €100,000 into a Latvian company, and the statute creates a new €150,000 fund route, but that fund does not yet exist. The closure is the latest step in a wider European retreat from investment migration that runs from Spain's abolition of its golden visa in 2025, through the Court of Justice's ruling against Malta's golden passports, to Brussels' pressure on Caribbean citizenship programmes. This analysis explains what the Latvian law changes, who is caught by the transitional rules, what investors can still use, and where Latvia now sits in the European and transatlantic picture.
What changes on 15 September 2026
The short answer is that two of Latvia's four investor residence routes close to new applicants today, one survives in a weaker form and one new route exists on paper only. Under the previous framework a non-EU investor could obtain a temporary residence permit of up to five years by buying Latvian real estate worth at least €250,000, by placing at least €280,000 in a subordinated bank deposit, or by investing in a Latvian company. According to the reporting of the law's promulgation by IMI Daily, the Saeima first passed the new Immigration Law on 11 June 2026 by 65 votes to 17 and passed it again on 20 August 2026 after the President returned it for review.
The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (known by its Latvian initials, PMLP, and in English as OCMA) confirmed in its announcement today that the real estate purchaser and credit institution investor routes "have been abolished". For real estate lawyers and agents who built a practice around Riga apartments sold to residence-seeking buyers, the change is immediate.
| Route | Before 15 September 2026 | From 15 September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Real estate purchase | €250,000 minimum, permit up to 5 years | Abolished for new applicants |
| Subordinated bank deposit | €280,000 minimum, permit up to 5 years | Abolished for new applicants |
| Company share capital | €50,000 or €100,000, permit up to 5 years | Retained, €10,000 state fee, permit up to 2 years |
| State alternative investment fund | Did not exist | €150,000 for 5 years plus €10,000 fee, permit up to 5 years, not yet operational |
Why Latvia closed the property and deposit routes
Latvia closed the routes because the programme had come to be seen as a security and financial-crime risk that delivered little genuine investment. The scheme dates from 2010. Public broadcaster LSM reported in April 2026 that money flowed in rapidly in the first four years, exceeding a billion euros, mostly from Russia, but that the programme now accounts for only a tiny share of non-resident investment in the country.
The same LSM report set out the findings of an investigation by the Financial Intelligence Unit and Latvian Television's De Facto programme into the company investment procedure. Around 200 foreigners had invested more than €10 million in share capital, "on paper, at least", and more than 20 companies were identified as running fictitious schemes in which funds were circulated between related parties or returned to organisers rather than used in a real business. The head of the Financial Intelligence Unit, Toms Platacis, described money being reused in a circle. Applications under that procedure rose from 20 in 2021 to 109 last year, yet only about a third were approved. A parliamentary investigative commission also examined the issue, and a representative of the Foreign Investors Council questioned whether issuing residence permits should be a goal of investment policy at all.
The legislative path was not smooth. On 19 June 2026 President Edgars Rinkēvičs returned the law to the Saeima for a second review, citing the 158 proposals tabled at third reading, unresolved security questions about Russian and Belarusian applicants, the absence of rules on the origin of money in the new fund route, and a suggestion from the real estate sector that citizens of NATO, OECD and EEA states might still be allowed to qualify through property. The Saeima re-adopted the law on 20 August without restoring a property route.
Can I get residency in Latvia with an investment of €50,000? The company route
Yes, but on shorter and more demanding terms than before. The company investment route is the one investor option that survives intact in substance. According to the analysis of the new law by the Baltic firm COBALT, an investor must contribute at least €50,000 to the share capital of a smaller company, or €100,000 to a larger company, and pay a further €10,000 to the state budget.
The thresholds depend on the size of the business. The €50,000 level applies to companies with no more than 50 employees and an annual turnover below €10 million; the €100,000 level applies to larger companies. The company must also carry a real tax footprint: it must pay at least €40,000 a year in taxes in the smaller category, and at least €100,000 a year in the larger one. That tax condition is the practical filter that the Financial Intelligence Unit's findings suggest was widely missed, and investors should expect closer scrutiny of it now that this is the main route left. Structuring the investment is therefore a job for corporate advisers and tax advisers rather than an estate agent.
The most significant change is the permit length. A residence permit based on investment in a company is now issued for up to two years, down from five, so investors face more frequent renewals, each one a fresh opportunity for the authorities to test whether the company is genuinely trading and paying tax. For family planning, school enrolment and banking relationships, a two-year horizon is materially less attractive than the five-year permit that the property route used to offer.
The new €150,000 fund route, and why it cannot be used yet
The new law creates a fund-based residence route, but no investor can use it today because the fund it depends on has not been set up. The route allows a non-EU investor to place at least €150,000 through an alternative investment fund manager established by the state, hold it for at least five years, pay €10,000 to the state budget and receive a residence permit of up to five years. It is the only investor route in the new law that keeps the old five-year permit length.
The difficulty is practical. In its announcement today, PMLP states that "such a fund has not yet been established, making this provision inapplicable". IMI Daily reported that the implementing regulations are not due until 1 December 2027, which suggests that the route may not open for a considerable time. The President's June letter had also raised the absence of provisions verifying the origin of the money and the permitted uses of the investment, and those questions will have to be answered in the regulations.
For clients who want a five-year Latvian permit, the honest position is that there is currently no route that delivers one. Private funds lawyers will want to watch how the state fund is constituted, who manages it, what it invests in and how redemption works after five years, since those terms will decide whether the route is commercially credible.
Pending applications and existing permit holders
Applications filed before today are decided under the old rules, and permits already issued remain valid until they expire. IMI Daily reported that applications lodged with the migration office up to and including 14 September 2026 would be assessed under the previous framework, which gave buyers roughly two weeks from promulgation to complete. One adviser quoted by IMI Daily said the deadline was realistic only for clients who already had a property identified and a transaction at its final stage. Open4Business similarly reported that existing permits remain valid through their expiry dates.
What happens at renewal is more difficult. A new permit can no longer be obtained on the basis of a property purchase, so a real estate investor whose permit expires will need to rely on the transitional provisions of the new law or on a different basis of stay. Inlatplus, in its guide to the new law, notes that Russian and Belarusian citizens will not be allowed to renew on these grounds at all. For everyone else, the precise transitional position should be checked against the statute and PMLP guidance for the individual permit.
COBALT also noted that, as annual registration of permits is abolished, the validity of existing permits is tied to the validity of the holder's identity card, after which the holder must apply again under the new terms. Holders with permits expiring in the next year or two should take advice now, rather than discovering at renewal that the basis on which they hold their permit no longer exists.
The rest of the new Immigration Law
The investor changes are only part of a wholesale rewrite of Latvian immigration law, and several of the other changes will matter as much to employers and families. PMLP's announcement lists the main points: many permits now run for two years, annual registration is abolished, the maximum processing time is cut to four months, initial applications may be filed in Latvian or English but renewals and permanent residence applications must be in Latvian, and permanent residence can no longer be granted on a first application to anyone.
| Permit category | Previous maximum | New maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Employment (local hire or secondment) | 5 years | 1 year |
| Business activity | 5 years | 2 years |
| Investment in a company | 5 years | 2 years |
| Intra-corporate transfer | 3 years | 1 year |
| State fund investment (new) | n/a | 5 years |
Permanent residence is also harder to reach. PMLP says only one form remains, EU long-term resident status, and that a five-year period of temporary residence now applies to every category, including refugees and minor children. Inlatplus reports that applicants will need Latvian at A2 level at least, must complete a course in Latvian history and culture, and may not be absent for more than ten months in the five-year period. PMLP says the language and integration course obligation takes effect on 31 December 2027.
Employers are affected too. COBALT reports that labour supply providers and employers in low-skilled occupations will be unable to sponsor workers if they are inactive taxpayers, were set up in the last six months or have a poor tax compliance rating. On the positive side, PMLP highlights wider access for start-up founders, subject only to restrictions on citizens of countries with elevated terrorist risk.
Russian and Belarusian nationals
Russian and Belarusian citizens are excluded from both surviving investment routes. IMI Daily and Open4Business each report that citizens of the two countries are barred from the company investment route and the new fund route, and, as noted above, Inlatplus says they will not be able to renew permits based on property or deposits. Given that LSM's reporting attributes most of the early money in the programme to Russia, the change goes to the heart of the scheme's original client base.
The bar is not total. Inlatplus reports that Russian citizens keep access to family reunification, ancestry-based permits, the EU Blue Card and academic routes, and Belarusian citizens keep access to business, employment, start-up, education and family routes. Both may extend work-based permits if they have been employed for at least three months and have paid tax, and a humanitarian route of up to three years is available at the discretion of the Interior Minister. The President's June letter had asked the Saeima to make sure the national security restrictions were applied consistently across the law, including to the fund route.
Which EU countries still offer golden visas?
Fewer every year, and those that remain are raising prices or tightening conditions. Latvia is not an outlier but part of a pattern in which member states are either closing investor residence routes or pushing them away from housing. KPMG's flash alert on Spain records that Spain's golden visa ended on 3 April 2025 under the twenty-first final provision of Organic Law 1/2025, removing a route that had offered residence for Spanish real estate investment of €500,000 or more. The same alert noted that only Italy, Greece, Malta and Cyprus continued to offer golden visas among EU member states, with Portugal, the Netherlands, Austria and Ireland having eliminated or restricted theirs.
Portugal kept its golden visa but made the road to citizenship longer. The revised Nationality Law signed on 3 May 2026 raised the residence requirement for naturalisation from five to ten years for most foreign nationals, and to seven for EU and Portuguese-speaking country nationals, and it now counts residence only from the issue of a valid residence title, according to Outbound Investment Group. Greece kept its programme but raised the price: under Law 5100/2024, the threshold in Attica, Thessaloniki, popular islands and islands with more than 3,100 inhabitants rose to €800,000, with €400,000 elsewhere and €250,000 for converted non-residential buildings, a single-property and 120 square metre rule, and a ban on short-term letting.
| Country | Investor route position | Key change |
|---|---|---|
| Latvia | Property and deposit routes closed; company route retained | New Immigration Law in force 15 September 2026 |
| Spain | Golden visa abolished | Ended 3 April 2025 under Organic Law 1/2025 |
| Portugal | Golden visa continues | Citizenship now 10 years for most, counted from permit issue |
| Greece | Golden visa continues | Zoned thresholds of €800,000, €400,000 and €250,000 |
| Italy | Investor visa continues | Listed by KPMG among remaining EU golden visas |
| Malta | Residence programme listed as continuing; citizenship scheme unlawful | Court of Justice judgment of 29 April 2025 |
The Malta judgment and the end of EU citizenship by investment
The Court of Justice has held that an EU member state may not sell its nationality, which puts citizenship by investment beyond the pale inside the Union. In Case C-181/23, Commission v Malta, decided on 29 April 2025, the Court ruled that Malta's 2020 scheme for citizenship by naturalisation for exceptional services by direct investment infringed EU law. The Court's press release summarises the core holding: the acquisition of Union citizenship "cannot result from a commercial transaction".
The reasoning matters for anyone advising on investment migration in Europe. The Court accepted that nationality is a matter of national competence but held that the competence must be exercised consistently with EU law, because nationality of a member state automatically confers Union citizenship and free movement across the Union. Granting nationality in direct exchange for predetermined payments or investments through a transactional procedure, the Court said, breaches the relationship of solidarity and good faith on which nationality rests, infringes the principle of sincere cooperation in Article 4(3) TEU and undermines the mutual trust between member states. The full judgment is on EUR-Lex.
The judgment concerned citizenship, not residence. It does not in terms outlaw residence-by-investment schemes such as Latvia's, Greece's or Portugal's, which confer a national permit rather than Union citizenship. But it sits alongside the European Commission's recommendation of 28 March 2022, which urged member states to repeal investor citizenship schemes immediately and to put strong checks in place on investor residence schemes, and it has plainly shaped the political climate in which Latvia's legislators acted.
Beyond the EU: the visa suspension mechanism and Caribbean passports
The EU is now using access to the Schengen area as leverage against citizenship by investment outside its borders. In October 2025 the European Parliament approved a revised visa suspension mechanism by 518 votes to 96, adding investor citizenship schemes to the grounds on which the EU can suspend visa-free travel for a third country's nationals, alongside hybrid threats and misalignment with EU visa policy.
The consequences are already visible. IMI Daily reported in July 2026 that Commissioner Magnus Brunner wrote on 25 June 2026 to the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, asking the country to discontinue its programme by 1 June 2028, and that Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia received similar letters. The revised mechanism took effect on 30 December 2025, and under it running a citizenship by investment programme can itself be a ground for suspension. The letters asked for interim vetting measures by September 2026, with the next EU report on the mechanism due in December 2026. Prime Minister Browne said his government would not be pressured into a unilateral phase-out.
For clients who hold or are considering a Caribbean passport principally for visa-free travel to Europe, the value of that passport is now openly contingent on decisions in Brussels over the next two years.
The UK and US: one door closed, another opened
The United Kingdom closed its investor visa in 2022 and is debating whether to reopen one, while the United States has moved in the opposite direction with a paid Gold Card. The Home Office closed the Tier 1 (Investor) route to new applicants in February 2022. Its explanatory memorandum said the economic benefit was small and did not outweigh long-standing concerns about illicit wealth, and it explained why the route was closed without notice: advance warning would have triggered a "closing down sale" of applications, as happened after a Migration Advisory Committee report in 2014. Latvia's two-week window between promulgation and closure shows the same tension. In June 2026 BusinessDay reported that the government was considering an invitation-only £5 million investor visa excluding property, with the Business Secretary its strongest advocate and the Treasury and Home Office sceptical. UK visa specialists will be watching for any formal proposal.
In the United States, Executive Order 14351 created the Gold Card programme. USCIS processes petitions on Form I-140G, which carries a $15,000 fee per person and must be filed online after registration on the programme's website. According to the official programme site, an individual Gold Card requires a $1 million gift, and a corporate card $2 million per employee, on completion of vetting, with successful applicants receiving permanent residence in the EB-1 or EB-2 category. The programme rests on executive action rather than a statute, so for US advisers its durability depends on the courts and future administrations, in a year in which the Supreme Court has already ruled on the foundations of American citizenship in its birthright citizenship decision.
What this means for investors and their advisers
For most clients the practical message is that residence by investment in Europe is becoming slower, more expensive, more business-focused and more tightly vetted, and Latvia now reflects all four trends. So, can I get residency in Latvia if I buy a house? Not on a first application after 14 September 2026. The realistic Latvian options today are a genuine company investment with a tax footprint and a two-year permit, or a non-investment basis such as employment, business activity or study.
- Check the basis of every existing permit. Property and deposit permit holders should map their expiry dates now and plan an alternative basis of stay before renewal.
- Treat the company route as a real business. The tax and turnover conditions, and the two-year renewal cycle, mean a passive shell will not work.
- Do not plan around the fund route yet. Until the state fund is created and regulated, it is a statutory promise rather than an option.
- Price in the language rules. Latvian-only renewal documents and A2 language for permanent residence change the long-term calculation for families.
- Look at the European picture as a whole. Spain has closed, Portugal has lengthened its road to citizenship, Greece has raised its thresholds and the Malta ruling has ended EU passports for sale.
Cross-border families will usually need a team rather than a single adviser: immigration and citizenship specialists for the permit, private client advisers for succession and tax residence, and wealth managers for the investment itself.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get residency in Latvia if I buy a house?
No, not for a new application. Latvia's new Immigration Law, in force from 15 September 2026, abolishes the route that granted a temporary residence permit for buying Latvian real estate worth at least €250,000. Applications filed up to 14 September 2026 are assessed under the old rules, and permits already issued remain valid until expiry.
Can I get residency in Latvia with an investment of €50,000?
Yes, through the company route. An investor must contribute at least €50,000 to the share capital of a company with no more than 50 employees and turnover below €10 million, pay €10,000 to the state budget, and the company must pay at least €40,000 a year in taxes. The permit now lasts up to two years.
What is Latvia's new €150,000 fund route?
It allows a non-EU investor to place at least €150,000 through a state-established alternative investment fund manager for five years, plus a €10,000 state fee, for a permit of up to five years. The migration office says the fund has not yet been created, so the route cannot currently be used.
What happens to people who already hold a Latvian property-based permit?
Existing permits stay valid until they expire, but a new permit can no longer be obtained on the basis of a property purchase. Renewal depends on the law's transitional provisions, and Russian and Belarusian citizens cannot renew on property or deposit grounds. Holders should take advice well before expiry.
Can Russian or Belarusian citizens use Latvia's investment routes?
No. Citizens of Russia and Belarus are excluded from both the company investment route and the new fund route. Some other bases remain open to them, such as family reunification and, for Belarusian citizens, employment and business activity, and work permits can be extended in limited circumstances.
Which EU countries still offer golden visas?
KPMG listed Italy, Greece, Malta and Cyprus as still offering golden visas after Spain abolished its programme in April 2025. Portugal also still operates a golden visa, and Latvia retains a company investment route. Thresholds and conditions have generally risen.
Is the Spain golden visa still available in 2026?
No. Spain's investor residence route, which granted residence for real estate investment of €500,000 or more, ended on 3 April 2025 under Organic Law 1/2025. Applications submitted before that date were not affected, but the route is closed to new applicants.
Is citizenship by investment legal in the EU?
Not in the form Malta operated it. In Case C-181/23 on 29 April 2025 the Court of Justice held that granting nationality in direct exchange for predetermined payments or investments is incompatible with Union citizenship and breaches the duty of sincere cooperation. The ruling concerns citizenship, not residence permits.
How long does the Latvian government now take to decide a residence application?
The new law sets a maximum processing time of four months, which the migration office describes as a significant improvement. Initial applications may be filed in Latvian or English, but renewals and permanent residence applications must be submitted in Latvian.
Sources
- Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP): New Immigration Law takes effect, key changes and regulations (15 September 2026)
- President of Latvia: President submits the Immigration Law to the Saeima for a second review (19 June 2026)
- IMI Daily: Latvia promulgates new Immigration Law; golden visa property and deposit routes end (3 September 2026)
- COBALT: The new Immigration Law in Latvia, what it means for employers, investors and temporary residence holders (June 2026)
- Inlatplus: New Latvian Immigration Law, what changes from 15 September 2026 (4 September 2026)
- LSM: Latvia's golden visa scheme under renewed scrutiny (27 April 2026)
- Open4Business: Latvia to end issuance of residence permits based on real estate purchases (5 September 2026)
- Court of Justice of the EU: Press release No 52/25, Commission v Malta (29 April 2025)
- EUR-Lex: Judgment in Case C-181/23, Commission v Malta
- European Commission: Commission urges member states to act on golden passports and golden residence permits (28 March 2022)
- European Parliament: More flexible visa suspension mechanism (October 2025)
- IMI Daily: End CBI by June 2028 or risk Schengen access, EU writes to Caribbean states (7 July 2026)
- KPMG: GMS Flash Alert 2025-008, Spain golden visa cancellation
- Watson Farley and Williams: Understanding the new Greek Golden Visa Law 5100/2024
- Outbound Investment Group: Portugal President signs revised Nationality Law, extending citizenship timeline to 10 years (May 2026)
- UK Home Office: Explanatory memorandum to the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules, CP 632 (2022)
- BusinessDay: UK considers new £5m investor visa with path to citizenship in five years (June 2026)
- USCIS: I-140G, Immigrant Petition for the Gold Card Program
- US Government: Gold Card programme website
About this article
This analysis was researched and written by The Corporate INTL Newsroom, which covers cross-border legal, regulatory and business developments for lawyers, professional advisers and financiers in over 150 jurisdictions. It has been checked against the announcements of Latvia's Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs and the President of Latvia, the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU, EU institutional statements and primary reporting. The consolidated text of the new Latvian Immigration Law and its implementing regulations should be consulted for the precise transitional rules applying to any individual permit. This article is general information, not legal or immigration advice; for advice on a specific matter, consult a qualified adviser. Last reviewed 15 September 2026. For more analysis like this, visit the Corporate INTL newsroom or subscribe to Corporate INTL.
