Amendments to the Immigration Law and related Cabinet Regulation No. 515 “Regulations on the National Threat Prevention Information System,” which will enter into force on 1 September 2025, stipulate that third – country nationals who do not hold a Latvian visa or residence permit shall be required to submit personal information 48 hours prior to entering Latvia. This obligation will also apply to nationals of countries which are subject to a visa–free regime with Latvia (e.g., Ukrainian nationals).
Third – country nationals, before entering Latvia, shall be required to complete an electronic declaration on the website eta.gov.lv, providing personal identification information (including name, surname, date of birth, nationality, passport number, issuing country, date of issue, and expiry date), information about the purpose of travel (entry), planned duration and place of residence, travel route (including entry and exit point and mode of transport – land, airport, port, railway, other), their contact information, as well as details regarding elected positions held by the person or their relatives, candidacy in elections, current or former status of a local government official, service in the armed forces, special services, border control, customs or in the internal, justice or foreign affairs (including diplomatic) services. 48 hours after completing and confirming the declaration, an electronic confirmation will be sent to the foreign national’s indicated e-mail address.
Failure to submit the required information, or submission of incomplete or false information , may result in a fine of up to EUR 2000.
The obligation to submit personal information will not apply to nationals of the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the European Economic Area, the Swiss Confederation and the Federative Republic of Brazil. Exemptions will also apply to persons subject to immunity and privileges under international legal norms binding on Latvia, or those undertaking short – term visits (including transit) for the performance of official functions or provision of technical support to Latvian or foreign diplomatic or consular missions or international organizations. It should be noted that, according to the draft law, due to varying risk tolerance among other EU and Schengen member states, third-country nationals holding visas or residence permits issued by other EU countries, including permanent residence permits, are not exempt from the obligation to submit personal information prior to entering Latvia.
According to the annotation of the draft law, the purpose of information submission is to ensure comprehensive collection and analysis of data on incoming third – country nationals (including those entering without crossing the external state border) for the prevention of national threats, including the mitigation of intelligence and hybrid threat risks.
