There is no reason for residents to worry about the doubling of the price of passports, because not all residents have a need for this document, said Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa in an interview to TV3.
Siliņa admitted in the interview that the planned price increase is large. However, she said there is no reason to worry this much over it, because this document is not something all residents need – it is necessary only to those who want to travel to third countries. This, according to her, means these people have enough money to afford it.
Certain groups of residents will still have a discount on their passport renewal, said the politician.
As previously reported, starting with February 2024 new types of passports will be issued in Latvia. This also means the passport issue fee will increase, according to amendments prepared by the Ministry of the Interior to Cabinet of Ministers regulations.
The current type of passport was first adopted by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) in 2015. Fraud protection goes down for personal identification documents as time goes on. This is why, to reduce the risk of forgeries, it is necessary to periodically improve passport designs by changing it and newer generation of anti-counterfeiting solutions, PMLP explains the changes.
The new passports will have “innovative anti-counterfeiting solutions”. New passports will be thicker as well – from 34 to 42 pages.
The state fee for the issue of the passport was established the last time in 2012. Since that time, the cost of a number of positions constituting state duties has almost doubled, PMLP explains the price rise. The amendments proposed by the Ministry of the Interior suggest the state fee for the issue of a passport to an adult will be EUR 60 instead of the current EUR 30.
Children under the age of 20 and persons provided with benefits will have to pay EUR 30 instead of EUR 15. The state fee for emergency passport issue to adults will be EUR 110 instead of the current EUR 55. The fee for fast passport issue to a child will be EUR 55 instead of the current EUR 30.
The government will need to review the proposed amendments. PMLP allows the date for the adoption of changes may be adjusted.
LETA reported in October 2022 that the procurement organised by PMLP and worth EUR 9.8 million was won by a German and Portuguese joint association – Veridos GmbH and Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, S.A.
Also read: Latvians to pay twice as much for passports starting with 2024
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Latvian PM confused with residents’ anger over passport price doubling, says not everyone needs a passport
