On Thursday, 2 June, the Saeima passed in the third reading amendments to the Immigration Law. These amendments provide for adopting remote labour visas to promote the influx of highly qualified persons to Latvia, notes the Saeima press-service.
Law amendments provide foreigners with the right to request a long-term visa for a whole year if he or she wants to stay in Latvia, has employment relations with an employer registered in another country that is a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) or is a self-employed person registered in an OECD member state.
To reduce administrative obstacles for people doing remote work, the law states that once their visa term is over, it will be possible to request restoration of the visa for one more year to continue doing remote work.
This regulation would allow people to stay in Latvia for a year. During their next long-term visa term, if the person decides the start a business or find a job in Latvia, they will be able to add necessary changes or perform necessary procedures to register their company or any changes to their employment if it is related to a residence permit or visa, according to the annotation of the legislative draft.
It is planned that after the end of the two-year term the person will not be able to receive a visa for the same reason for at least six months – performance of remote work in a company registered in an OECD member state or to work remotely as a self-employed person.
Until now third country citizens whose job allows them to perform their work remotely had limited options for residence rights in Latvia.
Latvian parliament hopes to promote the influx of qualified workers to the country
