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REPATRIATION

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Who is repatriate?

• he/she is a citizen of Latvia (registered in the Population Register as citizen of Latvian and has received the Latvian citizen’s passport);
• one of his/her parents or grandparents is a Latvian or a Liiv and his/her Latvian or Livonian descent can be proved by document.

Which services are provided by the Repatriation Division of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (henceforward – he Office)

• accepts repatriation documents, decide on the allocation of repatriate status;
• issues and registers the permanent residence permits for the repatriates and their family members (for citizens of other countries);
• ensures repatriates have a general information regarding the social rights and guarantees;
• examines the applications submitted by the repatriates regarding the support of material and other kind of assistance.
• The Repatriation Division does not solve the questions regarding the citizenship, your health care, social insurance, as well as the questions which are within the competence of municipalities and other state institutions, but cooperates with those institutions, thus facilitating your adaptation and integration till the moment of your arrival in the territory of a definite municipality.

Where to submit the documents?

The documents are to be submitted personal to the Consular or diplomatic representation of the Republic of Latvia (henceforward – Representation) in the respective country or at the Repatriation Division in Riga, Čiekurkalna 1st line, 1, building 3, applying in advance by the telephone 67219259.

What documents should be submitted?

• an application of particular form you will receive at a place where the documents will be submitted;
• two photographs (35 x 45mm);

• a document affirming the Latvian or Livonian descent of the applicant;
• a copy of the birth certificate;
• a copy of a travelling document valid in the Republic of Latvia (recognized by the Republic of Latvia);
• documentation attesting the health of the individual, including that the person does not have TB;
• official confirmation from the relevant authority of the country of citizenship or residence as on the criminal record of the individual;
• written confirmation of the proposed location of residence in the Republic of Latvia;
• written confirmation of the means of subsistence in the Republic of Latvia.

How to obtain a repatriate’s status?

After examination of submitted documents, the Repatriation Division sends a decision to the Representation or to you. Applying in advance, you have to arrive at the Repatriation Division for implementation of the decision. There you will receive a document affirming the repatriate’s status, which allows you to bring into Latvia the property belonging to your family with exempt from the customs duties and taxes. A repatriate who is not a citizen of Latvian, will receive a residence permit – a sticker into the passport; but the citizen of the European Union will receive a separate document.

What are your rights moving back for permanent residence in Latvia?

Repatriates who left Latvia prior to May 4, 1990 have the right to apply for and receive the material assistance and to bring in the property belonging to the repatriate and his/her family with exempt from the customs duties and taxes, presenting at the customs the document affirming the repatriate’s status.

The State provides:

1. an allowance linked to travelling costs incurred with the permanent move to Latvia, provided that the associated documents proving the expenditures are submitted within one year of receipt/ issuance (up to 500 lats per person);
2. an allowance equivalent to 90% of the minimum wage in case of unemployment. To receive it, within one year of moving to Latvia you have to submit an application to the Office and have to register with the State Employment Service as unemployed person. The allowance is paid out monthly for a period till six months, while you are unemployed person.

The Office may also provide material assistance for the repatriates in other cases regarding the adaptation and integration, examining the circumstances at your residence place.

What are your obligations, moving back for permanent residence in Latvia?

To submit the documents accurately and prompt - according to the legislation and at a time given by the Repatriation Division;
to receive the document affirming the repatriate’s status, the citizens of the Russian Federation have had in their passport a mark received by the Passport-Visa Service of the Russian Federation on the departure for the permanent residence in Latvia;
if you have received a permanent residence permit and have stayed outside Latvia continuously more than six months during a calendar year, you have to inform in written the Repatriation Division and have to submit the documents justifying your absence.

For detailed information:
Migration Division of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs
Riga, Ciekurkalna 1st line 1, LV-1026, Latvia
Phone: +371 67219259
Fax: +371 67219448
The Office’s informative phone: +371 67219639
e-mail: pmlp@pmlp.gov.lv