Temporary residence permit for an individual merchant registered in the commercial register

Route status

Active as of 2026-05-20^[1]^[1]

Open to new applications under the rules recorded below.

Status details
Nationality restrictions	Nationalities: ru, by Restriction: excluded as of 2026-05-20^[1]^[5]

Residency route facts

Identity

Identity
Official name (local)	Termiņuzturēšanās atļauja komercreģistrā reģistrētam individuālajam komersantam (Imigrācijas likuma 23. panta pirmās daļas 2. punkts) as of 2026-05-20^[1] Latvia does not brand these permits; the Immigration Law describes each ground in Section 23(1) and OCMA titles its pages after the ground. The string recorded is the descriptive designation, not a programme name.
Official name (English)	Temporary residence permit for an individual merchant registered in the commercial register as of 2026-05-20^[1]
Legal basis	Immigration Law (Imigrācijas likums) Section 23(1)(2) as of 2026-05-20^[1] Consolidated text of the Immigration Law in the version in force from 20 May 2026, read at likumi.lv, the official publisher's consolidated-law service. Amendment check (research-rules section 3 step 2): the two 2026 amending laws were retrieved and read – the law of 26 March 2026 (in force 29 April 2026, one item, adding a refusal ground at Section 35(1)(36)) and the law of 23 April 2026 (in force 20 May 2026, which rewrote parts of Section 23(1)); neither is later than the version cited here.
Instrument type	residence permit as of 2026-05-20^[1] Section 23 issues a termiņuzturēšanās atļauja – a temporary residence permit; OCMA issues it as a foreigner's eID card.

Who can apply

Who can apply
Nationals not served by this route	EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2025-07-24^[3]
Minimum age	Not established from a qualifying source No minimum age is stated for this ground in the sources read.
Criminal-record condition	Not established from a qualifying source

Permit terms

Permit terms
Initial duration	up to 5 years as of 2026-05-20^[1]
Renewable	Not established from a qualifying source
Work rights	self-employment only as of 2025-01-01^[1]^[2] Cabinet Regulation No. 55 sub-paragraph 2.4 lists the capacities whose residence permit carries the annotation “Komercdarbība” / “BUSINESS”: an individual merchant, a board or council member, a procurator, an administrator, a liquidator, a partnership member entitled to represent the partnership, a person authorised to represent a merchant in branch activities, a natural person registered as a performer of economic activity, and the holder of a permit under Immigration Law Section 23(1)(33). Immigration Law Section 9(1)(2) is the statutory hook. That annotation permits the holder's own commercial activity and not employment by another.

Permanent residence and citizenship

Permanent residence and citizenship
Counts toward permanent residence	Not established from a qualifying source

Requirements

Requirements
Minimum capital	Not established from a qualifying source
Business plan required	Not established from a qualifying source
Own means requirement	2 × average gross monthly work remuneration of working persons, previous year per month as of 2026-04-01^[4] Cabinet Regulation No. 225 sub-paragraph 11.1: work remuneration or income from commercial activity in Latvia at twice the average gross monthly work remuneration of working persons for the previous year, where the foreigners referred to in Section 23(1) clauses 2, 3 and 4 request a permit and their residence is connected with employment or commercial activity. OCMA states the applicable amount as EUR 3 630 a month from 1 April 2026.

Process

Process
Where to apply from	Not established from a qualifying source
Statutory processing time	up to 30 days as of 2026-03-18^[6]
Fees	Kind: application Amount: EUR 160 as of 2026-03-18^[6] Review of documents submitted for requesting a temporary residence permit, within 30 days. Source: Cabinet Regulation No. 731, as published by OCMA. Charged per: applicant Paid by: applicant Condition: review within 30 days Kind: expedite Amount: EUR 280 as of 2026-03-18^[6] Review within 10 working days, in place of the EUR 160 standard fee. Charged per: applicant Paid by: applicant Condition: review within 10 working days Kind: expedite Amount: EUR 560 as of 2026-03-18^[6] Review within 5 working days, in place of the EUR 160 standard fee. Charged per: applicant Paid by: applicant Condition: review within 5 working days Kind: other Amount: EUR 75 as of 2026-03-18^[6] Charged per: applicant Paid by: applicant Condition: registration of the temporary residence permit, within 30 days
Quota	Quota exists: Not established from a qualifying source

Family inclusion

Family inclusion
Family members may be included	Yes as of 2026-05-20^[1] Immigration Law Section 23(4): in the cases named in Section 23(1) the foreigner's spouse, the minor children (including children under guardianship) of the foreigner or of the spouse, and persons under trusteeship, are likewise entitled to request a temporary residence permit for the term of the permit issued to the foreigner. A child who was a minor when the permit was requested falls under Section 29 on reaching majority.
Eligible relations	spouse, minor child, other dependent as of 2026-05-20^[1] Recorded from Section 23(4). 'Other_dependent' carries aizgadniba – persons under trusteeship – which the vocabulary has no closer value for; children under guardianship are recorded inside minor_child, as the statute groups them there.
Family may apply at the same time	Not established from a qualifying source
Family members' work rights	Not established from a qualifying source
Additional means per family member	Relation: minor child Amount: EUR 234 per month as of 2026-04-01^[4] Necessary subsistence for a minor child, from 1 April 2026, under Cabinet Regulation No. 225 as published by OCMA. Relation: spouse Amount: Not established from a qualifying source^[4]

Your next step

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Verification

Verification
Sources cited	6
of which official (tier 1)	6
Oldest as-of date	2025-01-01
Newest as-of date	2026-05-20
Reviewed on	2026-08-22
Schema version	1.1

Sources

[1] Imigrācijas likums (Immigration Law), consolidated text in force from 20 May 2026
Saeima / Latvijas Vēstnesis (likumi.lv consolidated-law service) · statute · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-16
[2] Ministru kabineta noteikumi Nr. 55 "Noteikumi par arzemnieku nodarbinasanu"
Ministru kabinets / Latvijas Vestnesis (likumi.lv) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2025-01-01 · Accessed 2026-08-16
[3] The long-term resident status of the European Community in Latvia
Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-07-24 · Accessed 2026-08-16
[4] The necessary subsistence
Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2026-03-16 · Accessed 2026-08-16
[5] Latvia temporarily suspends issuance of temporary residence permits to Russian and Belarusian citizens
Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2022-06-13 · Accessed 2026-08-16
[6] State fee for issuing the residence permit
Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Published 2026-03-18 · Accessed 2026-08-16