Latvia ETIAS

Despite gaining its independence only recently Latvia empowered economically very swiftly and soon became a major player in the Northern European Area.
Becoming an active member of the European Union since 2004, Lativa also became part of the Schengen Area only three years later and have experienced so far an impressive rise in the incoming of foreign tourist both from inside and outside the Union furtherly boosting its economic ascension.
Being an active Schengen Area Member State, Latvia is now to be among the 34 Countries that will soon launch and enforce the newborn ETIAS Protocol.
Through its implementations ETIAS System aims to offer voyagers to the Republic of Latvia and EU in General faster and more efficient border control checks upon arrival from outside the Union. At the same time ETIAS System is also expected to have the effect of remarkably reducing occurrence of border rejections. More on the benefits of ETIAS can be read here.

With the goal of building a more secure travel environment without de facto creating any obstacle to travelers the ETIAS application procedure has been drafted so as to be easy to approach and should require each applicant no more than a few minutes of time.
In order to put their application for ETIAS forward, all future visitors to Latvia, are required to fill out a short form where they are to report a short set of data such as:

• Full name and surname
• Date of birth
• Place of birth
• Passport number
• Passport’s authority and place of issue
• Passport’s issue and expiry date
• Contact details
• First country of intended stay in ETIAS Area
• Background questions

Once the application has been sent through by mean of ETIAS taxes payment and feedback becomes available, in most cases within 72 hours and with a positive response, ETIAS Visa Waiver will be sent to the personal e-mail of each applicant.
Once issued ETIAS Visa Waiver is valid for 3 years from its date of issue and allows for multiple journeys in Latvia and the other 33 Member Countries as long as each travel complies with the general ETIAS limitations for purpose and duration of stay as stated in the Basic Facts and furtherly analyzed here.

Visa Waiver travelers that already hold a valid Schengen Visa or a Permit of Stay issued by a Schengen Member Country are not required to have a valid ETIAS to enter the Lithuania or any other ETIAS Area Country. More on ETIAS eligibility criteria and exceptions available here.
Any individual holding Visa Waiver rights to Europe whose aim to move, work or study in the EU/Schengen Area on a long-term basis will not be considered eligible for ETIAS and will still be required to apply for Consular Schengen Visa.
Although ETIAS is not fit for long term study programs in the EU, ETIAS Visa Waiver can be used to enter the Republic of Latvia for short training programs if the stay in the ETIAS countries area will not surpass the threshold of ninety days within six months.

When arriving in the EU, whether air, land or seaway, Border Control Officers will always have the authority to ask ETIAS holders to present additional documents to assess the purpose of their travel and to make sure no passenger plans to overstay in the ETIAS Area.
Among the supporting documents that might be required are:

• Return ticket to the country of origin
• Onwards ticket to a non-ETIAS country
• Health travel insurance
• Proof of sufficient funds to support one’s stay in the ETIAS Area

While an ETIAS will, for many non-EU citizens, be required to enter Latvia from 2025 it is important to highlight that the neighboring countries of Belarus and Russian Federation are not part of either the European Union or the Schengen Area and therefore access to their territories is subject to local immigration rules that could also imply the obligation to have a valid Consular Visa.