Latvia to End Golden Visa Property and Deposit Routes on September 14

Latvia has enacted a new immigration law that will close two of its established golden visa routes, according to reporting by imidaily.com. Investors who relied on the property purchase and bank deposit options have until September 14 to file under the current framework.

What changed

Under the newly promulgated law, the property and deposit routes to Latvian residency will end on September 14. Applications submitted before that date preserve the existing rules, including a five-year residence permit. A replacement route based on a €150,000 fund investment is set to take over, but according to the source it is not yet operational.

That gap is the key detail. With the older routes closing and the new fund option not yet running, there is a window where the familiar pathways disappear before the new one is fully available. Filing before the deadline is what locks in the current terms.

What it means for nomads

Golden visas are residency-by-investment programs that let non-EU nationals gain legal status in a country, and in the EU they can offer a base for longer stays and freedom of movement within the Schengen area. For remote workers weighing a European foothold, Latvia has been one option among several.

If you were already considering the property or deposit route, the practical takeaway is the timing: applications made by September 14 keep the old rules and the five-year permit. After that, prospective applicants would need to wait for the €150,000 fund route to become operational.

As always with investment migration, terms, costs, and processing details can shift as new rules take effect. Anyone considering Latvian residency should confirm the current status of the fund route and any transitional provisions directly with official sources or a qualified immigration adviser before committing funds, since the replacement mechanism was not yet live at the time of this report.

Originally reported by IMI Daily.