Latvia

Latvia has acceded to most relevant human rights instruments and is party to both the 1954 and 1961 statelessness conventions. Although the stateless population has not been mapped, the Latvian authorities count and publish population data on statelessness, with a ‘stateless’ (bezvalstnieks) category in national statistics. However, this only includes people granted statelessness status under the statelessness determination procedure, and 'non-citizens' (nepilsonis) are counted separately. This is because under domestic law, ‘non-citizens’ are excluded from the definition of a ‘stateless person’ as they are considered a separate legal category of persons who enjoy a significant set of rights. Although ‘non-citizens’ are granted rights beyond the minimum prescribed by the statelessness conventions, there are important differences distinguishing non-citizens from citizens as a matter of domestic law, including a lack of political rights and some restrictions on employment and land ownership. Moreover, ‘non-citizens’ in Latvia clearly lack a nationality and therefore meet the definition of a stateless person under international law regardless of any separate legal consideration of whether they should be excluded from protection under the 1954 Convention.

Positively, in the migratory context, Latvia has established a statelessness determination procedure in national law, in line with good practice in many respects, although there are some remaining gaps, including a lack of protection during the procedure, and no facilitated route to naturalisation for people with ‘statelessness’ status. There are also gaps in safeguards against the arbitrary detention of stateless people, and alternatives to detention are only applied in a small proportion of cases. Statelessness is prevented for foundlings, adopted children, and children born to Latvian nationals and, since 1 January 2020, children born to ‘non-citizens’ both in Latvia and abroad. Birth registration requires parents to present identity documents, which could leave some children at risk of remaining unregistered. Latvia has taken some steps towards reducing statelessness, including a law On Terminating the Granting of Non-Citizen Status to Children in 2019, amendments to the Citizenship Law in 2013, and initiatives to provide information and support to ‘non-citizens’ to naturalise. However, around 180,000 people remain stateless with ‘non-citizen’ status in the country. 42% of 'non-citizens' identify as members of the ethnic Belarusian minority and 24.5% of the ethnic Russian minority. Among people who identify as ethnic Belarusian, 45% are citizens of Latvia while 45% remain non-citizens, and among people who identity as ethnic Russians, 67% are citizens of Latvia while 26% remain non-citizens.

Last updated:

Feb 2024

Country expert(s):

Latvian Centre for Human Rights

Additional resources

ASSESSMENT KEY

++POSITIVE

+ SOMEWHAT POSITIVE

+-POSITIVE and NEGATIVE

- SOMEWHAT NEGATIVE

--NEGATIVE

ADDITIONAL INFO

NORMS & GOOD PRACTICE

International and Regional Instruments

Assesses whether countries are State party to the relevant international and regional instruments, including whether reservations have an impact on statelessness, and whether instruments are incorporated into domestic law. The four core statelessness treaties (1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons; 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness; European Convention on Nationality; Council of Europe Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession) carry more weight than other relevant human rights instruments in the assessment.

Latvia is state party to the 1954 and 1961 statelessness conventions and has signed but not yet acceded to the European Convention on Nationality. Its record of accession to other relevant regional and international human rights treaties is generally good. However, it retains significant reservations to the 1954 Convention and is not state party to the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers.

The 1954 Convention

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Latvia is State Party to the 1954 Convention, and it has direct effect, but it retains conditional reservations to Articles 24.1(b) and 27.

The 1961 Convention

Latvia is State Party to the 1961 Convention with no reservations and it has direct effect.

Other Conventions

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Latvia has signed but not acceded to the European Convention on Nationality and it is not party to the European Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession.
Latvia is party to the European Convention on Human Rights with a Protocol reservation, bound by the EU Returns Directive, and party to all other relevant international human rights instruments with no reservations, except for the Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

Statelessness Population Data

Examines the availability and sources of disaggregated population data on statelessness. Provides recent figures and assesses reliability of measures countries have in place to count stateless persons, including in the census, population registries, and migration databases. Notes whether statelessness has been mapped in the country and whether there are sufficient measures in place to count stateless persons in detention.

The Latvian Government counts and publishes population data on statelessness. National statistics published by the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) contain a category ‘stateless’ (bezvalstnieks), disaggregated by ethnic origin and age. However, only people granted stateless status under the statelessness determination procedure are counted in this category. There is a separate category for 'non-citizens' (nepilsonis), whose legal status is defined separately under Latvian law. National statistics are also published by the Central Statistical Board which conducts a population census and collects annual data, different from those collected by OCMA. UNHCR reports government figures collected by OCMA under both these categories separately as ‘persons under its statelessness mandate’ with a footnote explanation as referred to in the third bullet point under ‘Availability and Sources’ below. There has been no comprehensive mapping of the stateless population in Latvia, and asylum and immigration detention data by nationality status is not routinely published by the Government, although annual statistical reports on the number of asylum seekers are available online at UNHCR’s website.

Availability and sources

There are two sources of information concerning population data: the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) and the Central Statistical Board (CSB).
OCMA counts and publishes population data under the category ‘stateless’ (bezvalstnieks). However, only people granted statelessness status under the statelessness determination procedure are counted in this category, with the following countries of origin: 159 Latvia, 15 Ukraine, four Estonia, two Belarus, one United Kingdom, one Uzbekistan, one Lithuania, one Finland, one citizen of the USSR, three people of unknown nationality, and six with country of origin not indicated, as of 1 January 2024. National statistics contain a separate category for 'non-citizens' (nepilsonis) (180,455 in Latvia and 4,696 abroad as of 1 January 2024), who are former USSR citizens and their descendants who have not acquired any nationality since the restoration of Latvian independence. Their legal status is defined separately under Latvian law, which does not consider this group to fall under the 1954 Convention definition of a stateless person.
According to the Central Statistical Board in 2023, there were 175,401 non-citizens and 140 stateless people. The data is disaggregated by ethnic origin, country of origin, gender, age, and place of residence.
In its 2022 Global Trends report, UNHCR reports – 187,404 stateless people and specifies that this includes ‘non-citizens’, with a footnote indicating that ‘non-citizens’ “enjoy a set of rights and obligations generally beyond the rights prescribed by the 1954 Convention … [and] may currently be considered persons to whom the Convention does not apply in accordance with Article 1.2 (ii)”.
There are other categories for which statistics are available that could include stateless people. For example, the Register of Natural Persons ’disaggregates by ethnic origin and nationality and includes figures for Latvian citizen, Latvian non-citizen, Latvian alternative (subsidiary status), Latvian stateless, Latvian refugee, and Latvian temporary protection, Estonian non-citizens, Belarus stateless, Finland stateless, Uzbekistan stateless, ’not indicated’ (nav norādīta), and ‘state unknown not indicated’.
No comprehensive mapping study of statelessness in Latvia is available, and the reliability of data on statelessness is questionable as numbers vary depending on the definitions employed by different actors (i.e. whether ‘non-citizens’ are counted as stateless or not).
Data on refugees and asylum seekers by country of origin, gender, age and status is available upon request, but this is not routinely published by the Government.

Stateless in detention data

There is no published data available on stateless people in detention, although the Government does collect data on detention, disaggregated by nationality status.
According to the State Border Guard, from the 721 asylum seekers who were detained between January and November 2023, there was no stateless person.

Statelessness Determination and Status

Identifies whether countries have a definition of a stateless person in national law that aligns with the 1954 Convention, and whether they have a dedicated statelessness determination procedure (SDP) leading to a dedicated stateless status. If an SDP is not place, it assesses whether there are other procedures in which statelessness can be identified or other routes through which stateless people could regularise their stay or access their rights. Countries are subdivided in three groups to enable comparison between those with an SDP leading to protection, those with other procedures, and those with a statelessness status but no clear mechanism to access protection. The existing procedures and rights granted to stateless persons are examined and assessed against international norms and good practice. Assesses whether stateless people fleeing war have access to temporary protection.

The definition of a stateless person under Latvian law is narrower than the 1954 Convention definition. The formulation ‘in accordance with the laws thereof’ is narrower than the international law definition, whereby a stateless person is someone ‘not considered a national of any state under the operation of its law’. Since ‘non-citizens’ lack any nationality, they meet the international legal definition of a stateless person. Positively, in the migration context, Latvia has established a statelessness determination procedure in national law, in line with good practice in many respects, although there are some remaining gaps. These include limited guarantees to ensure ease of access and some missing procedural protections (such as a guaranteed interview or referral from asylum procedures), a lack of protection and rights during the procedure, and a lack of an accelerated or facilitated route to naturalisation for people recognised as stateless under the procedure. It should be noted that people who hold ‘non-citizen’ status do not qualify under the SDP, so information relating to the procedure does not apply to this group.

Definition of a stateless person

Latvian law distinguishes ‘stateless persons’ from ‘non-citizens’. The status of ‘non-citizens’ is defined under the 25 April 1995 Law on the Status of those Former USSR Citizens who do not have the Citizenship of Latvia or that of Any Other State, which defines this group as former Soviet citizens who were registered as living on the territory of Latvia on 1 July 1992, or their last registered place of residence before that date was on the territory of Latvia, and their children, provided that they have no other nationality.
The Latvian Law on Stateless Persons and the Latvian Citizenship Law define a stateless person as ‘someone who is not considered a citizen by any state in accordance with the laws thereof, except a person who is a subject of the Law on the Status of those Former USSR Citizens who are not Citizens of Latvia or Any Other State’.
Aside from excluding ‘non-citizens’ from the definition of a stateless person, the formulation ‘in accordance with the laws thereof’ is also narrower than the international law definition, whereby a stateless person is someone ‘not considered a national of any state under the operation of its law’.
People who fall under either category in Latvian law (‘stateless person’ or ‘non-citizen’) are stateless according to the definition in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention (also customary international law), as they are not considered nationals of any state under the operation of its law. Although ‘non-citizens’ are granted rights that go beyond the minimum rights prescribed by the 1954 Convention (and a route to naturalisation if they can meet certain conditions), there are important differences distinguishing them from Latvian nationals (for example, ‘non-citizens’ do not have political rights and are excluded from certain professions, face limitations to land ownership and do not benefit from EU citizenship).
Furthermore, protection under the Convention and the definition of a stateless person should not be confused, as the international legal definition is also customary international law and applies at the moment in time in which it is determined, regardless of whether the stateless person is able to acquire rights and a nationality at a later date, or whether they are deemed to be excluded from protection under the Convention, which is a separate legal consideration.

Training

UNHCR has facilitated ad hoc training workshops on statelessness in cooperation with the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA), but no public information is available about whether statelessness is embedded in regular training for different government bodies.
No information is available about judicial training on statelessness nor training for lawyers.

Existence of a dedicated statelessness determination procedure (SDP)

There is a dedicated Statelessness Determination Procedure (SDP) established in Latvian law.
The competent authority for the SDP is the Office of Citizenship and Migration (OCMA).
The information in the remainder of this theme applies only to the SDP and not to the procedure for the determination of ‘non-citizen’ status, for which OCMA is also the competent authority.
By law, a person who has lost the status of ‘non-citizen’ shall be recognised as a stateless person if they do not hold another nationality nor guarantee of being issued one.

Access to the procedure

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Statelessness determination is the specific objective of the procedure.
Instructions on how to make a statelessness application are available in Latvian, English and Russian on the OCMA website. Information about the procedure may also be provided by phone, email and in person.
Applications can be made in writing and orally, can be submitted electronically, and there is no application fee.
However, applications cannot be initiated ex officio and can only be considered based on an application submitted to an official in Latvian, accompanied by a personal identification document and proof of inability to acquire another nationality. The law permits a decision to be made based on the documentation available.
There is no requirement for lawful stay nor a time limit on when applications can be made.
There is cooperation between agencies and all authorities are obliged to forward any written information to OCMA.

Assessment

The burden of proof is shared based on the principles of administrative law.
The standard of proof is in practice high, as the applicant must submit documents confirming their right to be granted statelessness status, including a personal identification document and proof of inability to acquire another nationality, unless the applicant is not able to provide such documentation for reasons beyond their control. The OCMA has some margin of appreciation, but there are not many precedents.
There are specific obligations in Latvian law to consider the best interests of the child and principles of equality and non-discrimination.
It is not clear from publicly available information whether decision-makers have clear guidance on how to determine statelessness.

Procedural safeguards

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The Latvian legal system does not provide for legal assistance before administrative authorities in general. Stateless people have the right to State provided free legal aid for court proceedings, if they have received the status of a low-income person or person in need, or find themselves in a special situation.
An interview is only granted for the SDP if needed for additional information.
There is a legal gap relating to the right to interpreting and translation, but, in practice, if language support is needed, it is provided free of charge.
OCMA consults UNHCR on individual cases from time to time and asks queries about nationality laws and practices in different countries.
Decisions are given in writing with reasons.
There is no formal referral mechanism in place from the asylum procedure to the SDP. A new application must be submitted even though the competent authority is the same for both procedures.
There is a time limit set in law for decisions to be made under the SDP (three months), which may be extended by one month in complex cases where justified.
No information is publicly available as to whether this is complied with in practice, and it is not known whether quality assurance audits of decision-making take place.

Protection during the procedure

Applicants for stateless status do not have automatic legal admission by law, and deportation orders are not suspended automatically. In practice, applicants are not expelled during the process.
Applicants do not have a right to work, nor to social services and assistance. In practice, there have been isolated cases of applicants for stateless status being placed in municipal crisis centres where basic shelter and services are provided.
Applicants are entitled to emergency (minimum state funded) healthcare.

Appeals

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There is a right to appeal a first-instance refusal to the Head of OCMA, and then a right to a further appeal before the courts.
Legal aid is not available for the initial review appeal to OCMA, as legal aid is not generally available for administrative procedures in Latvia. Legal aid is available for court procedures.
There is a fee for the appeal application (60 EUR in 2022), though this can be decreased in specific circumstances.
There is no current public information available about the quality of decision-making.

Statelessness status

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A person recognised as stateless under the SDP has the right to apply for a temporary residence permit for a period not exceeding five years, after which they may request a permanent residence permit if they can meet the requirement of continuous residence and Latvian language requirements.
Travel documents are issued to people granted statelessness status under the SDP.
The right to family reunification for people granted statelessness status is not provided per se, nevertheless, if someone has acquired permanent residence (after five years’ residence and acquiring Latvian language) general rules for family reunification for third-country nationals apply under the EU Family Reunification Directive.
A person with statelessness status has the right to work, the same right to elementary education as a national, a right to free secondary education if of school age and may access higher education for a fee agreed between the stateless person and the educational establishment.
People granted statelessness status with a residence permit in Latvia have a right to social security (social insurance and minimum preventive and curative healthcare).
People granted statelessness status in Latvia do not have the right to vote in any elections.

Temporary protection for people fleeing war

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Latvia is implementing the EU Temporary Protection Directive by granting assistance to ‘Ukrainian Civilians’, which includes citizens of Ukraine, people with a permanent residence permit in Ukraine who cannot return to the country of their citizenship, people with recognised statelessness status or international protection in Ukraine, and the family members of these categories of people.
Absence of identity documents may be an obstacle for people who claim to be stateless. If a person from Ukraine arrives in Latvia without travel documents, the Latvian authorities will seek to confirm their identity in cooperation with the competent Ukrainian authorities.

Detention

Analyses law, policy and practice relating to immigration detention generally, but focusing on protections in place to prevent the arbitrary detention of stateless people during removal and deportation procedures. Subthemes examine areas such as the identification of statelessness and assessment of whether there is a reasonable prospect of removal, procedural safeguards such as time limits, judicial oversight, and effective remedies, as well as the rights granted to stateless people upon release from detention and protection against re-detention.

There are some safeguards against the arbitrary detention of stateless migrants in Latvia, but significant gaps remain. A proposed country of removal does not need to be identified prior to detaining someone for removal, and there is no clear legal provision guaranteeing that detention is only ever used as a last resort. Alternatives to detention are established in law and the wording implies that reporting to the authorities should be considered prior to ordering detention. However, evidence from practice and available data suggests that alternatives are applied in only a small proportion of return decisions. There are some procedural safeguards, but periodic reviews are undertaken by the authorities, rather than the courts, although decisions may be appealed to a judge. Legal aid is limited to challenging the return decision and not detention. Detention is limited by law, but a judge is permitted to extend the duration of detention if the detainee refuses to cooperate or delays documents being received from third countries. People released from detention are not guaranteed access to basic rights or assistance, may be re-detained, and cumulative time spent in detention does not count towards the maximum time limit. People with ‘non-citizen’ status are not subject to immigration detention.

Immigration detention

A proposed country of removal does not need to be identified prior to detention, and there is no clear legal provision on detention being used only as a measure of last resort.
The Asylum Law provides that restrictive measures shall be applied taking into account the individual circumstances of the case and the principle of proportionality. There is currently only one alternative to detention: regular registration with the State Border Guard.
There is no clear provision in law that obliges alternatives to be considered prior to detention, and alternatives are not subject to clear rules or limitations. Nevertheless, the implication in law is that an assessment of proportionality should be made on humanitarian grounds and the alternative of registering with the State Border Guard considered prior to detention.
Evidence from practice and available data suggests that alternatives to detention are rarely applied in practice.
The law does not require a proposed country to be identified before a person is detained for the purpose of removal, but practice differs and in non-refoulement cases the person shall not be detained.
A person should be released if the detention period expires or if the circumstances for detention no longer exist, or the documents required for removal cannot be obtained.

Identification of statelessness

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If statelessness is established by the State, the person shall not be detained solely on the ground of statelessness. Statelessness is only considered juridically relevant in that someone may be referred to the SDP for determination of their statelessness, but if they have no legal right to stay or there is a risk of absconding, a stateless person may still be detained until their statelessness is determined.
Stateless people have been detained in practice in the past, though there is no recent information on this.
Vulnerability assessments are provided for in law, but statelessness is not considered a vulnerability factor and there is no definition of vulnerability in law.

Procedural safeguards

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Under the Immigration Law a person cannot be detained for more than six months, but a judge may take a decision to extend the duration of detention, not exceeding an additional 12 months, if the detainee refuses to cooperate or delays documents being received from third countries.
When detaining a person, by law, the State Border Guard must draw up a detention report with written reasons for detention and the detainee must sign this. It should be communicated to the detainee in a language they understand. Although the law sets out detainees' rights including to legal representation, contact with family and support organisations and effective remedies, this information is not included in the detention report given to detainees.
The law provides for judicial oversight of detention, but periodic review is undertaken by the State Border Guard and there is no time frame for how often this should take place.
The detainee has the right to appeal the State Border Guard decision before a court, and to appeal the decision of a judge within 48 hours.
There is no provision for free legal aid in law for stateless people to challenge detention (although there is for challenging a removal order, and for asylum seekers to challenge detention orders).
Detainees may be referred to an SDP from detention, though there is no formal referral mechanism.
No information is available as to whether there are clear rules governing the process of documentation and ascertaining nationality.

Protection on release

According to the law, people with irregular residence status and no valid passport or identity document cannot be assigned a personal identification number on release from detention, and so are released without formal identification or any rights to social assistance. People may be re-detained, and cumulative time spent in detention does not count towards the maximum time limit (six months unless extended by a judge).
A person who applies for status as a stateless person under the SDP and is granted a positive decision, may acquire a temporary residence permit on release, as per SDP section above.
Each detention decision is taken on the basis of the circumstances of a particular case.

Return and readmission agreements

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Readmission and return agreements are only imposed after the status of a person is determined and risks of torture or other forms of inhuman treatment established.
Not all readmission and return agreements are publicly available. Where they are available, statelessness does not appear to be juridically relevant, though there is also no available information about whether stateless persons have been returned under these agreements in practice.

Prevention and Reduction

Assesses the adequacy of safeguards in nationality laws to prevent and reduce statelessness, including facilitated routes to naturalisation for stateless people, and protections for otherwise stateless children born on the territory or to nationals abroad, foundlings and adopted children. Examines law, policy, and practice on birth registration, including access to late birth registration, and reduction measures taken by States to prevent and reduce in situ statelessness. Analyses provisions on deprivation of nationality and whether there are safeguards related to renunciation and deprivation of nationality to prevent statelessness from occurring.

Safeguards in Latvian nationality law to prevent childhood statelessness depend on the status and actions of the parents. Since 1 January 2020, children born to ‘non-citizen’ parents in Latvia acquire Latvian nationality automatically (unless they acquire, or parents opt for the child to acquire another nationality). A child born to parents with ‘stateless’ status may acquire nationality if a parent so chooses, or if they apply themselves between the ages of 15-18 (and can meet certain conditions). None of the legal options serves as a full safeguard to prevent children being born stateless in Latvia. In the case of foundlings, adopted children, and children born to Latvian nationals or Latvian ‘non-citizens’ abroad, statelessness is prevented in most cases, although the requirement to register with consular authorities could be a practical barrier for some children born abroad. All births in Latvia must be registered within a month, but parents must have identity documents, which could leave some at risk of remaining unregistered. The Latvian Government has taken some steps towards reducing statelessness, including a law On Terminating the Granting of Non-Citizen Status to Children in 2019 and amendments to the Citizenship Law in 2013 to facilitate the process for ‘non-citizen’ children to acquire nationality, and providing information and support for ‘non-citizens’ to naturalise. However, around 180,000 people remain stateless with ‘non-citizen’ status in the country. 42% of 'non-citizens' identify as members of the ethnic Belarusian minority and 24.5% of the ethnic Russian minority. Among people who identify as ethnic Belarusian, 45% are citizens of Latvia while 45% remain non-citizens, and among people who identity as ethnic Russians, 67% are citizens of Latvia while 26% remain non-citizens.

Naturalisation

A person recognised as stateless under the SDP may apply for naturalisation after five years’ permanent residence; so they must have resided with a permit as a stateless person for five years and then acquired and held a permanent residence permit for five years (10 years’ total legal residence) before applying for naturalisation. There is no accelerated naturalisation procedure for a person recognised as stateless as the general provision is five years’ permanent residence.
There are no exemptions for stateless people from the general naturalisation requirements: fluency in Latvian language, a legal source of income, knowledge of the constitution, national anthem and history and culture of Latvia. The only exemption is a general one from the written test for applicants over 65 years old.
Previous criminal convictions may be a bar to naturalisation, unless it is deemed that the trial was unfair or the punishment disproportionate.
There is a fee of 28.64 EUR for the naturalisation procedure. Exemptions are available for some groups including children in care, orphans, and severely disabled persons, and a reduced fee of 4.27 EUR is available for those in need, registered unemployed, large families, older people, some students and disabled persons. There are no exemptions for stateless people.

Stateless born on territory

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Since 1 January 2020, children born in Latvia to ‘non-citizen’ parents automatically acquire Latvian nationality unless the child acquires, or the parents opt for the child to acquire, another nationality.
There is also a provision in law to grant nationality to children born in Latvia to parents with 'stateless’ status if one parent who has permanent residence expresses the wish for the child to acquire Latvian nationality at birth registration (or if the mother does so where the father has no entry in the civil registry; or if one parent does so where the other parent is deceased). One parent may apply for a child to acquire Latvian nationality until the child is 15, if the child has been 'stateless' or 'non-citizen' their whole life, is a permanent resident, and both parents have 'stateless' or 'non-citizen' status, and the parent with whom the child has lived has five years' permanent residence in Latvia.
The child may apply themselves to acquire Latvian nationality between the ages of 15 and 18, if both parents have 'stateless' or 'non-citizen' status, and the child has five years' residence, no serious criminal record, and Latvian language proficiency.
None of the legal options covers all children born stateless on the territory; the timeframe for a child to apply in their own right does not extend beyond the age of majority; and all legal options rely on the status (and in some cases also choices) of the parents, so the provisions are not fully consistent with the international standards in the 1961 Convention.
Applications for stateless or non-citizen children to acquire Latvian nationality are free of charge.
The parents are provided with information about their child's nationality rights and relevant procedures, including where the child would otherwise be stateless or has undetermined nationality.

Foundlings

There is an automatic provision in law for foundlings to acquire Latvian nationality, which is usually confirmed upon birth registration.
The age limit for registration of a foundling as a Latvian citizen by their legal representative is 15 years-old, or the child may register themselves between the ages of 15 and 18.
There is no provision for nationality to be withdrawn from a foundling.

Adoption

A child national adopted by foreign parents does not lose their Latvian nationality.
A foreign child adopted by Latvian nationals acquires Latvian nationality on adoption as of by birth.

Ius sanguinis

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Latvian nationality is acquired automatically by children born abroad to Latvian nationals, but the birth of the child must be registered with the Latvian authorities before the child is 18. The child may register themselves if aged 15 to 18. This age limit does not meet the standards in the 1961 Convention, which requires a minimum of three years for a young person to register themselves on reaching the age of majority.
A document certifying the child’s birth, a parent’s or both the parents’ passports as well as a child’s identity document, if available, should also be submitted to the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) or the consular authorities in Latvian (unless in English, German, French or Russian). Legalisation is not required if issued in the EU/EEA, Switzerland or states with which Latvia has bilateral agreements.
A child born to at least one Latvian ‘non-citizen’ parent outside Latvia from 1 January 2020 may acquire Latvian nationality. The parents must register the child with the Latvian authorities affirming and providing documentary proof that the child is not and has not been a national of any other country

Birth registration

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The law provides that all births should be registered within one month, but parents must submit documentation, so children of undocumented migrants or those with irregular residence status in the country are at risk of remaining unregistered.
There are no available reports of significant numbers of children remaining unregistered due to parents' lack of documentation or legal status, but there are discussions ongoing about how to ensure all births are registered where parents or medical personnel have failed to report a birth for more than six months.
Late birth registration is possible in law and practice and may be undertaken on the basis of a submission by one or more parent, or another interested party, after establishing the reasons for the delay, and on presentation of documentation, and a medical certificate evidencing the birth.
All children are issued with a birth certificate upon registration and the child's nationality is recorded upon registration by the Registry Office. However, the procedure for determining a child’s nationality after birth is unclear and there is a risk that a child whose nationality status at birth is unclear may remain with undetermined nationality for a prolonged period.
There have been no reports of children being prevented from registering their birth because of their parents' sexual orientation or gender identity.

Reducing in situ statelessness

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The Latvian Government has undertaken certain reduction measures. In 2018, OCMA conducted a proactive information campaign sending letters to ‘non-citizen’ parents encouraging them to register their children as Latvian nationals; although during three years only 19% of parents decided to register their children as Latvian citizens. Regular information days are held by local OCMA offices and support is provided through EU funding to people with ‘non-citizen’ status to access naturalisation courses; and, significantly, amendments to the Citizenship Law in 2013 and a law On Terminating the Granting of Non-Citizen Status to Children in 2019 have facilitated the acquisition of Latvian nationality by children born to ‘non-citizen’ parents on the territory, and abroad.
The main ethnic origins among stateless people in Latvia are Russian (94), Ukrainian (15), Belarusian (seven), and Roma (10). Among people with ‘non-citizen’ status in Latvia, 42.49% identify as ethnic Belarusian, 24.5% Russian, 24.2% Ukrainian, and 16.6% Poles. Among ethnic Russians, in 2023, 67% are citizens of Latvia while 26% remain non-citizens. Among ethnic Belarusians, in 2023, 45.1% are citizens of Latvia while 44.7% remain non-citizens.
As of 1 January 2024, there were 1,923 ‘non-citizen’ children (ages 4-17).
People with ‘non-citizen’ status may apply for naturalisation under general rules if they can meet conditions including language proficiency, a legal source of income, and citizenship test.

Deprivation of nationality

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There is a safeguard in law against statelessness in most instances of deprivation of nationality, but there are provisions that could render a person stateless under certain circumstances (acquisition or restoration of Latvian nationality by naturalisation by deception). The competent authority for deprivation of nationality is OCMA, and there is a right of appeal to the head of OCMA and the administrative court. Legal aid is not available in administrative procedures, but it is in the court.
There is a safeguard to prevent statelessness in all cases in which deprivation of nationality is permitted, which apply to Latvians by birth or origin. Only certain naturalised Latvians may be rendered stateless as a result of deprivation of nationality provisions.
There are provisions to prevent derivative loss of nationality.
In 2022, in response to the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the Citizenship Law was amended to broaden the circumstances in which a person can be deprived of Latvian citizenship. It foresees that Latvian citizenship will be revoked if a person has participated in certain activities (including genocide, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes, etc.), or provided substantial support to states or people who have carried out those activities. There is a safeguard to prevent statelessness in these cases.

Resources

Library of resources, legal instruments, publications and training materials on statelessness, specifically relevant to this country. More regional and international materials, as well as resources from other countries, are available on the Resources library. Domestic case law can be consulted in the Statelessness Case Law Database (with summaries available in English).

Please note that we are in the process of adding new resources, so check back soon.

International and regional treaties

United Nations - Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (Jan 1954)

Council of Europe - European Convention on Nationality (Nov 1997)

Council of Europe - Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in relation to State Succession (Jan 2006)

United Nations - Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (Jan 1961)

Publications

European Network on Statelessness - Thematic briefing: Birth registration and the prevention of statelessness in Europe (Jul 2020)

European Network on Statelessness - Statelessness determination and protection in Europe (Sep 2021)

ENS and ISI - Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at UPR38 - Latvia (Oct 2020)

Latvia

Additional resources

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