Latvia's Progressives File Bill to Scrap €150,000 Investor
The Progressives party has submitted legislation to remove the final investor immigration pathway from Latvia's law, a €150,000 fund-based option that
Latvia's Progressives party has filed a bill to eliminate the €150,000 fund-based investment route for temporary residence permits. The move targets the last surviving investor immigration channel after other options were removed in a wider law rewrite last year.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs promulgated the re-adopted Immigration Law on August 20, 2026, with it entering force on September 15, 2026. That framework already closed two major pathways for new applicants: a €250,000 real-estate track and a €280,000 bank-deposit route. However, the legislative text preserved a narrower investment option, which the new bill aims to scrap entirely.
The Surviving Investment Pathway
The contested route requires an investment of at least €150,000 for a minimum of five years through a state-created alternative investment fund manager. Applicants must also make a €10,000 payment to the state budget. The temporary residence permit issued under this route can be valid for up to five years.
Despite being written into law, the pathway is not operational. Multiple summaries from 6 note that the necessary fund structure and implementing rules have not been created, preventing any applications from being processed.
Political Challenge to the Program
Faction chair Andris Šuvajevs stated after lawmakers reconsidered the law that his party intended to propose a complete termination of the golden visa program in September. The newly filed bill represents a direct challenge to this last remaining investor residence channel, following the earlier removal of the property route. Šuvajevs's objection is to the investor residence channel itself, not merely a technical adjustment.
Transition Rules for Existing Cases
Applications submitted before September 14, 2026, remain governed by the old immigration rules. Individuals who already hold residence permits under the previous system retain their rights under the law's transition provisions.
A Route Without Infrastructure
The state has yet to establish the fund-manager structure mandated by the law, which is the central requirement for the route to function. Until the government issues the implementing rules, the channel cannot be used as a standard filing option. The Progressives' bill seeks to erase this paper pathway before the necessary administrative machinery can be built. The legislative decision now rests with the Saeima.
