Latvia
Latvia Golden Visa: parliament drops two investment routes, adds a fund route, and the President returns the law
Latvia's parliament has passed an immigration law removing the real estate and bank deposit routes from the Golden…
The Latvian Financial Intelligence Service (FIS) has identified over 20 legal entities registered in Latvia suspected of being used for sham investment transactions to apply for residence permits under the Golden Visaprogramme. The information was published by Latvian Television (LTV) in the investigative programme De Facto, broadcast on 27/04/2026.
Message
Scale of the incident
According to De Facto, approximately 200 foreigners have poured over €10 million EUR into the share capital of these companies. More than 50 individuals among them have been granted temporary residence permits, and the number of family members who have received or are applying for permits exceeds 100.
According to the FIS, the investment capital in the suspected cases does not remain in genuine business operations. Money is transferred back to the organizers of the scheme in the form of loans, sham transactions, purchases of real estate or vehicles, or transfers without economic basis. In some cases, investors are informed in advance that they will not receive dividends and cannot recover their capital.
The head of the FIS, Toms Platacis, told LSM that in some cases, the mandatory investment of 50,000 EUR is actually the same sum of money circulated multiple times. According to LSM, Mr. Platacis described this model as “ten thousand, paid five times in a circle”.
Considering a residency programme? The Prosperous Living Investment team assesses your profile free of charge and advises on the pathway that fits your goals.
Structure of the Latvia Golden Visa programme
According to the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP/OCMA), the Golden Visa programme allows foreign citizens to receive a temporary residence permit when investing 50,000 EUR or 100,000 EUR into the share capital of a Latvian company that is obligated to pay at least 40,000 EUR in taxes annually. Last year, the programme attracted nearly 6,000,000 EUR and granted permits to 341 individuals, including investors and dependents.
PMLP data collected by De Facto shows that 109 applications were submitted last year, more than five times the 20 applications in 2021. The approval rate is approximately 1 in 3 applications, as candidates must pass security and background checks.
Companies under investigation
According to De Facto, a company with a Portuguese headquarters established about 18 months ago attracted 9 investors to apply for residence permits last year. The company’s shareholder register records 30 individuals from India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Türkiye, Chile, Malawi, Syria, Vanuatu, and other countries, each holding a class of non-voting shares according to the articles of association. The PMLP data cited by De Facto shows that this is one of the companies with the highest permit rejection rate in the programme.
The investigation also identified one owner controlling multiple companies, each attracting the maximum number of permitted investors. Two of these reported zero revenue and losses in 2024. In a written response to De Facto, the owner stated that one company was newly established, the revenue for the other was recorded in a later phase, and a 10 million EUR student dormitory project collapsed after the investor withdrew capital.
Five other companies linked to a single businesswoman are also under investigation, three of which have outstanding tax debts. Investors introduced by this group were granted temporary residence permits in 2022, 2023, and 2024, but applications submitted last year were either rejected or remain pending.
Increasing legal pressure
According to LSM, Lursoft data shows that 7 of the 78 companies that attracted foreign investors over the past 5 years have ceased operations. Approximately 20 companies have outstanding tax debts. About half report having fewer than 5 employees, and about half meet the 40,000 EUR/year tax threshold.
Ms. Ilze Briede, Head of the Immigration Division at the PMLP, stated at the Saeima investigative committee that it is currently very difficult to remove companies from the programme that have no real business activity but still pay sufficient taxes. According to LSM, she said: “In our view, this criterion is currently insufficient”.
Some Saeima members are considering legislation to completely close the equity-based investment route. The Latvia Golden Visa programme has operated since 2010, once generating over 1 billion EUR in investment capital primarily from Russian citizens in the early years, before declining sharply as regulations were tightened.
Related News
Accompanying you on your journey in residency investment
The Prosperous Living Investment team advises on pathways, assesses profiles and manages investments transparently for every residency, citizenship and international property objective.
Free profile assessmentWhere life gets prosperous