Background information

The legislation of the Republic of Latvia distinguishes between two categories of foreigners:

• Union citizens – this means citizens of both the Member States of the European Union and the countries of the European Economic Area and citizens of the Swiss Confederation, who have an equal status in Latvia with citizens of the Republic of Latvia.
• Third-country citizens, whose entry and employment in Latvia are subject to additional conditions.

There are almost no restrictions for Union citizens to enter, stay and work in Latvia. The following changes apply to third-country citizens. With the aim of reducing the negative impact of the labor shortage on economic growth in all sectors of the economy, as well as to ease the requirements regarding the amount of necessary financial resources for foreigners who receive the right to employment, the Cabinet of Ministers, at its meeting on January 30, 2024, approved changes to Cabinet Regulation No. 225 'Regulations on the amount of financial resources required by a foreigner and the determination of the existence of financial resources.' (enters into force on February 8, 2024).

Content of measure

Until these amendments, the regulations provided that a foreigner who has received a visa and the right to employment must be provided with a salary that is not less than the average monthly gross salary in Latvia in the previous year (in 2022, according to information published by the Central Statistical Office, it was €1,373). The regulations allowed equating the monthly gross salary to the average salary in the sector in the previous year only for those foreign employees who are seasonally employed in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. According to the annotation to the amendments, the Ministry of Economics indicates that in several sectors that are essential to the national economy, where there are many vacancies and a large shortage of labour, the gross salary is lower than the average gross salary in the country in the previous year. The requirement in force so far to pay foreigners the average salary in the country rather than in the sector has created a situation where the local workforce, to which such a requirement does not apply, is paid significantly less than foreigners. In addition, employers are faced with a significant shortage of local labour. The amendments stipulate that from now on, employers must ensure that foreigners working in all sectors receive the average wage level in the sector in the previous year (according to the latest information published by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB)) or in accordance with the general agreement of the sector. In the event that the average wage in the sector is higher than the average monthly gross wage in the country in the previous year, the amount of financial resources required by the foreigner is determined to be no less than the average monthly gross wage in the country in the previous year.

Use of measure

No information available

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Migrants or refugees in employment	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Employers' organisations	No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Informed	Consulted
Form	Not applicable	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

Employers organisations participated in the meeting of representatives of the Ministry of Economics with representatives of non-governmental organizations on issues of attracting foreign labour. Employer organisations actively submitted proposals during the legislative act drafting phase.

Views and reactions

No specific views to report

Sources

• 30 January 2024: Paredz vienotus nosacījumus atalgojuma noteikšanai ārvalstu darbaspēka (lvportals.lv)
• 06 February 2024: Atvieglos viesstrādnieku piesaisti, bet stingrāk sodīs par imigrācijas pārkāpumie (lvportals.lv)
• 08 February 2024: Ministru kabineta noteikumi Nr. 225 Noteikumi par ārzemniekam nepieciešamo finanšu līdzekļu apmēru un finanšu līdzekļu esības konstatēšan (likumi.lv)