Guidance

Latvia: Knowledge Base profile

Published 25 March 2024

About: Latvia

This document contains useful information about Latvia which will assist His Majesty’s Passport Office staff process passport applications.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the document and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the document has factual errors then email the Guidance team.

If you notice any formatting errors in this document (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the document then you can email the Guidance team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the document was published:

• version 2.0
• published for Home Office staff on 21 March 2024

Changes from last version of this document

This document has been updated with minor formatting changes.

Latvia: names

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about names in Latvia.

Names in Latvia consist of:

• up to 2 forenames
• a family name (surname)

In accordance with State Language law, names are written with grammatical and phonetic rules of Latvian literary language. Names of foreign origin are transcribed into the Latvian alphabet to show:

• the person’s gender
• the pronunciation in the language of origin

All names on birth, marriage and death certificates will be in Latvian. The original transliteration of names may be included in brackets.

Change of name

Name changes are allowed in Latvia when a person is aged 15 or over. Between the ages of 15 to 18, parental consent is required.

Husbands and wives can choose to change their name to that of their spouse following marriage. They can also opt to have a double barrelled surname.

A person can apply to the Registrar Office to have an additional forename added to their birth certificate if they were originally registered with 1 forename.

Name alignment

The personal details page of a Latvia passport will show the holder’s name using the Latvian alphabet. If the spelling of the person’s name in the passport is different to the spelling in a document issued in another language for example, English, the original spelling will be shown on page 3 of the passport if requested.

HM Passport Office will not request alignment of the Latvia passport where the variation in the name is due to transliteration.

Latvia: nationality

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about nationality in Latvia.

Dual nationality is allowed in Latvia from 1 October 2013, for citizens of:

• another EU Member State or another EFTA Member State;
• another NATO Member State;
• Australia, Brazil or New Zealand
• a country not referred to previously if due to important national interests, permission from the Cabinet is received to retain dual citizenship
• a country not referred to previously if it has been acquired automatically through marriage or adoption

Children of citizens of Latvia may hold dual citizenship with any country.

Latvia: legitimacy and parental responsibility

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about legitimacy and parental responsibility in Latvia.

Legitimacy

Since 2003, Latvia does not recognise a difference between legitimate and illegitimate births. This means that all births are considered legitimate, whether a child’s parents are married or not.

Parental responsibility

Both parents have parental responsibility, whether they are married or not.

Latvia: adoptions

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about adoptions in Latvia.

Adoption is legal in Latvia. Adoptive parents must be at least:

• 25 years old
• be at least 18 years older than the adoptive child

Latvia: surrogacy

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about surrogacy in Latvia.

Surrogacy is legal in Latvia.

Surrogacy is illegal for same sex couples.

Latvia: civil partnership and marriage

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about civil partnership and marriage in Latvia.

Same sex partnerships are not recognised in Latvia.

Latvia: documents

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about documents from Latvia.

Latvia birth, marriage and death registrations are held centrally.

Following the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, HM Passport Office cannot accept Multilingual Standard Forms (MSFs) issued by member states. An MSF will:

• contain a reference to the convention signed at Vienna on September 8 1976, this may be on the reverse of the document
• be marked as a Formul A (birth certificate), normally in the top right corner on the front of the document in the language of the country where the document was issued
  • there will also be marriage certificates and death certificates that will have a different Formul version that is also not acceptable

These documents are an extract of a civil registration record translated into the language needed and not a full, original certificate.

Birth certificates

When born, a child is issued with a hospital or health practitioners’ notification. Births must be registered within 1 month. Late registrations of up to 3 months are allowed.

If a mistake on the birth certificate becomes known, a new certificate with the correct details is issued.

Marriage certificates

Marriages are registered and a marriage certificate issued when conducted by a licenced celebrant in either a registrar office or a church from the following denominations:

• Lutheran
• Catholic
• Orthodox
• Methodist
• Baptist
• Old-believers
• 7th Day Adventists

Death certificates

Deaths must be registered within 6 days. Late registrations are allowed. Once registered, a death certificate is issued.

Identity documents

Up to April 2012 residency permits for foreign nationals were either:

• vignettes in passports
• A5 documents issued to non-European Economic Area (EEA) family members of EEA nationals

From April 2012, Latvia citizens and foreign nationals can apply for a biometric identity card. Residency permits for foreign nationals are also biometric identity cards.

Foreign nationals must be registered with the local authority in the town where they are living.