LatviaHumanitarian protection
Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.
Asylum under the Asylum Law: refugee status, alternative (subsidiary) status or temporary protection.
The right to seek asylum in Latvia, including obtaining refugee status, alternative status, or temporary protection, is regulated by the Asylum Law.
Third-country nationals or stateless persons outside their country of origin. Refugee status: well-founded fear of persecution for race, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, social background or political affiliation. Alternative status: risk of death penalty, corporal punishment, torture or inhuman treatment, or inability to return due to armed conflict. Temporary protection: groups fleeing ethnic conflict or civil war, decided by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Asylum can be requested by third-country nationals or stateless persons who are outside their country of origin and seek legal protection in Latvia.
It may be granted if the person has a well-founded fear of persecution in their country of citizenship or previous residence (if stateless), based on specific grounds: race, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, social background, political affiliation.
Alternative status may be granted if there are grounds to believe that a person: is at risk of the death penalty, corporal punishment, torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in their country of citizenship or previous country of residence (including stateless persons); cannot return to their country of citizenship or previous residence due to international or internal armed conflicts.
Temporary protection may be granted to groups of persons who have left their country due to ethnic conflicts or civil war. It entitles them to reside in Latvia for a certain period. The decision is made by the Cabinet of Ministers.
In person to the State Border Guard: at a border crossing point, an airport transit zone, or a territorial office inside Latvia.
Applications must be submitted in person to the State Border Guard, either at a border crossing point, a transit zone, or a territorial office within Latvia.
The Border Guard issues an asylum seeker identity document; people without legal residence are housed at the Mucenieki accommodation centre. OCMA decides on admissibility within 10 working days, interviews within a month, and decides within 6 months of the application (extendable by 9 months, up to 15 months). The official source does not state how family members are handled during the procedure.
Instead, the State Border Guard issues an asylum seeker's identity document to an asylum seeker who is not detained.
If the person lacks legal residency grounds, they are accommodated in the Asylum Seekers Accommodation Center “Mucenieki” during the process.
After receiving the documents submitted by the asylum seeker from the State Border Guard, the OCMA shall, within 10 working days, make a decision on accepting the asylum seeker’s application for consideration, indicating the date, time and place of the personal interview with the asylum seeker. The personal interview with the asylum seeker must take place within a month of the adoption of the aforementioned decision, and shall be conducted by the OCMA employees. After the personal interview, OCMA shall, within three months, make a decision on granting or refusing to grant refugee or alternative status, but the decision on granting or refusing to grant refugee or alternative status shall be made in total no later than six months after the asylum application. The decision-making period may be extended by another nine months, thus the total decision-making period may reach 15 months.
The State Border Guard receives applications (in Riga at Ieriķu iela 15, by prior phone call); the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) examines them.
An application for granting refugee or alternative status in the Republic of Latvia is examined by OCMA.
In Riga you have to go to Ieriķu iela 15, but applying in advance via phone: • during working days via phone 6707 5732; • during weekends and public holidays, outside working hours via phone 6732 3994
These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.
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