The competent Latvian authority for the granting of residence permits is the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) , which is a State institution operating under the supervision of the Latvian Ministry of Interior.
The OCMA develops and implements the State policy on migration and asylum;
ensures the maintenance of the Population Register and registration of residents; determines the legal status of individuals in the country (by granting visas, residence permits, citizenship via the naturalisation procedure) and issues personal identification and travel documents
.
As part of the tasks described above, the OCMA receives and processes applications under the Latvian investors’ residence scheme. Latvian diplomatic and consular missions act as intermediaries between the applicant and the OCMA when residence permit applications are submitted by applicants abroad.
Based on a positive decision of the OCMA, the missions abroad issue applicants’ visas (if required), but the residence permits must be collected at the OCMA in person.
In the decision process of granting residence permits, the OCMA cooperates with the Security Police, which carries out due diligence checks for all potential investors. It also relies on information verified and stored (usually, in public registers) by other State authorities and non-public bodies:
- State Land Service in relation to investment in real estate;
- State Enterprise Register – in relation to investment in business,
- Latvian central securities depository – in relation to investment in State securities;
- Latvian Investment and Development Agency – in relation to investment in innovations.
- evidence of investments in liabilities of credit institutions, the OCMA relies on information provided by the credit institution in whose liabilities the investor has invested.
In relation to due diligence checks, the Office also relies on financial institutions involved in transfers of investment funds. Under the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing financial institutions must freeze funds when suspecting a suspicious activity and report that to the Latvian Financial Investigation Unit.