Latvia visa guide
The Latvia Study & Research Visa is for study, research or an internship in Latvia. Short stays of up to 90 days use a Schengen Type C visa; longer study requires a national long-stay visa or residence permit.
Beyond the standard Schengen documents, the embassy expects a certificate of admission or registration at an educational establishment in Latvia, or a cover letter from the inviting institution.
Lifeset Overseas confirms whether your stay needs a short-stay visa or a residence permit and builds the file so your study or research purpose is clearly evidenced.
Latvia long-stay (D) student visa from India
Degree study in Latvia is entered on a long-stay D-type visa, applied for through VFS Global for the Embassy of Latvia in New Delhi once the university has arranged an approved invitation. The checklist is specific and the sequence matters: the invitation must be approved by Latvia's Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) before you apply. You can book the VFS appointment only after uploading your documents to Hello Verify for verification, and every student applicant is interviewed by video conference at the VFS centre, for which VFS charges a separate fee.
The D-type student checklist
- The Republic of Latvia long-stay visa application form, filled, printed and signed.
- Two photographs 35 × 45 mm taken live at submission.
- Passport valid at least three months beyond the intended departure from Latvia or any other Member State, with two blank pages; copies of the identity pages and pages with previous visas.
- An invitation from your education institution in Latvia approved by the OCMA, dated no more than six months before the application.
- A copy of the signed study agreement together with the Academic Information Centre (AIC) certificate recognising your prior qualifications.
- Written certification from the higher-education institution or college of your matriculation and required arrival in Latvia.
- Proof of sufficient financial means: an original bank statement with three months of movements and a stamped balance-confirmation letter; an international credit or debit card activated for euro transactions; or, where the university offers it, an original signed statement that the required funds are held in the university's account.
Official sources
- Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA), Latvia: https://www.pmlp.gov.lv/en
- Embassy of Latvia in India: https://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/india
- VFS Global India — Latvia: https://visa.vfsglobal.com/ind/en/lva
Checked against the Latvia long-stay student checklist held in our Knowledge Base on 30 September 2026. Fees and rules change; the official page always prevails.
Verified figures for Latvia
What a year in Latvia costs — and what you must prove
- Public-university tuition, non-EU student, per year
- €1,600 – €15,500
- Funds the visa authority asks you to show
- €500 a month
English-taught courses: widely available. IELTS 6.0 / TOEFL iBT 80
Read on the official pages below on 27 Aug 2026. Figures change every academic year — check them before you pay anything.
Where Latvia stands among the 29 Schengen study countries
Computed from verified figures
On the lowest published public-university fee for non-EU students, Latvia sits 10th of 26 Schengen countries (€1,600 a year at the floor, up to €15,500). The living-cost proof the residence permit asks for works out to about €500 a month, which ranks 6th-lowest of the 23 countries that publish a monthly or yearly figure. English-taught programmes are widely available — Latvia is one of 18 Schengen countries where that is true, so the language of instruction is not the filter it is elsewhere.
Closest on tuition: Estonia and Austria. Compare all 29 side by side on Study in Europe.
