Latvia's €150,000 golden visa fund route faces a proposal for complete removal, according to a report by Outbound Investment Group. The proposal, if adopted, would eliminate one of the country's residency-by-investment options less than a cycle after it entered the programme's framework.

The change concerns Latvia's residence permit programme for investors, commonly known as a golden visa. Under the fund route, foreign nationals can qualify for Latvian residence by investing €150,000 into an approved investment fund. A proposal now on the table calls for scrapping this pathway entirely.

Who is affected

The proposal directly affects third-country nationals who have considered, or are preparing, a residence permit application through the €150,000 fund investment route. Applicants who have already started the process, as well as advisers and fund operators structuring products around the route, now face uncertainty over whether the pathway will remain available long enough to complete their applications.

Existing permit holders are a separate question. The report describes the measure as a proposal for removal of the route rather than a finalised legislative act, and the published information does not specify how the change would treat permits already issued under the fund option.

What changes

If the proposal becomes law, the €150,000 fund investment would no longer serve as a qualifying basis for a Latvian residence permit. Applicants would lose this specific route, and the range of investment options within the programme would narrow accordingly.

At this stage, the measure remains a proposal. It has not taken effect as a binding rule, and no implementation date appears in the available reporting. Investors should not treat the fund route as closed until the Latvian parliament enacts the change and it enters into force.

Why it matters

Latvia has competed in the European residency-by-investment market alongside programmes such as those of Portugal, Greece, Spain and Malta. A €150,000 entry threshold positioned the Latvian fund route toward the lower end of European golden visa pricing, making it accessible to a broader pool of applicants.

Removal of the route would reduce that accessibility. It would also align Latvia with a wider European trend: several EU member states have tightened, restructured or abolished investor residence schemes in recent years under pressure from the European Commission, which has repeatedly criticised such programmes for security and transparency risks.

What applicants should do now

No individual action follows automatically from a proposal. Applicants weighing the Latvian fund route should track the legislative process through official Latvian channels — the Saeima, Latvia's parliament, and the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP), which administers residence permits — for the authoritative text, effective dates and transitional provisions.

Anyone with a pending or planned application under the €150,000 fund route may wish to seek qualified advice on timing, since windows for filing under current rules can close on the date a repeal enters into force.

Passport File will monitor the proposal as it moves through Latvia's legislative process and report on the final terms, including any deadlines or transitional arrangements, once the authorities publish them.