To make it easier to start your life in Latvia, a new website LIVELATVIA.LV has been created. The website brings together all the principal information required on migration, work, studies and learning Latvian. It is also regularly updated with new information.

LIVELATVIA.LV has been developed and is maintained by the Integration and Inclusion Agency of the Society Integration Foundation, where third-country nationals, refugees and asylum seekers can also receive individual consultations in person or remotely. The Agency’s clients can clarify a wide range of matters at a time and get information on all public services in one place.  This is important as people coming to Latvia from outside the European Union generally have a different perception of the support and services available from the public administration. The Agency also offers its support to local government institutions, NGOs and businesses.

When first arriving in Latvia to live, work or study, new entrants may have many questions that they previously had to look up on various websites of the public administration. Not all information was available in English, so LIVELATVIA.LV provides basic information in a convenient and clear way. Five main sections — entry, work, study, live and learn Latvian — have been created to provide information on starting a life in Latvia in a user-friendly way. The new website will be regularly updated and updated with practical and useful information. Information on Latvian language learning — free and paid courses, as well as online learning materials — is now available to all interested parties. There is also a summary of all the free courses available for Ukrainian civilians.

So far, the Agency’s employees have visited various organisations and events to answer questions about life in Latvia. For example, on 19 June, the Agency visited the Daugavpils Regional Hospital, where it met with doctors from Ukraine, whose main questions concerned learning Latvian language for children and the education system. The Agency also regularly visits various training centres teaching the Latvian language. In spring, the Agency’s employees and clients met at the Riga Zoo for the Big Clean-up to create a sense of unity, positivity and belonging to Latvia.

Support provided by the Agency to entrepreneurs can make it easier to deal with a wide range of issues related to the alignment of professional qualification documents, migration, housing, healthcare, social support, education and cultural orientation. Given that new entrants are often also job seekers, working with the Agency can also help the company to attract labour force.

The Agency’s branches are available in all regions of Latvia — Kurzeme (Liepāja), Zemgale (Jelgava), Latgale (Daugavpils), Vidzeme (Valmiera) and Riga. To book a consultation, please refer to the contact details of the relevant branch.

In situations that require the involvement of other professionals, e.g., regarding entry into Latvia, unemployment, barriers to public services, etc., a change agent is involved to work individually with the client on a long-term basis. In additional to individual consultations, the Agency provides translation services in more than 24 languages, legal assistance, as well as psychologist and psychotherapist services.

Since its launch, the Agency has provided more than 6,000 consultations in Latvia. The most popular countries of origin are Ukraine, Russia, India, Belarus, Sri Lanka, the United States, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and others. According to the data of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, 89,520 residence permits for third-country nationals have been issued and are currently valid.

The most popular questions during the consultations are related to finding a job and a place to live, as well as learning Latvian. There is also a desire to get to know Latvians and Latvian culture better. That is why the Agency offers cultural orientation and Latvian language courses in cooperation with various non-governmental organisations throughout Latvia. Up-to-date information on all available courses will be provided in one place in the news section of LIVELATVIA.LV.

The implementation of the services of the Integration and Inclusion Agency is provided within the framework of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund project implemented by the Society Integration Fund (contract No PMIF/13.1./2022/1/01). Funding is provided by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (75%) and the Latvian state budget (25%).