Border Guard

The Latvian Border Guard is responsible for border protection and immigration control, as well as for the reception and processing of asylum seekers. The Border Guard manages Latvia’s border crossing points and transit zones.

The Border Guard Service is the first authority that asylum seekers in Latvia come into contact with, and it provides the initial information and documents to start the asylum procedure. The Border Guard issues personal documents to asylum seekers or detains them for information. The Border Guard makes the final decision on how to proceed – if the decision is to refuse asylum, it cannot be challenged or changed.

An important function of the Border Guard is immigration control: compliance with rules on entry, residence, employment, exit, and transit of foreigners. This means that the Border Guard can check your documents, your place of work – whether it matches the information you have provided, your place of residence – whether you are and live at the address you have provided, and information about your living arrangements and whether the marriage actually exists. Breaches of immigration rules can lead to penalties up to and including cancellation of your residence permit.