Latvian Citizenship by Descent

Section 2 of Latvia's Citizenship Law recognises as citizens the people who were Latvian citizens on 17 June 1940, the eve of the Soviet occupation, and their descendants who register. Unlike Italy or Ireland, the law sets no generational cap: a great-grandparent or great-great-grandparent who was a citizen in 1940 can carry the claim, as long as you can document every link. Older summaries — including an earlier version of this page — limited it to children and grandchildren; that is not what the law or the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA/PMLP) say.

The real test is evidence that your ancestor was a citizen on that date. Pre-war Latvian passports, the 1935 census, house registers and parish records held by the Latvian State Historical Archive (LVVA) are the usual proof, and Raduraksti has digitised many of the church books.

Latvia splits descendants into two groups. If your ancestor fled the Soviet or Nazi occupation, or was deported, between 17 June 1940 and 4 May 1990 and never returned to live in Latvia, you are a descendant of an exile and can hold Latvian citizenship alongside any other — including US or Canadian citizenship.

If your ancestor was a 1940 citizen but not an exile — for example someone who emigrated before 1940 but was still a Latvian citizen on 17 June 1940, or who stayed in Latvia — you can keep your other citizenship only if it is from an EU, EFTA or NATO country, Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, or a country with a dual-citizenship agreement with Latvia. US, Canadian and UK citizens qualify through NATO membership.

The 2013 amendments took effect on 1 October 2013, and descendants born on or after 1 October 2014 generally do not register directly on the strength of a 1940 ancestor. Instead, a parent registers first and the child acquires citizenship through that parent. If you have young children, registering yourself is therefore the step that protects their claim.

Latvia also has nepilsoņi (non-citizens), a separate legal category created in 1995 for many Soviet-era arrivals and their descendants. It is not citizenship. If anyone in your family holds that status, their position follows different rules from a 1940-descent registration.

You need civil records linking each generation — birth certificates, marriage certificates, name-change evidence — plus proof of the ancestor's 1940 citizenship. Names often appear differently in Latvian, German and Russian records, so line up the spellings before you file. Foreign documents need apostilles and certified Latvian translations.

There is no Latvian language test for registering as a descendant of a 1940 citizen; the language requirement applies to the separate route for ethnic Latvians and Livs. OCMA charges a small state fee (check PMLP for the current amount), and decisions usually take a few months once the file is complete. Archive research is typically the slowest part.