Municipal support available for foreign nationals in Latvia during COVID-19 emergency
Also, foreign nationals who do not have the means to provide basic needs as stated in the amendments to the Law “On Activities of State Institutions during the Emergency situation due to the spread of Covid-19” and the Law on Social Services and Social Assistance can apply for a crisis benefit of EUR 128,00 provided by the municipalities.
Only those foreign nationals who, due to an emergency situation, are unable to provide for their basic needs and whose declared place of residence is in the territory of Riga City Municipality can remotely turn to the Riga Social Service for assistance. The amount of crisis benefit is EUR 128.00 per person.
A crisis situation in a state of emergency is a situation where a family (person) due to circumstances beyond their control has no means to provide basic needs, such as food, rent, basic necessities; family (person) is or has been quarantined and has no means of subsistence, and family (person) needs psychosocial or material assistance.
In order to be eligible for the crisis benefit, a foreign national, like other residents of the municipality, prepares a written application in the official state language (Latvian) describing the situation and attaching documents, such as a notice of dismissal or unpaid remuneration (if the student has been employed) and other documents, which confirm the occurrence of a crisis situation, as well as gives the evidence that it is not possible to solve financial difficulties with other resources.
The application must be addressed to the Riga Social Service; it must indicate:
(1) Name,
(2) Surname,
(3) Personal identification code,
(4) The address of the declared place of residence in Riga municipality,
(5) Phone number,
(6) Describe the problem that needs to be solved as detailed as possible,
(7) As well as sign the application.
Click here to download the application form!
In addition, the application must include:
(1) the bank account number to which the benefit should be transferred in case it is granted.
(2) a bank account statement for the last 3 months;
(3) a copy of the decision of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs on the issuance of a temporary residence permit,
(4) a statement from a higher education institution, or to indicate in the application of the educational institution where the student is studying.
We invite you to submit the application with its attached documents to the Riga Social Service remotely using the e-mail soc@riga.lv, the portal Latvija.lv e-service “Application to the institution” or by placing it in the Riga Social Service territorial centers in a specially indicated document box (the addresses of the centers: http://www.ld.riga.lv/lv/Rajona_nodalas.html).
If you require assistance before submitting the application, please reach out to the Make Room Support team at help@makeroomeu.com
