Education and Science, EU – Baltic States, EU – CIS, Latvia
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Friday, 29.03.2024, 08:40
Foreign Ministry: Demand for Latvian visas on rise in 2017 year
Foreign Ministry’s state secretary Andrejs Pildegovics said that last year 171,087 visa applications
were received compared to 169,301 applications in 2016. As in 2017 the
visa-free regime for citizens of Georgia and Ukraine holding biometric
passports came into effect, the increase in the number of visa applications
suggest that interest of foreigners in Latvia has stabilized.
"An especially large rise, by 48%, in the number of
visa applicants from India can be explained with the attempts of Latvian
universities and vocations schools to export Latvia’s education. The number of
rejections has also risen due to security and illegal migration risks,"
the ministry representatives said.
The ministry’s representatives said that at the end of 2017
the ministry started cooperation with VFS Global for student visa applications
in India and Sri Lanka. In early 2018 the cooperation has been expanded to the
Gulf countries, and in March VFS Global will start accepting visa applications
in Tashkent.
In relation to other consular services, there is a rise for
the services to Latvian nationals living abroad.