As of 2 January 2023, the Society Integration Foundation (SIF) is launching a new service – a One Stop Shop (Vienas pieturas aģentūra – VPA) for foreigners at 15 Raiņa Boulevard, Riga. The aim of the VPA will be to provide information support and services to third-country nationals and beneficiaries of international protection in one place, which are necessary for the successful socio-economic integration of persons relocating to Latvia.
Initially, the VPA will offer individual face-to-face and online consultations on the admission of third-country nationals, residence conditions, social protection, employment, tax system, education, health, housing, etc. in Latvian, English and Russian (with an interpreter if necessary). Interpretation in rare languages such as Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, Tajik, Vietnamese, Mandarin, etc. is planned to start in January based on the individual needs of the person.
It is planned that in time, after the agreement on the implementation of the project between the Ministry of Culture and the SIF is concluded, individual consultations with a lawyer, a psychologist and other specialists, as well as translation in rare languages, will be provided, provisionally in February 2023.
The target group for the services of the VPA are third-country nationals who have received the right to reside in the territory of Latvia and persons in need of international protection (refugees, persons granted subsidiary status and asylum seekers) who are legally residing in the territory of Latvia. The target group does not include nationals of Member States of the European Union and nationals of the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation.
But Ukrainian civilians will continue to receive targeted, needs-based support at Ukrainian Civilian Support Centres across Latvia, as well as free consultations via the single call centre "Help for Ukrainians in Latvia" – +371 27380380.
The service will be provided at the SIF premises at 15 Raiņa Boulevard (Raiņa bulvāris 15), Riga, on weekdays from 9:00 to 17:00. For free consultations, please call +371 26959706.
For more information see www.integration.lv.