The Saeima¹ has adopted and
the President has proclaimed the following law:

Population Register Law

Chapter I
General Provisions

Section 1.

The purpose of this Law is to prescribe how the unified system of population registration - the Population Register (hereinafter - the Register) - shall function in Latvia and how the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (hereinafter - the Office) will be provided with the information to be included in the Register and how the information which is in the Register shall be used.

Section 2.

(1) Within the scope of their competence, the Office, the respective local government, and diplomatic and consular missions of Latvia in foreign countries shall be responsible for the inclusion of information and updating of the information included in the Register.

(2) The Register is a State information system, the administrator of which is the Office.

[21 June 2007; 6 May 2010]

Section 2.¹

The methodological management over inclusion and updating of information in the Register, as well as issuance of the information from the Register shall be ensured by the Office.

[6 May 2010; 9 May 2013]

Section 3.

The following information shall be included and updated in the Register:

1) regarding citizens of Latvia and non-citizens of Latvia;

2) regarding persons who have received a residence permit, registration certificate or permanent residence certificate in Latvia;

3) regarding persons to whom the status of a stateless person, refugee or alternative status or temporary protection has been granted in Latvia;

4) regarding persons in relation regarding whom a decision to issue a residence permit, registration certificate or permanent residence certificate has been taken.

[9 May 2013]

Section 4.

(1) Inclusion of information in the Register is:

1) filling in of a pre-registration form in the Register;

2) making of an entry in the Information System for Registration of Civil Status Documents.

(2) Updating of the information is the amendment of the information included in the Register by specifying the date, legal basis for making the amendments and the number, date of issue, issuing country and issuing authority of the document attesting to such amendments.

(3) The Cabinet shall determine the procedures by which information regarding documents attesting information to be included and updated in the Register shall be stored and used.

[20 December 2012; 17 October 2013; 17 December 2015]

Chapter II
Registration of Persons

Section 5.

(1) Upon inclusion of information in the Register regarding a person, the Office shall assign an automatically generated individual personal identity number thereto.

(2) The personal identity number shall consist of eleven digits, ensuring that the personal identity numbers are not duplicated. The first digits of the personal identity number are "32", while the remaining digits are random digits between "0" to "9" automatically generated by the system. The first six digits may be separated from the other five digits with a hyphen.

(3) The personal identity number is unchangeable, except when:

1) the date of birth of a person to whom the personal identity number has been assigned until 30 June 2017 is corrected or he or she requests the change of the assigned personal identity number. In such case, the personal identity number shall be assigned to the person in accordance with the procedures referred to in Paragraph two of this Section;

2) the person has been adopted.

(4) The decision on the change of the personal identity number shall enter into effect at the time of its taking and shall be executed immediately after it has entered into effect.

[14 December 2017]

Section 6.

Sample pre-registration form shall be approved and the procedures for filling in thereof shall be determined by the Cabinet.

[21 July 2007; 20 December 2012; 17 October 2013]

Section 7.

(1) The Office shall include and update information in the Register regarding the persons referred to in Section 3 of this Law.

(2) [17 October 2013]

(3) A local government shall include information in the Register regarding a child up to three months of age, except when at the time of birth of the child one of parents is a non-citizen of Latvia and the other - a citizen of another country, or both parents are foreigners, as well as shall update the information included in the Register regarding the declared or registered place of residence of the person.

(4) The Ministry of Justice shall include information in the Register regarding an adopted child.

[6 May 2010; 20 December 2012; 9 May 2013; 17 October 2013]

Section 7.¹

(1) The following information regarding a person shall be indicated in the Register:

1) that he or she has active status, if information regarding the persons referred to in Section 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of this Law is included in the Register;

2) that he or she has passive status if:

a) information regarding the persons referred to in Section 3, Clauses 3 and 4 of this Law is included in the Register;

b) the person has lost legal status in Latvia and new status has not been determined;

c) after adoption or its revocation the given name, surname or personal identity number of the person has been changed;

d) the person has reached the age of 105 years according to the information of the Register, except where the Office has obtained confirmation that the person is alive;

e) a person who is not a citizen of Latvia does not have a valid personal identification document for more than five years after attaining the age of 15 years, except where the Office has obtained confirmation that the person resides in Latvia, or where a non-citizen of Latvia submits a document justifying his or her stay in a foreign country, and a document confirming that he or she is not and has not been a citizen of another country in accordance with the procedures laid down by the Cabinet;

(2) The Cabinet shall determine the procedures by which a non-citizen of Latvia shall submit documents justifying his or her stay in a foreign country and a document confirming that he or she is not or has not been a citizen of another country.

[9 May 2013; 14 December 2017]

Section 8.

(1) An employee who includes information regarding a person in the Register has the obligation to verify the conformity of such information with the supporting documents, which have legal force in Latvia.

(2) [17 October 2013]

(3) [17 October 2013]

(4) A foreigner's pre-registration form shall be filled in according to the information provided by the foreigner or his or her legal representative when requesting a residence permit, registration certificate or permanent residence certificate. When including information regarding the ethnicity "Latvian" or "Livonian (Liv)" of the foreigner in the Register, Section 10, Paragraph five, Clause 1 or 2 of this Law shall be complied with.

[21 June 2007; 6 May 2010; 9 May 2013; 17 October 2013; 14 December 2017]

Section 9.

Information in the Register shall be entered in Latvian, except for the given name, surname of the foreigner and the address of the person in the foreign country. The given name and surname of the foreigner shall be entered in transliteration of the Latin alphabet according to the travel document issued by the foreign country. Information regarding the address of the person in the foreign country shall be entered in transliteration of the Latin alphabet and the country shall be indicated according to the classification of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

[6 May 2010]

Chapter III
Information to be Included in the Register

Section 10.

(1) The Register shall include the following information regarding a person:

1) personal identity number;

2) given name (names);

3) surname;

4) family surname;

5) the historical form of the personal name or family surname and the original form of a personal name of another language in transliteration of the Latin alphabet, if the person wishes so and is able to certify this form with documentary evidence, as well as the reproduction of the personal name of the foreigner in Latvian;

6) information regarding birth;

7) gender;

8) nationality and type thereof;

9) ethnicity;

10) address of the declared place of residence, registered place of residence, or the address of the place of residence indicated by the person. The address of the place of residence indicated by the person shall be of informative nature;

10¹) information regarding the identification code of a foreigner, entered in his or her personal identity document;

10²) information regarding the identification code assigned to the person referred to in Section 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of this Law in a foreign country which is entered in the document issued by the competent authority;

10³) information regarding the account of the official electronic address of the person;

11) information regarding a personal identification document;

12) information regarding a residence document received in Latvia - a residence permit, registration certificate or permanent residence certificate;

13) information regarding marital status:

14) information regarding marriage;

15) information regarding children up to 18 years of age;

16) information regarding the father and mother;

17) information regarding restricting the capacity to act of the person or reviewing the restriction of capacity to act;

18) information regarding death of the person;

19) information regarding the permission or prohibition of a person to use the body, tissue and organs thereof after death;

20) information regarding the establishment or termination of out-of-family care or trusteeship or discontinuing or removing, or renewing custody rights;

21) information regarding the guardians, trustees or foster family of the person;

22) information regarding a childcare institution;

23) information regarding a ruling on the establishment or revocation of adoption;

24) information regarding the status of a politically repressed person or participant of the national resistance movement;

25) information regarding a document certifying a prohibition to issue a personal identification document to a child who is under 14 years of age, or a prohibition to leave the state to a child who is under 18 years of age;

26) information regarding a person whom it is prohibited to issue a personal identification document of a child who is under 14 years of age, or to bring out from the state a child who is under 18 years of age;

27) information regarding the status of a participant of World War II.

(1¹) The Cabinet shall determine the amount of information to be included in the Register.

(2) The nationality referred to in this Law shall be the person's association with the state, which has issued or will issue to the person, in accordance with the procedures laid down in law, a passport or substitute document thereof. The types of nationality within the meaning of this Law shall be:

1) citizen;

2) non-citizen;

3) stateless person;

4) refugee;

5) alternative status;

6) temporary protection;

7) unspecified.

(3) [9 May 2013]

(4) Information regarding a child who is over the age of 18 shall be included in the Register upon the wish of the person.

(5) Information regarding the ethnicity of a person shall be entered in the Register in conformity with the following conditions:

1) where the ethnicity of the person has been entered in a personal identification document, a document certifying the registration of civil status acts or has been established by a court judgment, the ethnicity of the person shall be included in the Register according to that indicated in one of the documents. Where different ethnicity is indicated in several documents, the most recent document shall prevail;

2) where information regarding the ethnicity of the person cannot be entered in the Register in accordance with the procedures referred to in Clause 1 of this Paragraph, the ethnicity of the person shall be entered in the Register according to the choice of the person in conformity with the ethnicity record of the direct ascending relatives in the Register, a personal identification document, a document certifying the registration of civil status acts or according to the limits of two generations established in the judgment of the court;

3) where information regarding the ethnicity of the person cannot be included in the Register, in accordance with the procedures referred to in Clause 1 or 2 of this Paragraph and the person has been recognised as a citizen of Latvia in accordance with Section 2, Paragraph one, Clause 3 of the Citizenship Law, the ethnicity of the person shall be included in the Register according to that established in the relevant decision;

4) where the person has not chosen to indicate the ethnicity, the Register shall include the indication "not selected";

5) where a person does not have information regarding the ethnicity of his or her ascending relatives within the limits of two generations, the Register shall include the indication "unknown";

6) in case of adoption, the ethnicity of the child may be updated according to the ethnicity of the adopters and his or her ascending relatives within the limits of two generations.

[21 February 2002; 26 September 2002; 21 June 2007; 6 May 2010; 20 January 2011; 20 December 2012; 9 May 2013; 17 December 2015; 14 December 2017 / Paragraph one, Clause 27 shall come into force on 1 August 2018. See Paragraph 11 of Transitional Provisions]

Section 11.

[21 June 2007]

Section 12.

The Register shall not include the following information regarding a person:

1) race or skin colour;

2) religious beliefs or belonging to some denomination;

3) political conviction, affiliation with some political party or movement, as well as information regarding political opinions;

4) sexual inclination or disease;

5) other information provided for in Section 10 of this Law.

Section 13.

If any of the information included in the Register has been amended the new information must be entered without destroying the previous information.

Section 14.

In the case of a person's death, being missing or change of a legal status, the information included in the Register regarding this person shall be preserved.

[21 February 2002; 6 May 2010]

Chapter IV
Rights and Obligations of Providers and Users of Information

Section 15.

(1) The persons referred to in Section 3 of this Law shall be obliged to provide the Office with information regarding himself or herself for inclusion in the Register. Information regarding persons who are under the age of 18 or are under out-of-family care or trusteeship shall be provided to the Office by the legal representatives of the respective persons.

(2) The persons referred to in Section 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of this Law shall notify the Office of the address of their place of residence in foreign countries, as well as other changes to the information included in the Register regarding themselves, their minor children and regarding persons who are under their guardianship or trusteeship, if such changes have been made in foreign authorities.

(2¹) A minor child aged from 15 to 18 years and a person who has limited capacity to act has the right to provide the Office with the information regarding himself or herself indicated in Paragraphs one and two of this Section.

(3) Information regarding newborn, stillborn children and children who have died at birth, which conforms to the requirements of Paragraph one of this Section, shall be provided within two months after the birth of the child.

[21 February 2002; 21 June 2007; 6 May 2010; 9 May 2013; 14 December 2017]

Section 16.

(1) The Cabinet shall determine the amount of the information to be submitted for updating the information included in the Register and the procedures by which they shall be provided to the Office by:

1) State authorities;

2) State administration institutions;

3) local governments and institutions thereof;

4) courts;

5) sworn notaries;

6) the persons referred to in Section 3 of this Law.

(2) Providers of information shall be responsible for the timely provision of information to the Office and for the conformity of such information with the documents certifying it.

(3) [6 May 2010]

(4) [6 May 2010]

[21 February 2002; 26 September 2002; 6 May 2010; 20 January 2011]

Section 17.

The Cabinet shall determine the procedures, by which the Office, respective local governments and diplomatic and consular missions of Latvia in foreign states shall issue the information included in the Register within their competence.

[20 January 2011]

Section 17.¹

A State fee shall be paid for the receipt of information from the Register. The Cabinet shall determine the amount of the State fee, the procedures for its payment, the relief arrangements and exemptions, and also the cases when the State fee shall not be repaid.

[21 June 2007; 14 December 2017]

Section 18.

(1) A person is entitled to request, twice within a calendar year, and receive free of charge all information regarding himself or herself and his or her children who are under 18 years of age from the Register.

(2) The legal representatives of persons who are under out-of-family care or trusteeship are entitled to request, twice within a calendar year, and receive free of charge information of the Register regarding the persons who are under their out-of-family care or trusteeship.

(3) [21 June 2007]

[21 June 2007; 6 May 2010]

Section 19.

Natural and legal persons may receive the information of the Register regarding another person based on a reasoned submission. Motivation need not be indicated in the submission, if information regarding the capacity to act of another person is requested.

[9 May 2013]

Section 19.¹

The information referred to in Section 10, Paragraph one, Clause 23 of this Law may be requested and received only by the adopted person after attaining legal age. Only adopters are entitled to request and receive such information until the adopted person attains legal age.

[6 May 2010; 9 May 2013]

Section 19.²

A person who has attained 15 years of age or a legal representative of such person is entitled to request and receive the information referred to in Section 10, Paragraph one, Clause 10 of this Law regarding himself or herself.

[17 December 2015]

Section 20.

If a registered person finds a mistake or the inclusion of information that has been prohibited by this Law in the information included in the Register regarding himself or herself, his or her children who are under 18 years of age, as well as regarding persons who are under the trusteeship or guardianship thereof, this person has the right to request correction of the mistake and exclusion of the prohibited information from the Register. The legal representative of a child, if the child is at a childcare institution or foster family, and the persons whose capacity to act has been restricted also have such rights.

[21 June 2007; 6 May 2010; 20 January 2011; 9 May 2013]

Section 21.

Institutions, merchants and organisations, as well as natural persons have the right to receive statistical information from the Register. The Office may also provide other information of a general character, which does not allow the identification of a particular person.

[13 October 2005]

Section 22.

State authorities and administration institutions, local governments and their institutions, organisations and merchants, to which State administration functions have been delegated, as well as courts and the Office of the Prosecutor have the right to receive the information referred to in Section 10 of this Law from the Register within the scope of the competence of the abovementioned institutions.

[13 October 2005]

Section 23.

The Office shall provide the information included in the Register to foreign governments, as well as international governmental organisations and non-governmental organisations in accordance with the international agreements concluded by the Republic of Latvia or in special cases where such agreements have not been concluded - in accordance with the procedures mutually co-ordinated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for the Interior.

Transitional Provisions

1. With the coming into force of this Law, the law On Population Register (Latvijas Republikas Augstākās Padomes un Valdības Ziņotājs, 1992, No. 2/3, 46/47/48; Latvijas Republikas Saeimas un Ministru Kabineta Ziņotājs, No. 4, 1997), is repealed.

2. The Cabinet shall issue the regulations referred to in Section 6 of this Law by 1 January 2008.

[21 June 2007]

3. The Cabinet shall issue the regulations referred to in Section 17.¹ of this Law by 1 January 2008.

[21 June 2007]

4. Until coming into force of the regulations referred to in Section 17.¹ of this Law, but not longer than until 1 January 2008, Cabinet Regulation No. 119 of 23 March 1999, Regulations Regarding the State Fee for Receipt of Information from the Population Register, shall be applicable.

[21 June 2007]

5. Information regarding decisions to grant the status of a politically repressed person and a participant of the national resistance movement, which have been taken by 1 July 2010, in the Register shall be updated by the Office.

[6 May 2010]

6. Amendments to this Law regarding exclusion of Section 5, Paragraph two and its supplementation with Paragraphs three and four and supplementation of Section 10, Paragraph one with Clauses 10.¹ and 10.² shall come into force on 1 July 2017.

[17 December 2015]

7. Until 30 June 2017 a person shall be assigned with a personal identity number which consists of a string of eleven digits, from which the first six digits indicate the date, month, and year of birth of the person, and the seventh digit indicates the century: digit "0" indicates the 19^th century, digit "1" - the 20^th century, digit "2" - the 21^st century. The first six digits may be separated from other digits with a hyphen.

[17 December 2015]

8. A person to whom the personal identity number has been assigned until 30 June 2017, starting from 1 July 2017 is entitled to request once, by submitting a submission to the Office in person, that the personal identity number assigned to him or her is changed to such personal identity number which does not indicate the date of birth.

[17 December 2015]

9. The person referred to in Section 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of this Law shall provide information to the Office by 1 January 2020 regarding the identity code which has been assigned to him or her in a foreign country until 30 June 2017 and which has been recorded in a document issued by the competent authority that allows the person to stay in the foreign country.

[17 December 2015]

10. Amendments to this Law regarding the supplementation of Section 10 Paragraph one with Clause 10.³ shall come into force on 1 June 2018.

[14 December 2017]

11. Amendments to this Law regarding the supplementation of Section 10, Paragraph one with Clause 27 shall come into force six months after the law governing the status of participants of World War II has come into force.

[14 December 2017]

This Law has been adopted by the Saeima on 27 August 1998.

President G. Ulmanis

Rīga, 10 September 1998

¹ The Parliament of the Republic of Latvia

Translation © 2019 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)