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Schengen Short-Stay, Type CVerified 1 May 2026Latvia Cultural Visa (Schengen Type C) for journeys undertaken for cultural, sports or religious events and for film crews. OCMA invitation required. Riga Song Festival, EuroBasket, Latvia film locations.
Professional filing · fee back if refused
Not included in our fee: a flight reservation (from ₹708) and a confirmed hotel booking (₹590 per hotel). Book them separately, only if your visa needs them:
Opens WhatsApp. We send the 50% advance link; the balance is due before anything is submitted.
What you get
SureshotVisa promise
Visa refused — 100% of our fee back, initiated within 7 days. Embassy and visa-centre fees are collected by the authority and are not refundable by anyone. Refund policy
Pro Lifeset Overseas Pvt Ltd · Licence 849/DC/PTA/PLA/LC-3/2024. The visa decision is the embassy's.
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✓ The ₹499 report is fully refundable · our refund promise
Check the official requirements
Guide last reviewed 2026-05-01. Fees, documents and appointment rules can change.
Latvia — Schengen member · Embassy New Delhi · Hello Verify is MANDATORY before VFS
All India applications are decided by the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia, New Delhi through VFS Latvia centres. India and Sri Lanka applicants cannot book a VFS appointment without first uploading their documents to Hello Verify and getting a confirmation slip — this is the single most-skipped step. For most categories, an OCMA invitation (from Latvia's Office of Citizenship & Migration Affairs at pmlp.gov.lv) is also mandatory and must be dated ≤6 months before application.
VFS helpline: 022-67866025 · info.latviain@vfshelpline.com
Note: SureshotVisa handles Latvia Tourist, Business, Cultural & Sports, Family/Friends, Medical Treatment, Airport Transit short-stay visas plus the Student (D) long-stay visa end-to-end through VFS. Employment (D) and Residence Permit (D) are informational only — those need a Latvian-side employer (with OCMA labour-market clearance) or an OCMA-issued positive residence-permit decision before VFS submission. Seafarer visas are carrier-driven (shipping company / maritime agency initiates) and informational on this site.
What it costs
Paid directly to Latvia / VFS — these are not our service fee, and we never mark them up.
Figures per VFS Global, last verified 1 May 2026. Fees change without notice — the official page is final.
Visa fees are set by the Embassy of Republic of Latvia in INR and are non-refundable in case of refusal. The applicable INR fee tracks the current EUR / INR exchange rate and may change without notice. All VFS service charges are inclusive of CGST 9% + SGST 9%. As of 9 July 2018, VFS service fees + Video Conferencing fee (where applicable) must be paid through contact centre / online when scheduling an appointment — without pre-payment, no slot is allotted. The VFS service fee is in principle non-refundable, even if the applicant doesn't attend the appointment. Helpline: 022-67866025 / info.latviain@vfshelpline.com.
Flights · Hotels · Insurance · Itinerary
Latvia applies the Schengen rules, so travel insurance is not a nice-to-have — it is a legal condition of the visa.
2 of 4 are compulsory for Latvia
Where people slip: Flying into one city and out of another with nothing showing how you travel between them. Officers read the whole route, and an unexplained gap reads as a plan that does not hold together.
Book for ₹708 (+₹472 per family member)Where people slip: Free-cancellation bookings are accepted, but if the entire file is free-cancellation the officer sees a trip nobody has committed to. Some of it should be real spend.
Confirmed hotel booking, ₹590 per hotel: message us firstWhere people slip: Buying cover for the adults and forgetting the children. Every traveller needs their own EUR 30,000, infants included — a real refusal we have seen on a family of four.
What a Schengen policy must showWhere people slip: Spending more nights in another Schengen country than in Latvia. That gets a file rejected before it is even assessed.
The letter your itinerary attaches toWe can arrange the flight reservation, the hotel and the itinerary for your Latvia file — each sold separately.
We are a B2B travel agency as well as a visa consultancy, working with partners including Riya Travel — so the flight reservation and the confirmed hotel booking both come from us, and you deal with one team. Every booking is a real one under your own name. We do not sell travel insurance: buy the policy directly from an insurer.
None of them is part of our visa fee: each is bought on its own, at the price below, with or without our visa service.
Flight reservation ₹708 (+₹472 per extra family member) · Confirmed hotel booking ₹590 per hotel · Travel itinerary ₹1,499. GST included.
Delivery. Usually within 30 minutes during office hours, Mon–Sat 10:00–18:00 IST. Confirmed hotel bookings are not bought online: message us first on WhatsApp or email info@sureshotvisa.com with the city, dates and travellers.
Tell us your dates — we will say which of these you actually need
What to gather
Having a document isn't the same as presenting it right — that's the part we handle.
Full face non-smiling, no sunglasses/hat/cap (except religious).
≥3 months validity beyond Schengen departure, ≤10 years old, 2 blank pages. Copies of bio-data + previous-visa pages.
MANDATORY for India + Sri Lanka applicants — must be obtained BEFORE scheduling VFS appointment.
Dated ≤6 months before application. MANDATORY.
Not required if accommodation included in OCMA invitation.
For Tourism and Business — prepaid tickets with payment proof. For Cultural / Family / Medical / Seafarer — confirmed reservation acceptable.
Prepaid hotel booking (direct from hotel — social booking platforms NOT acceptable for Tourist category) OR private accommodation invitation with OCMA approval. Hotel booking not required if accommodation included in OCMA invitation.
Covers urgent medical attention + emergency hospital + medical transportation + repatriation. Insurance card alone is NOT sufficient.
All pages duly stamped and signed by the bank with bank certificate.
3 years for Employment / Long-Stay D categories — include Form 26AS + Form 16/16A + ITR-V.
Plus reference in OCMA invitation where applicable.
If unavailable — birth certificate of minor + parent ID copies.
Required · optional / if applicable
8 steps from intake to approval — never as linear as government sites pretend.
Confirm Latvia is your main Schengen destination
Apply via Latvia if your itinerary spends most time (or has its main purpose) there. If splitting time evenly between Schengen states, apply through the country of first entry.
Get OCMA invitation (where required)
For most short-stay categories and all Long-Stay D Visas, the Latvian host (employer / family / event organiser / institution) gets the invitation approved by OCMA at pmlp.gov.lv. Invitation must be dated ≤6 months before application.
Upload documents to Hello Verify (MANDATORY for India + Sri Lanka)
Upload all visa-application supporting documents to Hello Verify for verification. Receive the confirmation slip — keep it; you must hand it to VFS at submission.
Complete the online application form + pre-pay VFS service charges
Online form via VFS Latvia India. Service fee ₹2,913 (+ ₹3,776 VC fee for student visas) MUST be paid online when scheduling — no payment, no slot.
Book your VFS appointment
Mon-Tue-Wed-Thu-Fri operational days vary by centre — check before booking. Sri Lanka applicants book at vfsglobal.com/Latvia/Sri-Lanka.
Submit at VFS + biometrics + Hello Verify slip
Attend in person with all documents including the Hello Verify confirmation slip. Pay visa fee in cash/card. Biometrics captured at the centre.
Wait for the decision (10 working days standard)
Embassy of Republic of Latvia, New Delhi decides. Non-Delhi VFS centres add ~2 days for postal delivery. Track via VFS website.
Collect your passport from VFS
Once notified, collect from VFS or use courier. Verify visa validity dates and entry type before leaving the counter.
Biometrics and the visit to the visa centre are yours to attend in person — no consultancy can do those for you. How we work
What works
3 levers that flip a borderline case.
What kills cases
Top 3 refusal triggers we see.
Each link opens the official page that issues the form (we never host third-party forms) — download or fill the current version there.
Answer 10 quick questions to see your likelihood of approval. This is not a guarantee — final decision is always with the Embassy — but it flags common weak spots so you can address them before applying.
What's the primary purpose of your trip?
How long do you plan to stay?
Have you previously visited any Schengen country?
Have you ever been refused a Schengen (or any country's) visa?
Past refusals must be disclosed — they show up in VIS database across Schengen countries.
Do you have confirmed travel bookings?
Reservations are enough; a paid ticket is not required.
What's your current employment status?
What's your typical 3-month bank balance?
Schengen needs ~₹700/day covered. For a 10-day trip, minimum ₹70,000 stable balance.
How many years of Income Tax Returns (ITR) can you show?
What are your strongest ties to India (return-intent)?
Embassies want evidence you'll come back — not overstay.
Who are you travelling with?
Indicative only — final decision is always with the Embassy.
Frequently asked
No — the application is individual. But the Latvian event organiser / production agency files the OCMA invitation referencing all delegates. Each individual still needs to upload to Hello Verify and submit at VFS.
Three additional items are mandatory: (1) Indian film company letter with title/synopsis/locations, (2) Latvian agency's permit-arrangement letter, (3) Association of Motion Pictures (India) registration certificate.
Yes — we coordinate with the Latvian event organiser / film agency on OCMA invitation + permits, prepare the federation / production-house documentation, and handle VFS submission. ₹499 consultation to start.
A consultant at our licensed firm replies today
Reviewed by Sherbir Singh Grewal, SureshotVisa — a government-licensed consultancy (Licence 849/DC/PTA/PLA/LC-3/2024). Verify us.
A strong Latvia file clearly explains your travel purpose, funds, and ties to India. We structure and submit everything properly — so your case is presented clearly and professionally.
Our professional fee · GST included
₹4,999GST included
File-ready in 3–5 working days after documents
5★ · 110+ reviews · reply in 5 min
Everything below — included, nothing extra
Not included in our fee: a flight reservation (from ₹708) and a confirmed hotel booking (₹590 per hotel). Book them separately, only if your visa needs them:
Not sure you qualify? Start with a refundable ₹499 possibility report — an honest Yes / Maybe / No, credited to this fee.
Price is for our consultancy service only and includes 18% GST. No agency can guarantee a visa — the final decision rests with the visa authority.
Your fee, in one glance
Government, VFS, insurance, ticket and hotel costs are separate and charged at cost. Read what each item means, in full.
Before you file
Filed on a guessed checklist, the government fee is gone on a refusal and the refusal follows every future application. Filed after a consultant at our licensed firm has read the papers against each other, the file answers the officer's questions before they are asked. Same Latvia rules, different outcome. How we do that is written once, in full, on the method page rather than repeated here.
A consultant at our licensed firm replies today
Source & Disclaimer
Data on this page is sourced from the official VFS Global Latvia website and Embassy of Latvia. Last verified 2026-05-01. Always verify with the official embassy before applying — fees and requirements change without notice.
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