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Latvia for Guinean passport holders: Embassy visa

Your circumstances

Passport:
🇬🇳 Guinean
Lives in:
Not specified (general rule)
Going to:
🇱🇻 Latvia
Purpose:
Holiday

Route summary

Embassy visa

Schengen visa required

Guinean passport holders need a short-stay Schengen visa (type C) for Latvia, applied for before travel at the consulate or its visa centre.

Conditions

  • A Schengen visa is valid for the whole Schengen area: up to 90 days in any 180 days.
  • Apply at the consulate of Latvia if it is your only or main destination (longest stay), or of the first country you enter if stays are equal.
  • Apply where you legally live, no earlier than 6 months and no later than 15 days before travel; an appointment may be needed.
  • If you already hold a valid residence permit or long-stay visa issued by a Schengen country, you can visit other Schengen countries for up to 90 days in 180 without a new visa (Schengen Convention art. 21).
  • Fingerprints are taken when you apply (some exemptions) and your entry is recorded in the EES at the border.

About this route

Route type
Embassy visa: you apply through an embassy, consulate or appointed visa centre.
Documents
5 listed by the official source.
Fee
€90 (as published).
Processing
15 days as a rule; up to 45 days if more checks are needed.

Next step

Book an appointment with the consulate or its visa centre

Official application pagemfa.gov.lv ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Last checked 4 Oct 2026 against eur-lex.europa.eu · EUR-Lex consolidated text + EC "Applying for a Schengen visa" page read 2026-10-04

Documents

5 documents listed by the official source
  • Passport valid 3+ months after leaving the Schengen area, issued within the last 10 years, with 2 blank pages
  • Completed application form
  • ICAO-standard photo
  • Travel medical insurance (emergency care, hospitalisation, repatriation)
  • Proof of purpose, accommodation, funds and intention to return

Fees

Official government fee
€90
Children aged 6–12: EUR 45.
Visa-centre / service fee (not a government fee)
May be charged by visa centres; amount not published by the government
Notes from the source
EUR 90 adults, EUR 45 children aged 6–12; visa centres may add a service fee.

Visa-centre, service or other third-party charges are never official government fees.

Processing and validity

Processing time
15 days as a rule; up to 45 days if more checks are needed
Validity
Single or multiple entry, as stated on the visa
Maximum stay
Up to 90 days in any 180-day period, as stated on the visa

How to apply: Schengen visa required

4 steps from the official source
  1. Step 1: Book an appointment with the consulate or its visa centre
  2. Step 2: Submit the form, documents and fingerprints
  3. Step 3: Pay the fee
  4. Step 4: Wait for the decision (usually 15 days)

Where: Consulate of Latvia (or its external visa centre) responsible for where you live

Official application page: mfa.gov.lv ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Quick answers

Do Guinean passport holders need a visa for Latvia?

Schengen visa required. Guinean passport holders need a short-stay Schengen visa (type C) for Latvia, applied for before travel at the consulate or its visa centre. Source: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02018R1806-20251230

Business, work or just passing through?

The rules above are for a holiday: tourism and visiting family and friends. Business visits, paid work and transit are covered separately below.

Business visits to Latvia

Option 1
Embassy visaBusiness visit (meetings, conferences – not paid work)

Business visit: Schengen visa required

Short business visits (meetings, conferences, negotiations – not paid work) follow the same route as a holiday, because the official source covers business visits (Tourism, family visits, business (short stay)). Guinean passport holders need a short-stay Schengen visa (type C) for Latvia, applied for before travel at the consulate or its visa centre.

Conditions

  • A Schengen visa is valid for the whole Schengen area: up to 90 days in any 180 days.
  • Apply at the consulate of Latvia if it is your only or main destination (longest stay), or of the first country you enter if stays are equal.
  • Apply where you legally live, no earlier than 6 months and no later than 15 days before travel; an appointment may be needed.
  • If you already hold a valid residence permit or long-stay visa issued by a Schengen country, you can visit other Schengen countries for up to 90 days in 180 without a new visa (Schengen Convention art. 21).
  • Fingerprints are taken when you apply (some exemptions) and your entry is recorded in the EES at the border.
Government fee
€90
EUR 90 adults, EUR 45 children aged 6–12; visa centres may add a service fee.
Processing
15 days as a rule; up to 45 days if more checks are needed
Validity
Single or multiple entry, as stated on the visa
Max stay
Up to 90 days in any 180-day period, as stated on the visa
Steps, documents & where to apply

How to apply

  1. 1Book an appointment with the consulate or its visa centre
  2. 2Submit the form, documents and fingerprints
  3. 3Pay the fee
  4. 4Wait for the decision (usually 15 days)

Where: Consulate of Latvia (or its external visa centre) responsible for where you live

Official application page ↗

Documents checklist

  • Passport valid 3+ months after leaving the Schengen area, issued within the last 10 years, with 2 blank pages
  • Completed application form
  • ICAO-standard photo
  • Travel medical insurance (emergency care, hospitalisation, repatriation)
  • Proof of purpose, accommodation, funds and intention to return

✓ EUR-Lex consolidated text + EC "Applying for a Schengen visa" page read 2026-10-04

Official wording

“Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, Annex I (consolidated 30 Dec 2025): Guinea listed among third countries whose nationals must hold a visa when crossing the external borders.”

Working in Latvia

Main work visa routes for Latvia

These are the main routes and what they require. Whether you qualify depends on your circumstances; the official page decides.

EU Blue Card

For: Highly qualified non-EU employees

  • Work contract or binding job offer for highly qualified employment of at least 1 year
  • Salary at or above the national EU Blue Card threshold (see the official page)
  • Higher professional qualifications (or national requirements for regulated professions)
  • Sickness insurance
  • Latvia does not apply a labour market test.
Processing
Up to 10 working days (maximum in national law)

Source: European Commission – EU Immigration Portal: EU Blue Card in Latvia (page dated 1 April 2025) (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu).

What the source says

"have a valid work contract or binding job offer for highly qualified employment" … "meet the minimum salary threshold in the Member State concerned" … "present documents proving that the relevant higher professional qualifications are met" … "present a proof of sickness insurance" … "with a duration of at least 1 year" … "Latvia does not apply a labour market test." … "maximum processing time for issuing an EU Blue Card in Latvia is 10 working days ."

Checked 16 Oct 2026. Requirements, fees and thresholds change; confirm on the official page before applying.

Transit through Latvia

Option 1
Visa-freeAirport transit (changing flights in Latvia)

Airside transit: no airport transit visa needed; leaving the transit area needs normal Schengen entry

Unless your nationality is on the EU common airport-transit-visa list or Latvia's national list (those passports have their own rule here), you don't need an airport transit visa to change planes in the international transit area of an airport in Latvia. If you have to pass through border control (e.g. to collect bags, change airport or terminal outside the transit area, or your onward flight is to another Schengen country), you are entering the Schengen area and the normal entry rules for your passport apply - see the holiday section.

Conditions

  • Stay in the airport's international transit area (do not pass border control).
  • Flights to or from another Schengen country count as entering the Schengen area: normal entry rules for your passport apply.
  • Hold the documents required for your final destination; your airline may check them.
Government fee
Fee not officially published
Processing
Not verified yet
Validity
Not verified yet
Max stay
Not verified yet
Steps, documents & where to apply

How to apply

Steps not verified yet — follow the official source below.

Documents checklist

Document list not verified yet — check the official source.

✓ Checked on the live official page

Official wording

“Visa Code (Reg. 810/2009) Art. 3: an airport transit visa is required for nationals on the common list (Annex IV; Handbook Annex 7A) and, where a member state has notified one, its national list (Handbook Annex 7B, 1 July 2026). Nationals not on these lists need no airport transit visa.”

Alert me if this route changes

Get an email when we update the guidance for Guinean passport holders going to Latvia, after we've checked the change against the official source. Nothing else.

Tell me about changes to

We send a confirmation email first. Unconfirmed sign-ups are deleted after 7 days.

Before you go to Latvia

Customs cash limits and the scams official travel advice warns about in Latvia.

Cash you can bring in and take out

Bringing cash in
Declare cash of EUR 10,000 or more (or equivalent) when arriving from outside the EU.
Taking cash out
Declare cash of EUR 10,000 or more (or equivalent) when leaving to a country outside the EU.

Official source: taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu · Last checked 4 Oct 2026 · Details

Common tourist traps

  1. Bag snatching and pickpocketing in Riga

    How it works: Petty theft is more common in Riga Old Town, the Central Market and the central train and bus stations.

    How to avoid it: Keep valuables in the hotel safe and avoid unlit streets and parks at night.

  2. Overpriced drinks and card fraud in bars

    How it works: Some tourists were charged very high prices for drinks or found fraudulent card transactions afterwards.

    How to avoid it: Make sure card payments happen in front of you, be wary of being asked to re-enter your PIN, and pick bars from trusted recommendations.

  3. ATM card fraud

    How it works: Card details can be stolen without you noticing.

    How to avoid it: Use ATMs inside banks where possible and check street ATMs for tampering.

All 5 traps for Latvia →

Emergency numbers in Latvia

Paraphrased from official travel advice: gov.uk · FCDO page updated 11 Aug 2026 · Last checked 2 Nov 2026.

Explore Latvia

Planning more than the paperwork? Our Latvia guide picks out places to visit, with a source for every tip.

Places to visit:
Riga Old Town · Art Nouveau Riga
Read the full Latvia guide

Guinean passport: of the 148 destinations with a rule verified from an official source, 17 visa-free, 11 visa on arrival, 34 eVisa or travel authorisation, 86 embassy visa.

Latvia: rules verified from an official source for 197 of 198 passports. Latvia guide and every passport →

Where else can Guinean passport holders travel? See every destination we cover →

Optional travel offers

Some links are affiliate links. Booking through them costs you nothing extra, and a small commission helps pay MyVisaPort’s ongoing hosting and maintenance costs and keeps the site free of banner ads. We only list services we think are useful, and they never affect the visa information we publish. These offers are not part of the visa guidance above and are never used to rank routes. How partner links work

Verify with the embassy before you book. Visa rules change without notice. We link every rule to its official source and last checked it on 4 Oct 2026, but the embassy, official e-visa portal and your airline have the final say. MyVisaPort is not a visa agent and is not affiliated with any government.