Baltic Legal offers useful advice and high quality legal support for obtaining temporal residence permit in Latvia and Lithuania through investments. It is possible to receive residence permit for up to 5 years in Latvia and for up to 1 year in Lithuania, that can be renewed at the end of this term. Obtaining residence permit in Shengen agreement Member State grants its owner an opportunity to travel visa-free within Shengen area under the same conditions as for citizen of mentioned Member State. Latvia and Lithuania are present Member States of Schengen agreement. Along with the main investor residence permit can be received by his or her spouse and juvenile children.
The process of obtaining residence permit is relatively complicated and requires knowledge of local legal and procedural matters. Our lawyers will provide necessary consultation in order to choose best way of investment, as well as take care of preparing all necessary documents and obtaining residence permit.
Latvia Latvian Immigration Law provides several ways for foreign investor to obtain a residence permit in Latvia. The most usual options are:
Residence permit by investment in real estate, for example, purchase of apartment. Read more Residence permit for company manager, for example, Manager Director, Chief Executive, Board Member, Proxy Residence permit through investment in share capital in the status of shareholder, for example, company formation and registration or acceding to existing company with significant investment Residence permit through investments in subordinated capital of credit institution Other options (non-investment related): Student visa: Latvian Immigration Law also provides residency for students. Residence permit for students. EU Blue card: If you are highly qualified you can apply for Blue Card.
Lithuania Lithuanian Immigration Law provides ability to apply for residence permit up to 1 year through investments in business. In order to obtain temporal residence permit in Lithuania, the investment must fulfil following conditions:
a company has at least EUR 28 000 share capital; a company has genuine economical activities and pays minimum taxes; the presence of investor is necessary for business activities of a company.
The Latvia's taxation system is affected by both the Latvian legislation and the requirements laid down by the European Union. It can be described as average, because every tax payer contributes to the budget 30 % of his/her income on average. Besides, the Latvia's diverse system of tax rates, tax relief and allowances enables every tax payer to choose the optimum sector for their occupation and management of funds. The Republic of Latvia has the lowest effective (average) tax rate in the European Union. There are several areas of trade business with individual tax privileges – payments that are lower by 80 % to 100 %: for example, Liepāja and Rēzekne have special economic zones, and free ports of Riga and Ventspils can grant tax relief.
The tax principles are laid down by the law On Taxes and Fees. Taxes are administered by the State Revenue Service (SRS), and they are classified as direct and indirect taxes. Indirect taxes are taxes that are not directly deducted from income and that are levied on goods and services. In their turn, the direct taxes are taxes that are levied on all taxable income of natural persons and companies.
Corporate income tax The object upon which the corporate income tax is imposed is the taxable income obtained by a tax payer during a taxation period. The tax base is corporate financial income adjusted according to the law. The adjustments are mainly implemented in order to ensure that the income is greater than expenses on which the tax is not levied (for example, expenses that are not directly related to economic activity) or in order to reduce the income by a specific amount in case if the law envisages tax relief. Corporate income tax payers are the following:
resident or domestic companies performing economic activity, organisations and institutions funded from the state budget or municipal budgets, which obtain income from economic activity; non-resident or foreign companies, business entities, natural and other persons; permanent representative offices of non-resident undertakings the income tax rate of which is 20%. Individual undertakings are payers of the personal income tax, and the tax rate ranges from 20% to 31.4%, depending on the amount of income.
Personal income tax The personal income tax is one of the steadiest sources of income adding funds to municipal budgets. Personal income tax payers are self-employed persons or undertakings that have been registered as tax payers, including agricultural and fishery farms. It is envisaged to repay the personal income tax to tax payers with eligible expenditure for education and medical services.
The personal income tax rates vary between 20% and 31.4%, depending on your income. It also must be noted that the tax is not levied on all income. Instead, a number of items are deducted from the total income before the tax is calculated:
non-taxable minimum deductions for being a legal guardian of certain persons (e.g. children) deductions for people with disabilities other deductions Social insurance contributions (social tax) Compulsory social insurance contributions is a compulsory payment into a special budgetary account stipulated by the Law which entitles the insured person to receive the social insurance services defined by the Law. The social tax payments increase the state social insurance budget. Therefore an insured person can receive the following services: an old-age pension, disability pension, survivor's pension, sickness benefit, maternity benefit, insurance against unemployment and burial allowance.
The standard social tax rate is 35.09%, divided between the employer (24.09%) and the employee (11%). A number of deductions can be applied as well, mainly various tax cuts for state pension receivers.
Property tax In Latvia, every property owner must pay the standard immovable property tax in the amount of 1.5% of the cadastral value of non-residential property – land and infrastructural buildings. Until January 2010, this tax in the amount of 1 % was a compulsory payment imposed only on the owners of land and commercial space. As for the residential real estate, the tax rate depends on the cadastral value of the immovable property:
EUR 56,915 - 0.2%; EUR 56,915 to EUR 106,715 - 0.4%; more than EUR 106,715 - 0.6% of the cadastral value of the immovable property. The tax is applied to each part of the cadastral value. It means that, for example, if a residential property has a cadastral value of EUR 110,000, the property tax imposed would be calculated as follows:
The part smaller than EUR 56,915 would generate 0.002 * 56,519 EUR worth of tax - EUR 113.04 The part bigger than EUR 56,915 but smaller than EUR 106,715, i.e. EUR 50,196, would generate 0.004 * 50,196 EUR worth of tax - EUR 200.78 The part bigger than EUR 106,715, i.e. 110,000 - 106,715 = 3285, would generate 0.006 * 3285 EUR worth of tax - EUR 19.71 The individual tax sums generated would result in 113.04 + 200.78 + 19.71 = EUR 333.53 worth of tax Please note that the above calculations merely demonstrate the theoretical basis for calculating the tax, and any real situation may differ.
Introducing the Kingdom of the Netherlands which can be described as the most densely populated country in the whole European Union (EU) despite being a rather small country. It is located between Belgium and Germany in Western Europe. It has a population of 17 283 008 as recorded in 2018. The total GDP is 1,019 trillion USD.
The Official language of the Netherlands is Dutch. The largest city is Amsterdam. The official currency of the country is Euro (EUR). The Netherlands is a founding member of the Eurozone, EU, G10, OECD, NATO and WTO, as well as a part of the trilateral Benelux Union and Schengen Area. The country governs a few intergovernmental organizations, international courts, which altogether provides numerous benefits for its residents.
The Netherlands currently offers a legal residency program, allowing a direct path to citizenship or residence permit with no residency requirements for individuals and their families, provided the applicants are capable to make a financial contribution to the country’s government. If entering the country for a short stay, a certain type of visa will be required for the third-country nationals.
The Baltic Sea region is the fastest growing business region in Europe. The trade flow among the states in this region has been steadily increasing year by year. The taxation system of Estonia is considered one of the most liberal taxation systems in the world. In 2000, Estonia implemented a comprehensive tax reform with an aim to create the simplest, most comprehensible and most convenient taxation system possible. The main advantage of Estonia is the low-tax system that can be described as a simple system with no hidden surprises and that was basically established to promote business and increase profits.
The taxation system of Estonia includes state taxes stipulated by the tax legislation and local taxes imposed by local governments or city councils in the respective territories according to laws and regulations.
The state taxes are the following:
excise duty; income taxes; gambling tax; value added tax; land tax; social tax; customs tariffs; heavy goods vehicle tax.
Equity capital – when establishing a limited liability company, the minimum equity capital is EUR 2820. The equity capital contribution can take the form of both cash and property contribution.
Founder – one or more persons can be the founders of a limited liability company, and they can be both natural persons and legal entities. The founder may be a resident or non-resident of the Republic of Latvia.
Status – a limited liability company is considered a legal entity.
Liability – the company is liable for its obligations to the extent of its entire property. A founder or shareholder is not liable for the limited liability company's obligations, as well as the limited liability company is not liable for the founder's or shareholder's obligations.
Management body – the decision making body of a limited liability company is the board and, if needed, the council. The board consists of one or more natural persons who may be residents or non-residents of the Republic of Latvia.
The process of company formation and registration is not considered complex. The registration takes only four business days from the moment all incorporation documents are drafted and submitted with Commercial Registry of Republic of Latvia. The registration time might be reduced up to two business days upon such a request.
The Belgium embassy has been closed. Due to this reason information here is out of date and this page serves as an archived copy.
The Belgium embassy in Riga is located in the city center. The Embassy's working hours are from 9:00 to 13:00, 14:00 to 18:00 local time. National Day is the 21th July; 15th November.
According to the Latvian Immigration Law, a foreigner has the right to apply for a temporary residence permit in accordance with the period of study of educational institutions accredited in the Republic of Latvia or full-time students.
According to the Latvian Immigration Law, a residence permit entitles a foreigner to reside in the Republic of Latvia for a specified period of time, e.g. B. Students can stay in Latvia for the time of their studies.
The visa certifies that a person has applied for permission to enter and stay in the Republic of Latvia or in a member state of the Schengen Agreement for the period specified in the visa and for the number of times specified therein.
In practice, for students from third countries (residing outside the Schengen area) studying abroad, a residence permit is more appropriate than a student visa.
In order to obtain a residence permit in the Republic of Latvia in connection with studying at an accredited higher education institution or participating in a study program, you must present a valid travel document accepted in the Republic of Latvia (passport) at the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia. submit the following documents:
completed application for a residence permit; a photograph; Criminal liability notice from a competent institution in the country of citizenship or host country if a foreigner has stayed in this country for more than 12 months a document confirming the necessary subsistence - 285 EUR per month (12x 285 EUR = 3415 EUR per year). In this regard, you should provide a bank statement showing that you have at least EUR 3415; a document confirming the intended place of stay in the Republic of Latvia and the rights to stay there; a document confirming the payment of state duties; an agreement on studies in the Republic of Latvia; Evidence that you have acquired the necessary training to start your studies. Before submitting the documents, your inviter must approve the call to the immigration office of the Office for Citizenship and Migration or to a state authority. The invitation would probably be issued by the respective educational institution. The inviter needs the invitation at the migration office in Latvia and then the invitation is sent by post to the embassy. The invitation is a mandatory document when obtaining the visa.
Introducing France, which can be described as one of the largest European countries with a rich cultural heritage and respect for human rights. Statistics tell us that the population of France is currently estimated at around 67.3 million. The largest ethnic group are French. France also hosts many foreigners from Spain and Italy. In addition to the other former French colonies in North Africa, there are also many immigrants from Algeria and Morocco. The official language is French.
The official currency is the euro (EUR). France is a core member state of the European Union and the Schengen area, which offers many advantages to its residents. There are currently no business immigration programs in France, but it is still possible to obtain a residence permit in France. A visa is required for short stays of up to 90 days.
Normally, a person wishing to travel (or migrate) to Europe must apply for a visa (for the Schengen area, a Schengen visa) in their country of residence at the embassy, unless they already meet all the requirements of the Commission or Consulate of the (Schengen )country that is his/her main destination. Regarding the countries of the Schengen area, in exceptional cases it is possible to obtain a single-entry Schengen visa with a validity of up to 15 days upon arrival at the border, provided that the person can prove that he does not have it could apply for a visa in advance for reasons of 'unforeseeable' and 'urgent' circumstances, provided he/she meets the regular criteria for issuance of a Schengen visa and can demonstrate all of this together with evidence of the urgency of the situation.
The requirements for entry are as follows:
The third-country national (a person who is neither a citizen of the country in question nor of any other EU country) must be in possession of one or more valid travel documents entitling them to cross the border; the recognition of travel documents for this purpose remains a matter for individual Member States; The traveler has either a valid visa (if required) or a valid residence permit; The traveler can justify the purpose and conditions of the intended stay and has sufficient means of subsistence/subsistence both for the duration of the intended stay and for the return to their country of origin or transit to a third country where the traveler is located be safely licensed or able to lawfully acquire such funds; The Schengen Information System does not contain an alert refusing entry to the traveler and The traveler is not considered a threat to public order, internal security, public health or international relations of any of the Schengen States - it should be noted that this last rule is the only one that also applies to EU citizens in Germany can be used to refuse them entry.
Baltic Legal provides useful advice and quality legal support for obtaining temporary residence permits in Latvia and Lithuania through investments. It is possible to obtain a residence permit for up to 5 years in Latvia and for up to 1 year in Lithuania, which can be renewed at the end of this period. Obtaining a residence permit in a member state of the Shengen Agreement grants its holder the opportunity to travel within the Shengen area without a visa, under the same conditions as for citizens of said member state. Latvia and Lithuania are current member states of the Schengen Agreement. Along with the main investor, the residence permit can also be obtained by his spouse and minor children.
The process of obtaining a residence permit is relatively complicated and requires knowledge of local legal and procedural issues. Our lawyers provide the necessary advice to choose the best type of investment and take care of preparing all the necessary documents and obtaining the residence permit.
Immigration Law provides several ways for foreign investor to obtain a residence permit in Latvia. The most usual options are:
Residence permit by investment in real estate, for example, purchase of apartment. Read more Residence permit for company manager, for example, Manager Director, Chief Executive, Board Member, Proxy Residence permit through investment in share capital in the status of shareholder, for example, company formation and registration or acceding to existing company with significant investment Residence permit through investments in subordinated capital of credit institution Other options (non-investment related): Student visa: Latvian Immigration Law also provides residency for students. Residence permit for students. EU Blue card: If you are highly qualified you can apply for Blue Card. Lithuania Lithuanian Immigration Law provides ability to apply for residence permit up to 1 year through investments in business. In order to obtain temporal residence permit in Lithuania, the investment must fulfil following conditions:
a company has at least EUR 28 000 share capital; a company has genuine economical activities and pays minimum taxes; the presence of investor is necessary for business activities of a company.
Real estate in Latvia is immovable property, which usually consists of land (possibly including all natural resources, depending on the agreement) and all buildings attached to it. A condominium can also be a specific part of a building, combined with a defined participation in the underlying property. If a foreigner buys a property in Latvia and the deal meets certain requirements, this type of investment can entitle the buyer to apply for a residence permit.
Overview of the Latvian real estate market According to the annual overview provided by the Latvian State Land Service (hereafter SLS), in the period from the second half of 2011 to the second half of 2012, 49% of the total real estate transaction turnover came from residential and commercial construction, making more than half ( 51%) of all sales are made with land.
As SLS mentioned in its report, today the biggest players in the real estate market in Latvia are commercial banks and their affiliates. The second position (by the volume of financial turnover with real estate) is occupied by foreign investors, many of whom aim to obtain a residence permit in Latvia on the basis of real estate purchase. The fact that Latvia's credit rating and GDP have risen significantly in recent years while the ratings of other European countries have fallen has been instrumental in stimulating the interest and confidence of foreign investors - particularly in the Latvian real estate market. Many studies and visible trends show that spending on real estate in Latvia will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. The pace of growth has been strong but steady, boosting confidence and reducing the risk of a housing bubble. According to statistics from the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs, 2,435 foreigners applied for a residence permit based on the purchase of real estate last year alone.
The SLS data shows that the role of the Riga real estate market has always been bigger than the rest of the Latvian market. This trend has intensified in recent years. The number of real estate transactions in Riga is twice as high as in the rest of Latvia, which makes the demand for real estate in Riga quite high.
Business formation sometimes requires a deeper dive into the proposed business to understand the need for specific permits, licenses, or registrations with the appropriate state agencies.
Depending on the proposed line of business, it may be necessary to apply to the State Revenue Services and register as a VAT payer. Baltic Legal recommends registering with the tax authority at the time of company formation. In this case, the paperwork is minimized.
Baltic Legal can assist in preparing other documents required for doing business in Latvia, e.g. B. to obtain a license, certificate or registration with the relevant state authorities.
The process of company formation and registration is not considered complex. Registration takes only four business days from the moment all incorporation documents are prepared and submitted to the Commercial Register of the Republic of Latvia. The registration time may be shortened by up to two business days in response to such a request. Registration with other institutions can take from a few days to a month.
The market entry strategy for sprinklers is to expand business to a number of foreign markets at the same time. Its key feature is simultaneous market entry while pursuing benefits that early entry offers. So it's a high-risk, rewarding approach - a successfully executed sprinkler strategy allows for profits from multiple markets while staying ahead of the competition, but a failed entry (retreat from markets) costs a lot of resources and yields little in terms of compensation .
A company enters several foreign markets at the same time and tries to establish itself, to promote the product and at the same time to build a customer base. The company gets profit and internationalization knowledge from multiple markets, which makes spreading the business even more effective since there are so many sources of resources and information. This is similar to a water sprinkler, where each individual droplet is small but numerous and spread all around, so that the entire area nearby is evenly and thoroughly watered.
Implementation The sprinkler market entry strategy is best suited for companies that manufacture short lifecycle products or whose products are in the launch or growth phase. Usually the sprinkler strategy is complemented by the price skimming technique when the initial price is quite high and lowered over time. This makes it possible to get as many profits as possible in a relatively short time, taking into account the profits of all regional branches.
Another thing to consider when entering the sprinkler system market is process standardization. Since it is almost impossible to customize and adapt them for each individual market, standardization plays an important role in keeping the business expansion process coherent and the incoming data comparable. Of course, this does not mean that everything should be the same - but it is still important to pay attention to cultural differences and their influence on advertising and branding. For example, in 2016, hot dog companies in Malaysia were forced to rename their products after the word "dog" because this animal is considered "unclean" in Islam, one of the major religions in the region. If the sprinkler strategy does not adapt to such specifics, expansion into a particular market can stall.
Advantages The sprinkler market entry strategy is an effective method of outrunning competition and utilizing the first-mover or technological advantage. While the competitors enter just one or two markets at a time, the business in question raises the brand-awareness in many more markets. Even if the competitors also enter these markets, they will be seen as followers, rather than as innovators. The business that uses the sprinkler market entry strategy has more time to analyze the market and make adjustments. An early simultaneous entry also means more possibilities for registering intellectual property, which hinders the later advance of competitors even more.
Another advantage is the amount of income from a large number of entered market, especially if the business expansion was successful in the majority of the markets. Besides just receiving profits and using them to develop the company, this also gives another advantage - the profits from successfully entered markets can be allocated to less successful regional branches, thus minimizing the risk of withdrawal across all the markets. This makes the sprinkler strategy advantageous in the long-run.
Disadvantages The sprinkler market entry relies on a big number of markets entered simultaneously, which, in turn, requires a significant amount of initial investments. This includes both finances and staff, as well as the general business expansion planning. Depending on the markets and other circumstances, production facilities, offices, logistics networks and bank accounts will need to be established in numerous markets at once, putting additional strain on resources.
Another disadvantage of the sprinkler strategy is the high risk of entering a number of markets at once. Although a failure and possible withdrawal in one can be compensated by the profits from other markets, if the whole business expansion is unsuccessful, the losses are rather serious (due to big initial investments, see the previous disadvantage).
Cyprus is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean. It is best known for its sunny beaches and stunning mountain ranges. Most of Cyprus' income comes from tourism, the export of goods and the sale of real estate. The main languages in Cyprus are Greek and Turkish. English is spoken by most residents.
Company formation Establishing a company usually takes about 5 days The minimum share capital is EUR 1000 and usually an authorized capital of EUR 5000 Maintaining tax residency in Cyprus requires a local director of the company and board meetings must be held within Cyprus. The secretary must be or become a resident of Cyprus in order to remain a resident of Cyprus for tax purposes
Information about the tax system Cyprus' corporate tax rate is 10%, one of the lowest corporate taxes in the European Union. The following activities are not taxable in Cyprus: Profits from the sale of listed securities. Receiving dividends for a Cyprus company. Interest that does not derive from the ordinary course of business or is not directly related to the main activity of the company. Cyprus has double tax treaties with more than 40 countries. For more information on the Cyprus tax system or related topics, please contact us.
Company management There is no annual fee payable to the government to maintain a company. Only filing of annual returns is required according to the following rules:
A company registered before July 1st must file the annual accounts for the previous year with the tax authorities by December 31st of the following year. a company incorporated after July 1st must file the annual accounts for the previous years before December 31st with the tax authorities two years later.
Cryptocurrency is a relatively new term, having emerged in 2008. In general, it is a digital currency. The main principles of almost all cryptocurrencies are:
Decentralization of emission/control bodies; Application of various cryptographic methods; Collective systematization. Cryptocurrencies usually do not have common issuing and control bodies. No national bank or other government structure has direct control over the issuance and value of cryptocurrencies. This explains why its value and general status are determined solely by a theoretical consensus of all its holders.
Modern blockchain technology Blockchain is a system that records all transactions related to cryptocurrency. The system contains modules, each called a “block”. Each block represents a decoded record of a specific cryptocurrency-related transaction. It also contains an encoded reference to the previous block, which continuously contains a record regarding the previous transaction. As a result, all information related to transactions and manipulations performed with specific units of a single cryptocurrency can be traced back to the original entry. By performing such a backtrack, its validity can be checked. You have to keep in mind that the blocks and entries cannot be changed after registration, making it impossible to influence / modify the entire chain, making it a safe and elegant solution for digital transactions.
Cryptocurrency trading Despite the fact that there are several different cryptocurrencies, each serving different purposes and using slightly different methods, there is one common set of rules when trading cryptocurrencies worth following:
learn as much as possible about the blockchain and its main principles; Study on the most popular cryptocurrencies and their advantages; carefully weigh your options and possible risks; Stay up to date with news related to finance and cryptocurrencies; create an exchange account specifically for crypto trading; start with smaller amounts to study the market; always research and constantly improve your knowledge; Finally, try to trade with larger numbers, implement complex solutions.
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