Invitation approval at PMLP: what the employer files and why Latvia refuses it
Without an invitation approved by PMLP there is no residence permit application in Latvia. Section 26 of the Immigration Law lists seventeen refusal grounds.
The invitation, the izsaukums, is the document by which a Latvian employer invites one named third country national and takes responsibility for the stay. Section 25 of the Immigration Law makes it a precondition for the residence permit application and gives the approval to the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP). Section 26 then lists seventeen grounds on which approval is refused or a granted approval is cancelled.
What the invitation contains and what the employer signs up to
The invitation is not a free form letter. It names one foreigner, one post, the pay and the purpose of the stay, and it has to agree with what the State Employment Agency (NVA) saw in the vacancy and with what will later appear in the employment contract. PMLP compares those three versions against each other, and point 11 of Section 26 turns a disagreement between them into a refusal: no registered vacancy, no NVA opinion, or a qualification and set of employment conditions that do not match the registered vacancy notice.
The heavier part is the undertaking on cost. Under Section 15, paragraph one the inviter answers for the purpose of the stay matching the documents, for the worker leaving on time, and, where needed, for the cost of health care, of the stay in Latvia and of the return to the country of origin. The PMLP page on employing foreigners states the same duty in plain terms. This is a financial obligation, not a formality. An employer who signs for housing that does not exist has taken on a liability that is examined later, once the worker is already in the country.
The third element is the employer's own standing, and Latvia prices it exactly. A tax debt above 150 euro is a refusal ground under point 15 of Section 26. A labour supply company that is an inactive taxpayer, that was founded within the previous six months, or that the State Revenue Service has flagged for tax compliance breaches is refused under point 16, and point 17 applies the same test to any employer inviting a worker into an occupation in major group 9 of the Occupation Classifier, the elementary occupations. An employer with an untidy history is refused for its own conduct rather than for anything in the foreigner's file.
When the invitation is refused or cancelled
Two of the seventeen grounds turn on what the employer did rather than on who the worker is. Point 2 covers false information, or a refusal to give the explanations PMLP asks for. Point 10 covers an inviter who cannot meet the Section 15 duties at all, or who is already under a ban on inviting foreigners imposed under Section 15, paragraph three. The first can arise from carelessness rather than intent, and the law does not distinguish.
Cancellation is the heavier outcome. A refusal stops one case; a cancellation withdraws the document on which a pending permit application, or the permit itself, already rests, so the consequence lands on a worker who may be in transit or already in Latvia. Contesting a cancellation does not suspend it, under Section 26, paragraph five. The one relief the law keeps open is in paragraph six: the head of PMLP may still allow approval, or shorten a Section 15 ban, where the entry and stay are in the interests of the state.
| Situation | Consequence for the employer | Consequence for the worker |
|---|---|---|
| Job title or pay differ between the vacancy and the invitation | File returned for correction at 14.00 euro each time, the clock restarts | The start date moves |
| False information in the invitation (Section 26(1)(2)) | Refusal, recorded in the PMLP file history | No application can be lodged |
| Tax debt above 150 euro (Section 26(1)(15)) | Refusal until the debt is cleared | The hire stops before it starts |
| Inviter under a Section 15(3) ban | Refusal for one to three years | The basis for residence never arises |
What it costs and how long it takes
The invitation itself is cheap and the employment right attached to it is not. The PMLP price list (updated 18 March 2026) charges 17.00 euro for a request on paper, 10.00 euro for one filed through latvija.lv, 10.00 euro for each further person included, and 85.00 euro in addition for each request for the invited person's right to employment. An employment invitation therefore lands at 102.00 euro on paper or 95.00 euro filed electronically. Each correction the inviter asks for afterwards costs 14.00 euro and sends the review back to the start.
PMLP decides an ordinary invitation within two working days. Where the invitation concerns employment in Latvia the deadline is five working days, and where the officer needs further checks it is 10 working days.
A refusal is not only lost time. It stays in the employer's case history at PMLP, and the next application is read in that light. In practice an employer who filed the invitation too early, without the NVA opinion in hand and without housing settled, spends more time in correspondence the second time than the first. Preparing an invitation slowly is cheaper than filing it twice.
Preparing a file that does not come back
Three checks are worth making before filing. First, the job title and the wage match word for word across the NVA vacancy, the invitation and the draft employment contract. Second, the housing address is real and available on the date the invitation names. Third, the company's tax account is clear of anything above 150 euro on the day of filing, since that figure alone decides point 15.
The first step, the vacancy and its opinion, is covered in NVA vacancy registration and the labour market test, and the three stages in sequence in the Latvian employment residence permit. For how comparable refusals look elsewhere in the EU, see work permit refusal failure modes.
The invitation is where the Latvian procedure examines the employer rather than the worker. A file in which the figures agree and the undertakings are backed by something real usually clears within the five working days the law allows.
Keep reading
All posts →What a UK sponsor licence costs an employer in 2026
The Home Office charges £1,682 for a medium or large Worker sponsor licence, £525 per Certificate of Sponsorship and £1,320 a year in skills charge.
UK skilled worker salary thresholds and going rates 2026
The Home Office sets an hourly floor of GBP 17.13 under Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations and GBP 12.82 under Table 2, each alongside the going rate.