Residents of Latvia falls under US VWP (Visa Waiver Program) which means they can apply for visiting the USA without the requirement of a visa if they want a temporary trip or business tour. The Visa Waiver Program allows most residents or citizens of participating nations to go to the USA for business or tourism for period of up to ninety days without getting a visa.

Tourists should have a valid ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) approval before trip and fulfil all requirements. In case you use temporary or an emergency passport to visit the USA on the VWP, that passport should be an e-passport. It comprises VWP tourists who are transiting the US. Furthermore, VWP tourists must be aware that unofficial 3^rd parties have made some websites and take unnecessary money from people looking to visit the USA under the VWP.

Read more about: Requirements for US Tourist Visa for the Citizens of North Macedonia

What is ESTA?

The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA)is a completely electronic, automated system for checking travelers before they start to travel to the USA under the VWP.

The residents of Latvia being member of VWP have to apply for this ESTA authorization if they want to enter the United States.

Requirements for Latvians to Visit US Without a Visa

• You must have a Latvian resident passport issued for you;
• You should not have any criminal history;
• You are not denied for a US visa or entrance to the USA in the past;
• You are not a resident of US, and don’t have an expired or valid US Legal Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551);
• Your intent of tour is meeting family/ friends, tourism, or business conferences;
• You haven’t violated the VWP’s conditions on your past visits or been expelled from the USA in the past;
• You want a short-term or temporary tour that should not be more than ninety days and a return must be showed upon arrival.

Applying for Travel Authorization In ESTA

• Every citizen applying for ESTA application have to pay the application charges via a credit card.
• Every answer you have answered on the ESTA application must be true and accurate as per your best level of knowledge. If any false info is seen (regarding past criminal history, visa rejection, deportation from the USA), your ESTA approval acquired might be denied and rejected. This could lead to denial of entrance to the US at the airport.
• Get a printout of the page that has the approval notification and your ESTA number, in case the application is accepted. The representatives of airline may asl you to give it before your boarding.
• Unless cancelled, ESTA approvals are valid to use repeatedly for around 2 years from the authorization date, or till a passport expires. Remember to update your travel info and verify the expiration date each time before planning a tour.

Passport Requirements

A trip under the VWP is limited to Latvians having passports with particular safety features. VWP requirements are:

1. On the biographic page, a passport should have a machine-readable zone
2. A passport should be an e-passport (electronic passport) along with a digital chip having biometric info regarding the passport holder.

Remember that every tourist should have this electronic passport to use his VWP.  These E-Passports are allotted by the right passport issuing consultant and should fulfil foreign standards for storing and securing info matching to the passport and holder.  

1- Digital Photographs

All VWP nations including Latvis need to have passports with a digital picture printed on their data page or residents will be eligible to get a visa to visit the United States. A digital picture is printed opposite to a picture that is attached or glued into the passport. It appears like the photograph to the right.

2- Machine-Readable Passports

The citizens of Latvia should have machine-readable passports. A passport with a machine-readable zone has 2 lines of text as numbers, chevrons and letters at the bottom of its personal info page, along with the passport holder’s image.

In case your passport doesn’t have this above-mentioned feature, you have 2 choices:

• Get a new, qualifying passport if your nation of nationality is making one, or
• Get a visa.

When Do Latvians Need a US Visa?

• You have a different reason of tour, for instance, temporary employment, studies, employment on ships, long-term immigration, etc.
• You are not a citizen of Latvia (Alien’s passport owners)
• You do not fulfil all the requirements for visiting without a visa or your Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) application is rejected.