Certified Latvian Document Translation

Unlike many European countries that maintain a formal sworn translator institution, Latvia uses a notarial certification system for official translations. There is no zvērināts tulks (sworn translator) status in Latvian law. Instead, a professional translator produces the translation, and a zvērināts notārs (sworn notary) certifies the translator's signature under the Notariāta likums (Notariate Law). This two-step process — translation followed by notarial certification — replaces the function of a sworn translator in other jurisdictions.

When certifying a translation, the Latvian sworn notary performs several critical functions: ascertaining the translator's education or professional qualifications in the relevant language pair, certifying the translator's signature on the completed translation, and warning the translator of criminal liability under Sections 300 and 302 of the Latvian Criminal Law for knowingly producing an inaccurate translation. In exceptional cases, the sworn notary may certify the correctness of the translation themselves if they possess competence in both languages, though this is rare in practice.

The Valsts valodas likums (Official Language Law) requires that all foreign-language documents submitted to Latvian state institutions be accompanied by a notariāli apliecināts tulkojums (notarially certified translation) into Latvian. For documents intended for use outside Latvia — such as immigration applications to the United States, Canada, Australia, or the United Kingdom — DoVisa's certified translations are widely accepted without Latvian notarial certification. International authorities including USCIS, IRCC, and the Australian Department of Home Affairs accept certified translations with a translator's signed certification statement.

Latvia is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, having acceded on 11 May 1995 with the Convention entering into force on 30 January 1996. Since 1 July 2019, Latvia has operated one of Europe's most advanced apostille systems — all apostilles are issued exclusively in electronic form (e-Apostille) by zvērināti notāri (sworn notaries) under the supervision of the Latvijas Zvērinātu notāru padome (Council of Sworn Notaries of Latvia). Any sworn notary across 30 towns and cities in Latvia can issue an e-Apostille at a fee of EUR 25.34.

The Latvian e-Apostille system is fully digitalized: both electronic documents signed with an e-signature and paper documents can be apostilled electronically. The e-Apostille is created as a digitally signed document in the .asice format (ASiC-E container with XAdES signature), which is the standard electronic signature format used across the Baltic states and the European Union. The validity of any Latvian e-Apostille can be verified online at latvijasnotars.lv/apostille/verify by entering the apostille number or uploading the .asice file.

DoVisa manages the complete e-Apostille process for Latvian documents. We prepare the application, submit documents to a Latvian sworn notary, and deliver the electronically apostilled document to your email and postal address. Standard e-Apostille processing takes 5-10 business days. For documents destined for countries that are not Hague Convention members, DoVisa coordinates the full consular legalization process through the Ārlietu ministrijas Konsulārais departaments (Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the destination country's embassy.