your documents
A lighter file than most EU destinations here, for one specific reason: your documents translate into English rather than into the local language.
Your university assembles most of this and files it with the migration office. Its list governs — but nearly everything on it is issued in Nepal.
Acceptance letter
From a recognised Latvian higher education institution.
Legalised academic documents
The full chain, because Nepal has no apostille.
Notarised English translation
Into English, not Latvian. This is the detail that makes Latvia cheaper and faster than its neighbours.
Qualification assessment
From the Academic Information Centre, arranged through your university as part of admission.
Bank reference letter
An original on official letterhead showing the first year's subsistence funds.
Health insurance
Required — confirm the cover your permit needs.
Passport and photographs
To specification, for the permit application and the visa collection.
Police clearance
Requested in some circumstances. Confirm with your institution rather than assuming either way.
The permit application goes to the Latvian migration office, filed by your university. The D visa is collected afterwards through a designated visa centre, because Latvia has no embassy in Nepal. The Nepali offices below are where the legalisation chain happens.
Department of Consular Services, MoFA
MoEST — Foreign Study Approval (NOC) section
Confirm the visa centre that handles Nepal with your university before booking travel — that detail changes and is the one most likely to be stale in any third-party guidance, including ours.
Legalise first
Nepal is not in the Hague Apostille Convention, so your academic documents need the full legalisation chain rather than a single certificate. This part is the same as everywhere.
Then translate into English
Notarised translation into English. Compare that with Poland's certified Polish, Czechia's sworn Czech or Spain's traducción jurada — all of which need a specialist translator in a language you do not have.
Understand what that saves you
English translation is cheaper, faster and far easier to arrange from Kathmandu than translation into Latvian would be. It is a genuine, if unglamorous, advantage of this destination.
Ask for the bank letter early
An original reference letter on official letterhead is not the same as a printed statement, and some Nepali banks need the request made specifically.
The requirement: notarised translation into English — not into Latvian, which is unusual among the EU destinations in this guide and removes a specialist translation step
And why legalisation is still needed: Nepal is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so documents still need the full legalisation chain — only the translation step is easier
Latvia publishes more of its fees than most countries in this guide, so this section is unusually concrete.
The permit examination fee: €160 for a thirty-day review, €280 for ten working days, or €560 for five working days
Consular and legalisation fees: around €100 for the consular fee and around €25 per document for legalisation
And the subsistence requirement: about €780 a month — €9,360 for the first year — tied to the minimum monthly wage, and evidenced by an original bank reference letter
The fee ladder is worth planning around rather than defaulting through. If your timeline is comfortable, the thirty-day tier is the sensible choice; if the qualification assessment ran long, the faster tiers exist precisely for that situation.
Most of your file is issued in Nepal and is identical whichever destination you choose. Each of these has its own guide with the office address, the fee and the steps.
For a medical place at Rīga Stradiņš, make sure the NOC names a university the Nepal Medical Council recognises. The degree's international standing does not substitute for that check.