Riga Support Centre for Ukrainian Residents

Accommodation. If you have nowhere to stay, the State Fire and Rescue Service will help you find temporary accommodation in places available in Latvia. Temporary accommodation is mainly offered outside Riga.

Visas and residence permits. A visa is required for long-term stay and work in Latvia. The visa is valid for one year and grants the right to employment without restrictions and access to various other services. The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs issues the visa within 10 working days. Upon submission of the application, each person is informed of the date and place of receipt of the visa.

Registration. Municipality customer service specialists:

• • register personal information (given name, surname, date of birth, passport data or data of another document, contact details, place of residence, etc.) in the national information system;
  • issue a SIM card of Latvian mobile network operators;
  • if you stay in Riga, you will also get a gift card to visit the Riga Zoo.

Employment. The State Employment Agency will provide consultations on employment opportunities, offering information on the currently available job vacancies, and will help you apply for the status of an unemployed person, if necessary.

Healthcare. The National Health Service specialists will provide consultations on how to make an appointment with a family doctor, get medical services and the necessary medication. 

Social assistance if you stay in Riga: the employees of Riga Social Service will provide consultations on receipt of social benefits, the social support system in Latvia and other social care services. You can apply for:

• • • a benefit in a crisis situation;
    • the guaranteed minimum income benefit;
    • a housing allowance;
    • a certificate for receipt of EU food packages;
    • other forms of social support, i.e. social rehabilitation, psychological support, etc.

Benefits and allowances shall only be transferred to a bank account opened in Latvia. Each person is informed individually of the time of receipt of the aid packages. You can receive your EU food package upon presentation of the certificate for receipt thereof at 9 Pāles Street, Entrance C from Zirgu Street.

Education (schools and kindergartens) if you are staying in Riga. Education specialists working in the municipality will help to register your child in a school or kindergarten in Riga.

• NGO Resource Point (Entrance D). In cooperation with the Gribu palīdzēt bēgļiem movement, volunteers work at the NGO Resource Point to provide information on what NGOs can offer. Volunteers identify the person’s needs, i.e. clothes, personal possessions, legal assistance, etc. and contact the relevant organisation. It is clarified if and when the organisation can provide the necessary support, whereafter the person receives the address and contact details of the organisation.
• For children. The Centre has children’s corners and a baby care room for feeding, changing, and swaddling babies.
• Medical first aid and psychological assistance. There is a medical team at the Centre from the organisation Latvijas Sarkanais Krusts (Latvian Red Cross) that can provide medical first aid. Psychological assistance is provided by specialists representing the organisation Skalbes. With the support of the Children’s Clinical University Hospital, psycho-emotional sessions in Russian and Ukrainian are provided by a paediatric therapist.