Work Document Translation for Latvia

Reading correctly what notarisation actually confirms

Latvia has no separate sworn translator regime; an official translation acquires its validity through the translator’s declaration and notarisation. The point most often misread here is the assumption that the notary vouches for the accuracy of the translation. The notary attests the translator’s identity and signature; the accuracy of the content rests entirely with the translator. In work files the concrete consequence of that distinction is this: a job title or description carried across wrongly weakens the file even when it bears a notary’s seal, and it invites a request for further information. Terminological accuracy, then, decides more in Latvian files than the form of certification does.

Steps on the employer’s side in the PMLP file

Residence and work matters for foreign nationals in Latvia are handled by PMLP. The process usually begins with the employer advertising the vacant post and completing the registrations required; the candidate opens an application of their own once those steps are done. The candidate’s documents are read to show that the qualification fits the post and that the conditions for residence are met. Where the steps on the employer’s side drag on, the criminal record and civil registry documents the candidate obtained earlier can go out of date, so the timing of obtaining documents needs to be coordinated with the employer. Our document types page summarises the scope of these documents.

The AIC assessment and regulated professions

What a foreign diploma corresponds to within the Latvian system is assessed by AIC. That assessment shows the level and the field of the education; in regulated professions the right to practise is granted separately by the relevant authority, and the curriculum and evidence of practice are called for. The mistake candidates make most often is to put the AIC assessment in the place of professional authorisation. The two tracks can run in parallel; but the documents multiply, so the translation has to be planned with that in mind.

Document, reason, form of certification

Document	Why it is asked for	Form of certification
Employment contract	The employment relationship	Translation plus notarisation
Diploma	Assessment of the qualification	Apostille, translation, certification
Curriculum	Professional authorisation	Translation plus certification
Employment record	Evidence of experience	Apostille plus translation
Criminal record certificate	Suitability for residence	Apostille plus translation

The problem met with most often

The hitch seen most often in Latvian files is that the certification step is skipped: the candidate goes to the institution with a perfectly sound translation, but the document is not accepted because there is no notarisation. The second frequent ground is that identity cannot be matched, because the forename and surname have been carried across differently in the Latvian text; how case endings on names will appear on the document should be settled beforehand. Third, where experience documents carry no job description, it becomes impossible to show that the qualification fits the post.

Clauses to watch in translating the employment contract

In Latvian files the employment contract is read as evidence both of the employment relationship and of the means of support. The clauses on pay, working hours, the job description and the type of contract therefore have to be translated in full. Dropping provisions that appear routinely in Turkish contracts and are treated as standard damages the integrity of the document; an assessor may not regard an abridged text as the equivalent of the original. It is particularly important that the gross-net distinction and the payment period show clearly in the pay item, because the assessment of means is made on that figure.

The second point is that the names of the parties in the contract agree with the other documents. The employer’s trade name should be written the same way in the contract, in the employer’s letter and in the company documents where there are any. The candidate’s name should match the spelling in the passport; since names take case endings in Latvian, a different form may appear on the document, so it is worth asking the translator to keep the passport spelling in brackets as well. If the contract is varied later, the supplementary protocol has to be translated by the same route and submitted together with the earlier translation; otherwise two different sets of employment terms appear in the file and an explanation is asked for.

The employer documents submitted with the contract call for the same care. The company’s entry in the trade register, its field of activity and the signing authority of its authorised representative are the elements that support the reality of the employment. Since these documents are drawn up in Latvia they need no translation; they must not, though, contradict the documents the candidate brings from Türkiye. It matters in particular that the name of the post appears in the same form in the contract, in correspondence with the employer and in the candidate’s experience documents. Telling the translator, when the translation is ordered, the Latvian job title the employer uses allows the choice of title to follow it and makes it possible for a single description of the occupation to appear across the file. This small step of coordination removes at the outset most of the mismatch between qualification and post on which files most often snag, and it reduces the risk of a request for further information.

What decides success in a Latvian file is the completion of the certification chain quite as much as the linguistic quality of the translation. Where notarisation is skipped, even the best translation is refused; a certified translation with weak terminology, on the other hand, cannot show the qualification. The two have to be watched together. This page is for general information; since the conditions for residence and work permits can change, confirm the current requirements from PMLP’s official announcements. You can request a quote for your file, see the fees on our pricing page and look through other countries in our country directory.