Before you start

Personal code (personas kods), issued with your residence permit
Passport and residence permit card
Declared address in Latvia or a rental contract
Employment contract, enrolment certificate or company documents

Step-by-step

1
Get your personal code and declare your address first
Both are prerequisites in practice. The personas kods identifies you across every system, and a declared address is the cleanest proof of residence a bank can see.
In personWho: You
2
Book an appointment with Swedbank, SEB, Citadele or Luminor
All four serve foreigners. Citadele is domestically owned; the other three are Nordic groups. Bring the passport, residence card, rental contract and employment contract.
In personWho: You
3
Expect a thorough source-of-funds conversation
Latvia's banks were restructured after the non-resident banking clean-up and their compliance teams are correspondingly careful. Bring documents rather than explanations.
In personWho: You
4
Set up Smart-ID
Smart-ID is the app-based Baltic digital identity used for bank logins, signing documents and the VID's EDS tax portal. Enrol at the branch while you are there — it saves weeks later.
Mobile appWho: You
5
Link the account to your employer and the VID
Payroll wants a Latvian IBAN, and tax refunds are paid to a Latvian account. Give the details to your employer and check them in EDS.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Residence permit card and personal code
Rental contract or proof of declared address
Employment contract, enrolment certificate or company documents

Things most newcomers don’t know

Latvian banks are cautious for a specific historical reason, and it shapes your experience.

Latvia ran a very large non-resident banking sector until 2018, when the ABLV collapse and international pressure forced it to be dismantled. What replaced it is a domestically focused sector with strict onboarding. Understanding that turns an apparently unfriendly process into a predictable one: they are not suspicious of you, they are following a regime built after a specific failure.

Source: Latvian banking sector restructuring, 2018 onwards

Smart-ID unlocks the tax office as well as the bank.

The same app-based identity signs you into the VID's EDS system for tax filing, into e-health, and into latvija.gov.lv for state services, and it produces legally valid signatures. Setting it up in the branch during account opening is the highest-leverage ten minutes of your first month.

Source: Smart-ID — Baltic digital identity

A declared address is the document that makes the bank appointment easy.

Banks want proof of residence, and the declaration at the PMLP is the cleanest form of it there is. Doing the declaration before the bank appointment — rather than the other way round, as most people do — removes the single most common reason a first application is deferred.

Source: PMLP — declaration of residence; Latvian bank onboarding practice

Citadele is the one large domestic option, and it behaves differently.

Swedbank, SEB and Luminor are Nordic groups running regional policies. Citadele is Latvian-owned and often more flexible on documentation for people whose circumstances do not fit a template. Worth a second appointment if the first bank says no.

Source: Latvian retail banking market, verified August 2026

Common mistakes to avoid

Attending the appointment before the personal code has been issued.
Arriving without a rental contract and an employment contract.
Assuming a non-resident account is available — it usually is not.
Leaving the branch without enrolling Smart-ID.
Letting an expired residence card sit on the bank's file until the account is restricted.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.