If your asylum application is rejected, you have the right to submit an appeal to the Administrative District Court or to the Ministry of the Interior. For this procedure you will need legal support by a lawyer and if you cannot afford to pay a lawyer, you can request a lawyer that is free of charge. Note that the appeal must be submitted within 1 month after the decision rejecting your asylum claim was notified to you. If you did not have a lawyer when you received the decision, the 1 month count will start after you receive a translation of the decision in a language that you understand.
The Ministry of the Interior or the Administrative District Court can either require the Office of Citizenship of Migration Affairs (OCMA) to make a new decision in your case, or confirm the decision made by the OCMA that rejected your application. If the Ministry of the Interior confirms the decision, you can still appeal the judgment to the Administrative District Court within 1 month from the day that the judgment was communicated to you or to your lawyer. A decision of the Administrative District Court that confirms that your asylum application is denied cannot be appealed.
Until there is a final decision made by the OCMA or by the Latvian courts, you are entitled to stay in Latvia with the status of asylum-seeker.
If your appeal is unsuccessful at all stages, you will have to leave Latvia. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) supports Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration; you can contact them if you require assistance to return to your home country.
For more information regarding the asylum procedure in Latvia, please visit the website of the OCMA with information in English, Latvian and Russian. You can also download the visual documents prepared by the OCMA with general information on asylum in Latvia (in English):
