EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Technology

The matter was hotly debated at the government meeting today, because eID's could not be used in elections, referendums or signature drives, because the electronic register of voters has not yet been developed, writes LETA.

Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis (Unity) even went so far as to admit that a useless document will be adopted in Latvia, because this is necessary according to European Union regulations. Dombrovskis also said that residents would have to be informed about the fact that the document could not be used in any civic activity for at least six months after the eID's are introduced in Latvia, until the electronic voting system is developed.

Interior Ministry's press officer Gunta Skrebele told LETA that the new procedure will come into force on April 1 – from that day, residents will be able to choose which identity document to take: passport, the new eID card, or both. Persons aged over 20 will be issued passports valid for a ten-year period, whereas eID's will be valid for a period of five years.

The government also passed regulations on state fee for the issue of identity documents, which stipulates that the fee for taking out an eID will be LVL 10, whereas the fee for youths, pensioners and disabled will be LVL 5.

The fee for a passport will now be LVL 20, LVL 10 for persons aged under 20, pensioners and the disabled. Persons who wish to have both a passport and an eID will have to pay a fee of LVL 15.

The eID's though will be valid travel documents from April 1.