Published: 22.01.2021.
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Free
Execution deadline in working days
10
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Individual person
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The amount of the State Family Benefit depends on the number of children actually being raised for whom the benefit is received. The State Family Benefit is paid for each child in the family from the day the child reaches one year of age until the child reaches 16 years of age, as well as for a child aged 16 to 20 years, if the child studies at a general or vocational education institution and has not entered into marriage.

From 1 January 2026, the State Family Benefit is also granted and paid for children studying full-time in higher education institutions (including colleges where higher education is obtained) up to the age of 20, if the student has not entered into marriage.

To receive the State Family Benefit for children studying in higher education from 1 January 2026, one of the parents or the young person themselves, if they were previously in out-of-family care, must submit an application to the SSIA for the grant of the State Family Benefit.

If a child has a disability, a supplement to the State Family Benefit is additionally granted and paid, and for this child, the State Family Benefit is paid after the child reaches 16 years of age, regardless of whether the child studies or not.

Based on the voluntary consent of the other spouse, one of the spouses may receive the State Family Benefit for all jointly raised children, not only for their own children.

 

The translation has been prepared using a machine translation tool

  • Process description
  • Related documents
  • More about the service

Process Description

  1. Applying for the benefit 

The benefit can be requested immediately after the birth of the child, but no later than within 24 months from the date the child reaches one year of age. The supplement for a child with a disability must be requested within 24 months from the date the disability was established. If the benefit or supplement is requested later, it will only be granted for the preceding 24 months prior to the date of application. Once a benefit for a child has been granted, it will not be granted a second time for a different retroactive period.

To apply for the benefit, an application form specified by the SSIA must be completed. The application can be submitted:

  • on the portal Latvija.gov.lv;
  • in person (an identity document — passport or ID card — must be presented when requesting the service);
  • electronically (the application must be signed with a secure electronic signature containing a timestamp);
  • by post;
  • through the competent authority of a foreign country.

In-person applications can be submitted at any SSIA Customer Service Center or at Unified State and Local Government Customer Service Centers.

If the child is studying abroad, the applicant for the family state benefit must submit a certification from the foreign educational institution to the SSIA. 

The document issued by the foreign educational institution must contain information stating that the person to whom it was issued is enrolled full-time in a general education or vocational education institution, or studying full-time at a higher education institution during the period specified in the document. 

The document issued by the foreign educational institution must be accompanied by a translation and must be legalized. 

If the document was issued in a state of the European Union, the European Economic Area, or the Swiss Confederation, or in treaty states — Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine — legalization is not required.

The application must specify the preferred method of receiving the decision.

  1. Receiving the service

If an official electronic address account (hereinafter referred to as e-address) is activated, the SSIA will send the decision to the e-address, regardless of how the application was submitted.

If the e-address is not activated and:

  • If an e-application was submitted on the portal Latvija.gov.lv, the decision will be available for viewing on the portal Latvija.gov.lv under the e-service "SSIA Information and Services" in the section "Applied Services".
  • If the application was submitted to the SSIA in person, electronically (signed with a secure electronic signature), or sent by post — the decision can be received according to the method specified in the application: on the portal Latvija.gov.lv, in person, or by post.

The SSIA pays out the benefit by transferring it to an account belonging to the person:

  • a payment institution account (IBAN — International Bank Account Number) in the Republic of Latvia, another EU Member State, or the United Kingdom, capable of receiving payments in euro;
  • a Latvian Post settlement system account.

The translation has been prepared using a machine translation tool.

Families raising children are entitled to receive:

  1. The State Family Benefit (hereinafter – the benefit);
  2. the supplement to the State Family Benefit for a child with a disability, regardless of whether the benefit itself is being paid.

The benefit and supplement may be received by a person who:

  • permanently resides in Latvia together with the child (Latvian citizens, non-citizens, foreigners, and stateless persons);
  • has been assigned a personal identity number for both themselves and the child;
  • has active status in the Register of Natural Persons for both themselves and the child.

The benefit may be granted to:

  • one of the child’s parents;
  • a guardian or an adopter;
  • the actual caregiver of the child (including a foster family), based on a decision of the Orphan's and Custody Court;
  • the child themselves after reaching 18 years of age, if prior to that they were in out-of-family care (guardianship or foster care).

The benefit may also be granted to a spouse who is not the child’s parent if the biological parent (the other spouse) gives written consent for the spouse to receive the benefit, provided that:

  • the child’s parent and the applicant are legally married;
  • the child’s parent who gives consent was previously granted the benefit for that child.

The benefit is not granted to a person who has received a temporary residence permit in Latvia.

The translation has been prepared using a machine translation tool.

The amount of the State Family Benefit depends on the number of children being raised for whom the person receives the benefit:

  • for one child – 25 euro per month;
  • for two children – 100 euro per month (50 euro per child);
  • for three children – 225 euro per month (75 euro per child);
  • for four or more children – 100 euro per month per child.

The total number of children also includes children actually raised by the family based on a decision of the Orphan's and Custody Court, as well as adopted children and children under guardianship.

Supplement for a child with a disability:

  • 160 euro per month for each child with a disability.

The translation has been prepared using a machine translation tool.

State Family Benefit

  • The benefit is granted for each child being raised in the family from the day they reach one year of age until they reach 16 years of age (until the day of their 16th birthday).
  • For a child aged 16 to 20 (until the day of their 20th birthday), the benefit is paid if they are enrolled full-time in a general education institution, a vocational education institution, or studying full-time at a higher education institution (effective from January 1, 2026) and have not entered into marriage.
  • If raising a child with a disability, the family state benefit continues to be paid after the child reaches 16 years of age, regardless of whether the child is studying or not. The benefit is paid no longer than until the day the child with a disability reaches 20 years of age (until the day of their 20th birthday) or enters into marriage.

Main conditions for benefit payment after reaching 16 years of age

  • For children who have reached 16 years of age and are enrolled in general or vocational education institutions, the SSIA pays the benefit until September 30 (inclusive). The payment of the benefit is not interrupted during the summer months.
  • If the child continues their studies in the new academic year, payment resumes from October 1. These conditions apply if the child is studying up to and including Grade 11.
  • If the child is studying in Grade 12 (graduating class) or the final year of a vocational education institution, the benefit payment is terminated as of July 1.
  • If, after graduating from a general or vocational education institution, the child begins full-time higher education studies in September (effective from January 1, 2026), the SSIA continues paying the benefit for them. This means the benefit is also paid for the summer months.
  • If, after graduation, the child does not start higher education immediately in September of that year, the benefit is paid from the day studies commence (no benefit is paid for the period when the child is not studying, including the summer months).
  • If the child stops studying (e.g., withdraws voluntarily or is expelled), payment of the benefit is terminated on the first day of the month following the month in which the child discontinued their studies.

Receiving information about studies

  • If the child studies in Latvia, the SSIA receives information directly from the Ministry of Education and Science. The benefit recipient does not need to submit a certificate proving enrollment.
  • For general and vocational education, the Ministry provides information per academic year; for higher education (including colleges), per semester.
  • If the child studies abroad, the applicant must submit a certificate from the foreign educational institution to the SSIA. The document must clearly state that the person is enrolled full-time in general, vocational, or higher education during the specified period.
  • Foreign documents must meet document legalization rules. A translation may be required if issued in a foreign language.

Payment of the benefit to one of the parents or a spouse

Parents agree between themselves on who will receive the benefit for the child. However, the benefit amount will be higher if one parent applies for all the children.

If parents raising two children together choose to receive benefits separately, the father receives the benefit for one child (25 euro per month), and the mother receives it for the other (25 euro per month).

If one parent wishes to receive the benefit for both children, the total amount considers the total number of children under that recipient — meaning the benefit for two children under one recipient will be 100 euro per month.

To switch to a single recipient, the following applications must be submitted to the SSIA:

  1. an application from one parent waiving further receipt of the family state benefit;
  2. an application from the other parent requesting the benefit for the child previously covered by the first parent.

If spouses each have children from previous relationships and currently receive benefits for their own children, one spouse may apply to receive the benefit for all co-raised children combined (including the stepchildren). This results in a higher total benefit amount for the family.

To make this change, the following applications must be submitted:

  1. the spouse currently receiving the benefit for their biological child submits a voluntary waiver, agreeing to transfer this right to the other spouse;
  2. the non-biological step-parent submits an application to be granted the benefit.

Benefit payment is terminated on the first day of the following month. Consequently, the benefit can only be granted to the second parent/spouse once payment to the first has been officially stopped.

Supplement to the state family benefit for a child with a disability

The supplement to the family state benefit for a child with a disability is granted if the State Commission for Medical Expertise of Health and Working Ability has established a disability status for the child.

The supplement is granted from the date the disability status is established until the child reaches 18 years of age, regardless of the family state benefit payment.

If the medical commission determines specific medical indications (need for special care or transport expense compensation), the family is also entitled to:

  • care benefit for a child with a disability;
  • allowance for the compensation of transport expenses for disabled persons.

Suspension of benefit and supplement payments

Payment of the benefit and supplement is suspended:

  • For the period the child for whom the benefit is granted is placed in a long-term social care and social rehabilitation institution or a foster family, is in a penal institution or a social correction educational institution, or has a guardian appointed (unless guardianship is established for a minor parent, or the Guardianship Authority has decided to suspend payments to a person who does not actually care for and raise the child).
  • For the period the beneficiary is in a penal institution or placed in a long-term social care and social rehabilitation institution.
  • If the recipient or the child permanently moves from the Republic of Latvia to a permanent residence abroad.

For a spouse who is not the child’s biological parent, payments are also terminated if:

  • the SSIA receives an application from the biological parent requesting the benefit back;
  • the marriage is dissolved;
  • the biological parent passes away;
  • the parental rights of the spouse who is the child's parent are suspended or revoked with respect to the child for whom the benefit was granted.

The benefit and supplement may be received

The SSIA pays out the benefit by transferring it to an account belonging to the recipient:

  • a payment institution account (IBAN — International Bank Account Number) in the Republic of Latvia, another EU Member State, or the United Kingdom, capable of receiving payments in euro;
  • a Latvian Post settlement system account.

The translation has been prepared using a machine translation tool.

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