TL;DR
Latvia Schengen applications from the UK go through VFS Global. Create an account at visa.vfsglobal.com, select Latvia, pick London, Manchester or Edinburgh, and take the first workable date on the live calendar. The VFS centre fee is £29.56, and the consulate fee is €90 for an adult, about £81. Standard processing is 15 calendar days after biometrics, and up to 45 in some cases.
How to get a slot
To book a Latvia Schengen visa appointment in the UK, create an account at visa.vfsglobal.com, select Latvia as the destination, choose London, Manchester or Edinburgh, and take an available slot from the live calendar. VFS Global handles Latvia's UK Schengen applications, and the Latvian embassy in London sets the requirements. Nobody can forecast when a date will surface, so the account you create today is what lets you act the moment one does.
| Schengen short-stay visa (Type C) | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Visa fee (adult) | €90 |
| Visa fee (child 6 to 11) | €45 |
| Visa fee (child under 6) | Free |
| Maximum stay | 90 days in any rolling 180-day period |
| Standard processing | 15 calendar days (up to 45 in some cases) |
| Travel insurance, minimum cover | €30,000 |
| Passport | Issued within 10 years; valid 3+ months beyond your trip |
| Member states | 29 countries |
Step by step
- Register at visa.vfsglobal.com first, so the admin is out of the way before you start looking.
- Select Latvia as the destination and pick your city: London, Manchester or Edinburgh.
- Take a slot from the live calendar and complete the online application form.
- Pay the official fees: the €90 consulate fee for an adult (about £81), and the VFS centre fee of £29.56.
- Attend in person to give biometrics and submit your documents. Standard processing is 15 calendar days after biometrics, and up to 45 in some cases.
VFS Latvia at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Operator | VFS Global |
| Booking site | visa.vfsglobal.com |
| UK centres | London, Manchester, Edinburgh |
| Centre service fee | £29.56 |
| Consulate fee | €90 adult (about £81), €45 ages 6 to 11, under 6 free |
| Standard processing | 15 calendar days after biometrics |
If VFS Global shows no Latvia slots
Riga is a familiar city break from the UK, and no source publishes a verifiable current wait for Latvia appointments. What actually helps:
- Revisit the live calendar at different times of day. Openings appear without notice, and cancellations put dates back into the pool.
- Check all three cities. Each centre keeps its own calendar, so London tells you nothing about Manchester or Edinburgh.
- Book up to 6 months ahead of travel. That is the earliest a Schengen application is accepted, and the widest choice you will get.
- Ignore slot-bot services. Consulates have voided appointments booked through bots, and a patient routine of manual checks costs nothing and risks nothing.
What our booking desk does. It checks the VFS Global Latvia calendar every working day and books the first slot that appears for a customer whose file is complete. VFS Global releases slots without notice, and nobody outside VFS Global knows when the next batch lands, so an empty calendar today can show dates tomorrow. Any of the three UK centres, London, Manchester and Edinburgh, can take a Latvia application, so the desk opens all three calendars each time rather than stopping at the nearest one. Our appointment availability index lists the earliest Latvia slot we have actually seen and the day we saw it: our own dated reading, never scraped, withdrawn once it is three weeks old. Rather not refresh the calendar yourself? The done-for-you service is a £99 service fee, official fees paid at the centre, and we book within three working days of your complete file or the fee comes back (our booking promise).
Before your appointment
The slot is the easy half. The file you carry into the centre is what decides the outcome:
- Checklist generator: a tailored document list for a Latvia application
- Bundler and Compressor: assemble your file and size it for upload
- Travel insurance covering at least €30,000 of medical costs across the Schengen area
- Accommodation proof and a flight itinerary that match the dates on your form
- Bank statements covering the recent months
- Visiting Estonia or Lithuania on the same trip? Confirm which country you should apply to first
After the slot: the application
With the date held, the paperwork carries the rest. Start with the wider guide to getting a Schengen appointment in the UK, then the full Latvia visa from the UK guide and Latvia processing times. Total every cost with the cost calculator. Or hand it over: our done-for-you Schengen service prepares the application, builds the document file and books the VFS appointment for a £99 service fee; you attend biometrics and pay the official fees at the centre.
Sources
Common questions
- 01
How do I book a Latvia visa appointment with VFS in the UK?
Create an account at visa.vfsglobal.com, select Latvia as the destination country, choose London, Manchester or Edinburgh, and take an available slot from the live calendar. You then attend that centre in person to give fingerprints and hand over your document file. VFS Global runs the centres, while the Latvian embassy in London decides the application.
- 02
Which UK cities take Latvia Schengen applications?
VFS Global accepts Latvia applications in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. You choose the city during booking, and because all three route to the same embassy, checking every calendar is worth the extra couple of minutes. Each centre holds its own availability, so an empty view in one city says nothing about the other two.
- 03
How much is a Latvia Schengen visa appointment in the UK?
The VFS centre fee for Latvia is £29.56. The consulate fee is charged separately: €90 for an adult, about £81, with €45 for children aged 6 to 11 and nothing for under-6s. You also need travel insurance covering at least €30,000 of medical costs, which you arrange yourself before the appointment.
- 04
Why does VFS show no Latvia appointment slots?
An empty calendar is a snapshot rather than a verdict. Openings appear without notice and cancellations return dates to the pool, so look again at different times of day and compare London, Manchester and Edinburgh. Applications are accepted up to six months before travel, which is the single best lever you have.
- 05
Do I need to give fingerprints for a Latvia visa?
Yes, unless you gave fingerprints for a Schengen visa in the previous 59 months, in which case they can be reused. That is why the appointment has to be in person: the centre captures biometrics and checks your documents. Standard processing is 15 calendar days after biometrics, and some cases take up to 45 days.
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