While a state of emergency has been declared throughout the country due to spreading of Covid-19, the Riga City Local Government may grant a crisis benefit grant also to foreign students, who remained in Latvia in conditions of Covid-19, study remotely and have no means of subsistence to provide for their basic needs as provided for by amendments to the Law on Functioning of Public Institutions During the Emergency due to the Spread of Covid-19” and the Law on Social Services and Social Assistance.
Only those foreign students may apply to the Riga Social Service remotely, who are unable to provide for their basic needs due to the emergency and whose declared place of residence is the territory of the Riga City Municipality. The amount of the grant is 128.00 EUR per person.
Paragraph 1 of Order No.103 of the Cabinet of Ministers of 12 March 2020 “On Declaring of the State of Emergency” provides that in the state of emergency declared in the country a crisis situation shall be a situation where a family (person) due to circumstances beyond their control is unable to provide for its basic needs on their own, for example, food, rent, articles of prime necessity, the family (person) is or was on quarantine and has no means of subsistence and requires psychosocial or material assistance.
In order to be eligible for the crisis grant, foreign students, like any other residents of the municipality, should prepare a written application in the official language describing the situation, which occurred due to the declared state of emergency during the spread of Covid-19, and attach documents, for example, a notice of dismissal or a document on unpaid wage, if the student was employed, etc. which confirms the existence of the crisis situation, as well as proof that it is impossible to solve financial difficulties using other resources.
The application should be addressed to the Riga Social Service stating name, surname personal code, declared place of residence in the Riga Municipality, telephone number and the problem, which needs to be resolved should be described in as much detail as possible, as well as the application should be signed. The application should also state the account number to transfer the grant to, if it is granted. The application should be accompanied by a bank account statement for the last 3 months, a copy of the decision of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs on issuing of a temporary residence permit, a statement from the higher education institution, or the application should state the institution, where the student studies.
We encourage foreign students to submit their application and the documents attached to the application to the Riga Social Service remotely, using e-mail soc@riga.lv, the e-service “Application to an institution” on Latvia.lv or place in a specifically designated box for documents in territorial centres of the Riga Social Service (addresses of territorial centres: http://www.ld.riga.lv/lv/Rajona_nodalas.html).
We urge higher education institutions to support foreign students considering the possibility to reduce their payments for dormitories, late fees in libraries, etc., as well as to support foreign students in preparing the application and documents, and to help to handle different domestic situations that have occurred taking into account the current situation in the country.
Phone of the Riga Social Service to get more details 67105048.
We also encourage foreign students to use additional opportunities to consult the Make Room Foundation by sending questions to e-mail address – help@makeroomeu.com. In cooperation with the Information Centre for Newcomers (ICN), foreign students are invited to follow up information and other support solutions on the portal www.integration.lv. The Make Room Foundation is an international organisation working with foreigners on a daily basis fostering their efficient integration into Latvian society, employees of the Foundation are ready to help students to solve their problems during the state of emergency, including in communisation with the Riga Social Service.
Informācija angļu valodā. Information in English - www.makeroomeu.com
Informāciju sagatavoja: Lita Brice, Rīgas domes Labklājības departamenta Iedzīvotāju informēšanas nodaļas vadītāja, tālr.: 67105925; mob.tālr.: 26385691; e-pasts: lita.brice@riga.lv