On 26–27 March 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is hosting a training event on visa-related matters for locally engaged consular staff from diplomatic missions and consular posts of Latvia accepting visa applications.
Training is organised as part of a project, “Providing regional training for consular officers on EU policy for issuing uniform visas in line with the requirements of the European Visa Code (1st stage)”, with financial support from a European Union fund, Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (Contract No. ĀM/RPVP/2024/3). Every two years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organises a training programme of this kind, when locally engaged consular staff from Latvian diplomatic missions gather in Riga.
This year’s training session brings together 16 consular clerks – locally engaged staff members whose job duties involve the processing of the uniform Schengen visa applications.
The aim of the training is to ensure that locally engaged consular staff involved in the processing of visa applications have the required skills and knowledge. During the training course, consular clerks will improve their skills in the acceptance and processing of visa applications and collecting biometrical data. The matters of the protection of personal data will also be addressed. The programme includes lectures to enhance the staff’s communications skills in contacts with people of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds and disposition, thereby ensuring a more efficient and customer-oriented service at the Latvian diplomatic missions abroad.
Experts from the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affair, the State Border Guard, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as teaching staff from the School of Public Administration contribute to the training session as lecturers.
