I hired a foreigner and arranged a residence permit for him based on employment. The employee committed an offense and lost my trust as a result, therefore the employment relationship was terminated. Am I required to inform the migration authority about the termination of the employment relationship? I have read somewhere that as an employer I must ensure that the former employee leaves the country, because by hiring a foreign national I assumed responsibility, among other things, for ensuring that he departs from Latvia and does not violate immigration regulations. However, I no longer communicate with this person and I have no information about his whereabouts.

The Latvian Immigration Law states that the inviting party must inform the migration authority about the termination of employment with the foreign worker within three working days. After that, the migration authority should cancel the person’s residence permit, as a result of which the foreign national loses the legal basis for staying in the country. From that moment, control over his stay becomes the responsibility of the state rather than the employer.

The employer is not obliged to search for the former employee or prove that he has left Latvia if the employment relationship has been terminated and the migration authority has been informed within the required time. As an employer, you have neither the legal authority nor the practical ability to control the foreign national’s subsequent whereabouts.