On Latvia's Immigration Law

On Thursday, September 14, the Saeima supported amendments to the Immigration Law in the first reading, which provides for the possibility for Russian citizens living in Latvia to extend the time period for the Latvian language exam for the receipt of a permanent residence permit by two years. This would apply to those Russian citizens who have already tried to pass the test.

In April this year, after reviewing the arguments expressed by the responsible authorities, the Saeima supported amendments to the Immigration Law, which provided for the extension of the residence permit and the deadline for the processing of applications for Russian citizens who have passed or at least once have tried to pass the Latvian language proficiency test in accordance with the established procedure and who have been ordered to take the test again.

However, it was already clear at that time that there were some Russian citizens who were subject to the specific provisions of the Immigration Law who were not in a hurry to pass the Latvian language exam and to complete the documents for a permanent residence permit.

Today, we know that approximately 10 000 of the more than 25 000 Russian citizens who have been issued with an EU permanent residence permit in Latvia have…