The Saeima conceptually supports the requirement to know the Latvian language for a few thousand more Russian citizens / Article

According to representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, the requirement to know the national language will apply to approximately 5,000 more Russian citizens. Many of them are Russian military pensioners and their family members, the Foreign Ministry previously revealed.

These are people who once obtained permanent residence permits in accordance with the so-called law on foreigners, which was in force until 2003 and which provided for residence permits to those who had their place of residence in Latvia on July 1, 1992 and who were registered in the population register.

Similar to before, the current approach could be maintained for this group as well, that language knowledge is required for persons aged up to 75 years.

The draft law stipulates that the permanent residence permit for a specific group of Russian citizens will be valid until May 15, 2025 in one case, if the Citizenship and Migration Affairs Administration (PMLP) has not received the necessary documents for requesting the status of a permanent resident of the European Union by April 30, 2025 .

In the second case, until September 15, 2025, in relation to a person who requires a certificate of mastering the national language in order to request EU permanent resident status, if PMLP has received information by May 1, 2025 that this person by May 1, 2025 . has passed the national language proficiency test at least once and this person will be required to repeat the national language proficiency test by July 31, 2025, but the PMLP has not received the necessary documents to request EU permanent resident status by August 31, 2025.

In order for the amendments to enter into force, they must be approved by the Saeima in the 2nd and 3rd readings.

CONTEXT:

The Immigration Law provides that permanent residence permits issued to Russian citizens will expire in September 2023. In order to live in Latvia, they had to apply for the status of a permanent resident of the European Union, but in order to receive it, they had to submit to PMLP a certificate of knowledge of the national language at a minimum level and the existence of financial resources.

Politicians decided at the last moment before the norms came into force to make amendments to the Immigration Law, which provides for two more years for Russian citizens living in Latvia, during which to pass the Latvian language test, in order to legally continue to stay in Latvia.

Despite these changes, from September 2023 Russian citizens living in Latvia had to obtain at least a temporary residence permit. As of September 2, those Russian citizens who have not done anything to correct their residence status have lost their residence permits and are being sent letters inviting them to leave the country.

However, these requirements did not apply to those Russian citizens who obtained permanent residence permits in accordance with the so-called law on foreigners and who were not required to know the language until now.