At least 1,213 Russian citizens who have failed to comply with the provisions of the immigration law and have not submitted requests for residence permits, will be evicted from Latvia, LETA was told at the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs.
The aforementioned 1,213 persons failed to submit the documents necessary to request any kind of residence permit by the November 30 deadline and the Latvian authorities have no information to suggest that these persons have left the country.
Of the Russian citizens who had delayed the necessary steps to sort out their residence status in Latvia, 1,344 submitted documents to apply for a residence permit by November 30. The information collected so far shows that another 904 persons have crossed Latvia’s external border and left the country, the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs informs.
The final number of persons who will have to leave Latvia due to non-compliance with the law is yet to be determined, as on January 3, 2024 the permanent residence permits of Russian citizens who are subject to the amendments to the immigration law and have not applied for the status of permanent resident of the European Union by December 31, 2023 will expire.
It is important to note that the deadline only applies to persons who have taken the Latvian language test repeatedly before November 30, the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs emphasized.
In case the language test has not been successfully passed, the migration office stresses the need to apply for a residence permit by December 31 this year, which would allow the person to stay in Latvia for two more years and continue to receive social and healthcare services as previously.
The Immigration Law provides that permanent residence permits issued to Russian citizens expired in September 2023. In order to continue to live in Latvia, they had to apply for the status of a permanent resident of the European Union, but in order to obtain it they had to submit to the PMLP documents proving that they have a minimum command of the state language and sufficient financial resources.
Shortly before these provisions came into force, Saeima decided to amend the Immigration Law, giving Russian citizens living in Latvia two more years to pass a Latvian language test in order to continue to reside legally in Latvia. In addition, from September Russian citizens living in Latvia had to at least obtain a temporary residence permit. According to the PMLP, those Russian citizens who have not done anything to regularize their status in Latvia will have their residence permits revoked and will be sent letters asking them to leave the country.
The amendments to the Immigration Law provide that Russian citizens who have not passed the Latvian language test for justified reasons may apply for a residence permit of up to two years, during which period they have to pass the test.
Source: BNS
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