Since February 24, 2022, more than 69,000 Ukrainians have been issued temporary residence permits and long-term visas in Latvia. As of February 1, more than 48,000 Ukrainian civilians have a valid temporary protection status in Latvia. Just over 33,000 Ukrainians have registered for assistance with municipalities.
On average, 450 to 500 Ukrainians were newly registered in Latvia last year and were granted temporary protection status per month. The trend is stable. In January this year, 555 people registered, data for February are not yet available.
Most Ukrainians live in Riga, almost two-thirds of all those registered in Latvia. Currently, Riga has registered 20,000 Ukrainian civilians, followed by Liepaja with around 1,400 Ukrainians, Daugavpils with just over a thousand Ukrainians, and then Jūrmala with around 1000 Ukrainian civilians.
“The proportions are very similar both in the register of natural persons and in the municipalities. So 60% are women, 40% are men. We have 8% to 9% children. The majority are of working age – between 18 and 64, and there are 67% of them. 25% are persons aged 65 and over,” said Elīna Āboliņa, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior.
According to the State Revenue Service (VID), as of February 13 this year, 9,551 Ukrainians were working in Latvia. Most Ukrainians work in the service, catering, construction, and logistics sectors. The most popular occupations are cleaners, auxiliary workers, shop workers, cooks, and kitchen workers.
Since February 2022, 1,363 Ukrainian civilians have registered their economic activity with the VID.
Nearly 8,000 Ukrainian civilians have had their temporary protection status revoked in Latvia since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, mostly because they chose to return to Ukraine or another European country.
On March 4 this year, the long-term visas and residence permits issued to some 15,000 Ukrainian civilians will expire. So far, only a small number of them have applied to the Office for Citizenship and Migration to renew them.
Latvia’s support will continue this year
Latvia will continue to support Ukrainian civilians who are already in Latvia or who will arrive after fleeing the war. The plan includes accommodation, food, social and financial assistance, access to education and healthcare, as well as employment and integration promotion, including language training and culturally oriented activities. Special attention will be paid to the protection of unaccompanied minors.
The authorities have estimated that the plan will require around €77 million, but the government has now supported funding of €65 million for this priority measure.
In early February, the government also allocated €4.68 million to the Social Integration Foundation to provide Latvian language courses for Ukrainian civilians.
It is expected that 6,375 people will attend free Latvian language courses this year.
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