Around 4,000 Russian citizens’ residence permit expires this year / Article

The requirements of the Immigration Law have affected the majority of Russian citizens living in Latvia, who have been instructed to renew their permits to become EU citizens. By applying for this and passing a state language test, they receive a permanent residence permit in Latvia.

Around 25,300 Russian citizens were asked to take the Latvian language test and to re-format their permanent residence permit in 2022.

Of these, around 16,500 are currently granted permanent residence in Latvia, while around 6,600 have been issued with a temporary residence permit or a permit for a fixed period.

Of these, around 4,000 Russian citizens have been granted a temporary residence permit for two years since autumn 2023, with the task of taking the Latvian language exam and thus obtaining a permanent residence permit in Latvia.

As the two-year deadline approaches, last-minute activity in permits and workload at both the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) and the National Center for Education is expected at the end of this year and next year for the exam. At the moment, applications for permit re-formatting are slow, according to Ilze Briede, Head of the Migration Division at the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs.

“The first permits will expire in November, December. And at the moment, the process of applying for a permit is rather sluggish. We have received 336 applications out of 4,000. This group needs to be followed up with, because we will have to deal with residence issues when the permits expire,” Briede explained.

An estimated 2000 Russian citizens have left Latvia after failing the state language test and not applying for a permanent residence permit. The home affairs authorities admit that most of them have left for Russia, but some may have gone to other EU countries and obtained residence permits there. There is no information on this because there is no single information network in the EU.

However, 81 persons in Latvia have been sent a notice to leave the country by decision of the PMLP. The State Border Guard also has more work to do. At the request of the Office, it has gone to check the whereabouts of a total of 992 people in connection with the expiry of their residence permit. The most frequent locations were Riga, Daugavpils, and Liepāja. 72 persons were held administratively liable for staying in Latvia without valid documents.

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