Around 1,213 citizens of Russia risk being expelled from Latvia as they have failed to meet the requirements applying to them.
According to the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP), the citizens of Russia who might soon be expelled from the country did not submit the required documents for a residence permit that would allow them to continue legally residing in Latvia.
As LSM explains, in line with the current Latvian law, foreign nationals including here Russians, must have knowledge of the Latvian language at the A2 level in order to be able to obtain a residence permit.
The authorities decided earlier this year to permit all Russians who had failed the language test to retake it until the end of November and extended the period during which the document could be submitted until the end of the year.
The law further specified that all permanent residence permits issued to Russians would expire on September 1 of this year.
The authorities required all those affected to submit the required documents, including here the language test and the application for residency by December 2, 2023.
However, at least 1,213 Russians have failed to submit the required documents for requesting residency in the country by the set deadline, and the Latvian authorities have no information on whether these people are still in the country or not.
Thus, they have decided to apply stricter rules and issue notices for leaving the country to all those who have not met the requirements.
According to LSM, of around 3,500 Russians who did not arrange their residence status in time while in Latvia, 1,344 of them submitted the required documents and applied for a residence permit by November 30.
Based on this data, it means that around 904 Russians have left the territory of Latvia.
While the authorities have not made an official statement on the matter or given the exact number of Russians that might be required to leave the country, it is believed that this will be more clear in January of next year.
This is because on January 3, 2024, Russians with permanent residence permits who have not met the requirement will not be allowed to legally reside in the country.
On the other hand, those who have justified their reason for not taking the language test will have time to submit their documents for a residence permit until March 31, 2024.
