The Embassy of the Russian Federation criticized the new rules for granting residence permits to Russians in Latvia

The Russian Embassy in Latvia commented on the new rules for obtaining a residence permit by Russians, which from today, September 2, may become invalid for many. Before this date, according to media reports, residence permit holders had to confirm knowledge of the state language and income.

By information embassies, the Latvian Migration Service announced that starting from September 2, it will begin to cancel the residence permit of several thousand Russians and send out notifications demanding to leave the territory of the republic within 90 days. This “inhumane draconian measure” affected mainly elderly people, many of whom suffer from serious chronic diseases, and “due to objective reasons” they could not overcome all “filtration” procedures in a short time, the embassy said. In addition, the Russians might not even know about the “nuances of this migration campaign.”

The initiative, as noted in the diplomatic mission, appeared before the elections, and its authors were representatives of the right-wing radical political forces in Latvia, whose ideological platform is based on “aggressive xenophobia and intolerance towards Russians.”

“As a result, an ill-conceived, frankly illegal legislative act, the discriminatory nature of which today few people doubt. This is recognized by the Latvian officials themselves, on whose shoulders the task of its practical implementation has fallen,” the statement says.

At the same time, the embassy clarified that earlier amendments had been submitted to the Seimas, which would allow Russians to receive a two-year delay to pass the state language exam. However, the Latvian parliamentarians will be able to consider them after the expiration of the documents that legalize the stay of Russian citizens in the country. The Russian side hopes that “legal arbitrariness and reprisals against thousands of innocent people” will not be allowed in the republic, the commentary notes.

As before wrote Latvian media, at the last moment before the changes came into force, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Latvia introduced amendments to the immigration law to the Seimas. At the same time, in September, the Russians, according to the publication, will still have to obtain at least a temporary residence permit. The Rus.LSM portal wrote that about 10,000 Russian citizens who needed to confirm their status in Latvia by passing an exam for knowledge of the Latvian language or providing the necessary documents did not do this.

On September 22, 2022, the Latvian Seimas approved amendments according to which the term of permanent residence permits issued to Russians expires on September 1, 2023. To stay in Latvia, you need to apply for EU permanent resident status and confirm knowledge of the state language at level A2.