The Saeima still needs to view the law in two readings for it to come into force.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the requirement of knowledge of the state language will apply to about 5,000 more Russian citizens. Many of them are Russian military pensioners and their family members, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier.
These are people who once obtained permanent residence permits under the so-called aliens law, which was in force until 2003 and provided residence permits to those who were residents of Latvia on July 1, 1992 and were registered in the population register.
As before, people over 75 years of age will be exempted.
The draft law provides that a permanent residence permit for the given group of Russian citizens will be valid until May 15, 2025. The necessary documents for applying for the status of a permanent resident of the European Union must be submitted by the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) by April 30, 2025. If the person attempts to take the language test but fails, they will be able to extend the permit until September 15, 2025 on the condition that a reexamination is conducted.
