The Cabinet of Ministers' draft order includes 28 citizenship applicants who have naturalized in accordance with Article 12 of the Citizenship Law and two citizenship applicants who naturalize in accordance with Article 15 of the Citizenship Law.
Of the 28 citizenship applicants, 64% are ethnic Russians, 3% Ukrainians, and 21% Belarusians.
In the next few days, new citizens will receive a notification from the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP), which will contain information about their citizenship and how to obtain a Latvian citizen's passport.
148,800 persons have received Latvian citizenship through naturalization since 1995, including 488 so far this year.
In order to become a Latvian citizen by naturalization, a person must confirm their basic proficiency in the Latvian language, as well as successfully pass an examination of the basic provisions of the constitution, the text of the national anthem and knowledge of Latvian history.
Citizenship can also be bestowed by special ruling of the Saeima for "special merit", which sidesteps the requirements for the language and other tests. However, this is a fairly rare occurence.
