12 percent of Russian citizens have already left the country

There are 4,741 such citizens of the Russian Federation living in Latvia, who will now have to claim the status of a permanent resident of the European Union, for which they must pass an exam on proficiency in the Latvian language. However, 2,232 people over 75 years of age can be exempted from it. Over the next three years, 826,587 euros will be spent from the budget for these purposes, but there will be allocations in the future.

Parallels between Ukraine and Latvia

The indefinite stay of the above-mentioned Russians in the Republic of Latvia has come to an end. The amendments to the Immigration Law, which were drawn up by a group of coalition MPs – from the New Unity, the Green and Farmers Union and the Progressives, establish the expiration dates for current residence permits:

* April 30, 2025, if the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs has not received the necessary documents to grant EU permanent resident status;

* 15 September 2025 if the person has started taking the language exams but has not yet completed them by 31 July.

Until this date, all specified Russians in Latvia have – without restrictions – the right to employment, health services, unemployment and disability benefits.

In the annotation to the bill, its authors indicated: “What is happening in Ukraine also clearly shows the influence of the aggressor state on state security; parallels are seen with the situation in the Republic of Latvia, namely: the factor of the Russian-speaking part of society is of significant importance. Although in the understanding of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia and Law on the State Language, Russian is a foreign language that is not superior or privileged to other foreign languages, however, this has already been indicated by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia – also more than thirty years after the restoration of independence, there is a need to eliminate the consequences of the Soviet occupation.”

“An individual who speaks the state language has the opportunity to compare and critically evaluate the information received and participate in public discussion, and is also provided with the opportunity to use a single information space.”

Golden words – but why are citizens of the Russian Federation here, if even the legislators themselves mention their subjects – in the original valstspiederīgo – and only citizens and non-citizens of Latvia can relate to them. What is true is true, and in these categories there will be those who do not speak Latvian – but the bill is not going to check them. Or how?

In any case, for three years – from 2024 to 2026, 827,587 euros are allocated from the budget to filter the next group of Russians. The largest costs will fall next year on the State Educational Content Center – for 390,000 euros it will provide language exams, and the State Security Service will receive an additional 48,579 euros.

A year later, the largest additional allocations are provided for the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (an additional 10 officials will be hired there) – 316,139 euros, apparently for a final summing up.

But starting from 2027, in the same vein, it is planned to allocate 48,579 euros to Russians, with the State Security Service being the only recipient.

Travel orders

Well, what will happen to those who don’t pass the exam? “What buses will they take you to the border?” – this is how the head of the Seimas Commission on Citizenship, Migration and Social Cohesion Gunārs Kutris (SZK) spoke with the gentle humor characteristic of a highly professional lawyer…

The dynamics of expulsions in pursuance of previously adopted ones in 2022 – “in the first round,” as the head of the commission put it – was demonstrated at a presentation for deputies. According to information from the director of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, Maira Rose, a total of 24 “exit orders” were issued, of which seven were carried out, one was extended and one was not executed. The State Border Guard is “looking into the location.” Among the named persons there are 17 men and 8 women, ages from 15 to 74 years.

Maira Rose noted that the number of people to whom the OCMA sent “letters of happiness” is significantly larger – but since the legal procedure involves an appeal, the data has not yet been sent to the State Border Guard.

“Some have already left, it is not known whether they are here. Some took the test twice, realized that it would not work, and decided to leave,” Rose said.

As for the new group that will now have to be dealt with, M. Rose stated that there will be another burden on the Department, but what can they do, they will cope. By the way, the OCMA has calculated that 873 of those who belong to the next group of filtered Russians were born in Latvia.

12% of Russians have already left the country

In general, out of a cohort of 25 thousand citizens of the Russian Federation, today 16 thousand have already applied for the status of a permanent resident of the EU, another 4 thousand have applied for a 2-year residence permit.

In general, the OCMA estimates the share of Russians physically present in Latvia at 88% of the payroll. As M. Rose explained, if a person does not take any action to clarify his status, then the Department carries out an inspection.

“We carry out this cleansing regularly,” the director put it figuratively.

Gunars Kutris also asked what happened to people who cannot get out of bed to take the exam. The OCMA referred to problems in communication with healthcare institutions: “Our systems are not synchronized.” Therefore, in each specific case, a reconciliation is carried out to determine whether there are mitigating circumstances that do not allow passing the exam. Then they give you a 2-year residence permit.

Deputy Head of the State Border Guard, General Ivars Ruskulis, for his part, said that 781 persons are being checked using the OCMA materials. Of these, 76% have already left Latvia, for 9% the check is ongoing, the whereabouts of 7% have not been established.

There are also those clients who voluntarily resumed communication with the OCMA – and also those who did not want to communicate with the Robezhsargs, although it is known that they were at home – so far the summons has been left to them. An administrative process has been initiated against 27 people.

CITIZENSHIP AS A THREAT

“The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia indicated that since the legislator stated that citizenship of the Russian Federation is associated with a threat to state security and therefore, taking into account this potential threat, an individual assessment of citizens of the Russian Federation living in Latvia should be carried out as soon as possible. The dissemination of new requirements is precisely on the majority of citizens of the Russian Federation living in Latvia is logical and aimed at protecting the security of society.”

(From the annotation of amendments to the Immigration Law)