More than a thousand Russian citizens will face deportation from Latvia, the LETA agency reported, citing the Latvian Office for Citizenship and Migration.
“According to the latest information, deportation from Latvia threatens 1,167 Russian citizens who did not meet the requirements of the amendments to the Immigration Law and did not submit an application for a residence permit to live in the country,” the announcement specifies.
The Office stated that in December 2023 it was announced that 1,213 Russian citizens could be deported, but later it turned out that 46 people had already left the country.
According to the data of this institution, among those who could be expelled there is an equal number of men and women, and 789 Russians are over 60 years old.
The director of the Office, Majra Roza, admitted that the process of deporting Russians from Latvia will be “very complex and burdensome”, Sputnik reported.
According to her, in the first phase Russian citizens will be asked to explain why they are not leaving, and in February these explanations will be considered and evaluated. If the Russians do not leave Latvia within 30 days of the deportation order, the forced deportation will begin.
In August 2022, the Government of Latvia decided to extend temporary residence permits to Russians only in exceptional cases, and to issue them permanent residence permits only if they pass an exam in the state language at a level not lower than A2 by September 2023.
Persons younger than 15 and older than 75 are exempt from the exam.
According to changes to the immigration law, Russians had the option to retake the Latvian exam until November 30, in which case the validity of their residence permit was extended until the end of 2023.
