Hundreds Of Russians In Latvia Are Waiting For A Serious Inspection

• 18.10.2025, 16:09

Under the new requirements of the Immigration Act.

In September, Latvian authorities notified 841 Russian citizens to leave the country because they had failed to apply for residence permit renewal in accordance with the new requirements of the Immigration Law.

As The Insider in Latvia's Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA), 341 of those notified have already applied for residence permits.

The remaining 500 Russians still face deportation: authorities will check them for several months. After the check, the information will be passed on to the border guard. If it turns out that they have not left the country on their own, they will be assigned a specific date of departure.

Amendments

After the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Latvian authorities tightened migration laws, explaining it by national security measures. On September 1, 2025, amendments to the Immigration Law came into force. Now those who previously renounced Latvian citizenship in favor of Russian citizenship, need to confirm income, pass the Latvian language exam for level A2 and pass a full security check. Children, elderly people from 75 years old or people with health problems are exempted from the exam.

Alexei Eliseev, a lawyer from Latvia, said that some people have been met by the country's authorities.

"Among my clients there was one grandmother who was a month short of 75 years old. She simply extended the period of consideration: no one went into formalities and took advantage of the fact that the required age had not yet come."

Eliseev notes that he has not encountered in his practice a situation where a Russian citizen has no opportunity to extend his residence permit.