Russians in Latvia face eviction over language test failures

Russians who failed the Latvian language exam are finding eviction orders in their mailboxes. Recipients have 30 days to leave the country.

The issue primarily concerns former Soviet citizens, who are now generally over 60 years old, who settled in the Latvian Republic during Soviet times. In 1989, two years before the then-Soviet republic regained independence, more than 900,000 Russians lived there. After Latvia regained independence, they chose Russian citizenship.

Latvia granted them permanent residency permits; however, according to the portal, they generally did not know Latvian and were not interested in the national culture. They usually followed world events through Russian media and often had pro-Russian attitudes. According to the National Statistics Office, there are just under half a million of them.

After the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022, the Latvian parliament adopted an amendment to immigration law. Since then, passing the Latvian language exam at the A2 level has been required to extend the permanent residency permit (this applies to both Russians and other foreigners seeking permanent residency). According to the portal, over a thousand people have failed the test.

In such cases, the immigration office cancels the residency permit. In the last 12 months, the office issued 63 eviction orders. 632 people who failed the exam left the country voluntarily and independently, going to Russia without waiting for a directive from the immigration service.

About a thousand people remain who have not taken the exams or submitted documents to extend their residency permits in Latvia. The immigration service is waiting for explanations for why this was not done.

According to the immigration services, over 85% of Russians affected by the new law have completed their documents, either passed the exam or are learning the language, and have received a temporary residency permit as a result.