Photo credit: Baltic Point / youtube.com
The Latvian authorities have introduced a new condition for Russian residence permit holders. They will only be eligible to the residence permit if in the last five years they did not stay outside Latvia for more than six months continuously or nine months in total, the Baltnews telegram channel reports.
Riga announced a new restriction for Russians living in Latvia six months before the termination of the residence permit period (December, 2). To extend a residence permit, Russians need to prove knowledge of the state language, but, as it turned out, the requirements for applicants were not limited to this.
When justifying the new ban, the Latvian authorities referred to the provision on the status of a permanent resident of the European Union. Meanwhile, the previous rules in force in Latvia allowed holders of a residence permit to stay outside Latvia for a year, after which it was enough to enter the country for one day to start a new permitted period of absence.
Russians living in Latvia are outraged by the innovations introduced by Riga. They note that in the past they could freely stay abroad, but the new rules force them to return to Latvia.
Extending a residence permit causes a lot of difficulties for Russian citizens living in Latvia. During the month, almost 5,000 applicants took exams in the Latvian language, and more than half of them failed and will have to to retake it.
Russkiy Mir
