Amendments to the Immigration Law came into force in the middle of the summer, requiring Russian citizens to submit documents for requesting EU permanent resident status by June 30 of the following year.
Among other things, persons must submit a certificate of successfully passing the national language test. As before, language knowledge will be required for persons aged up to 75 years.
From February 3 to March 31, 2025, Russian citizens will have to submit an application to the State Educational Content Center (VISC) in electronic document format, signed with a secure electronic signature and time stamp. A completed form will need to be sent to the official VISC email address or by post.
It is planned that the Latvian language tests will take place from April 1 to May 15, 2025, according to the test time and place indicated by the VISC.
If necessary, Russian citizens will be able to register for re-examination until June 16, 2025 and take it until September 30. In that case, documents for requesting EU permanent resident status can be submitted until October 31, 2025.
If a Russian citizen has not successfully passed the national language test by September 30, he will pass it according to the general queue, starting from October 1, 2025, the draft regulations state.
Currently, it is planned that 2,494 Russian citizens may need to take state language tests to obtain a permanent residence permit.
Last September, the Saeima adopted amendments to the Immigration Law, which determined that Russian citizens who had applied, but had not successfully passed the national language test or had not passed it due to valid reasons, could receive a residence permit for a period of up to two years.
This did not apply to those Russian citizens who obtained permanent residence permits in accordance with the so-called law on foreigners and for whom language knowledge was not required until now.