Over 3,200 Russian citizens residing in Latvia may have to leave - Citizenship and Migration Affairs Office

RIGA. Oct 5 (Interfax/BNS) - Letters have been sent to over 3,000 Russian citizens residing in Latvia to inform them that they may have to leave Latvia or apply for a residence permit given the new provisions of the Latvian immigration law, head of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs Maira Roze said.

Letters were sent to 3,255 Russian citizens.

Seventy-three citizens are staying outside Latvia, and about 200 do not have a declared residence address and might have moved abroad, Roze said in the Rita Panorama program of Latvian television.

The two-year extension of the state language exam and issuance of permanent residence permits applied exclusively to those Russian citizens who filed permanent residence applications earlier but have not passed the state language exam, she said.

"Those who do nothing will have to leave," Roze said.

The Office will check in December which of those required to submit the necessary documents have done so and which have not. It will also check with government registers which persons have done nothing to formalize the status of their presence in Latvia and will direct the information to the State Border Guard. The latter will check whether such persons remain in Latvia and order their departure if necessary.