Russian citizens who permanently reside in Latvia but have failed the required Latvian-language exam have started receiving letters warning them to leave within 30 days or face "forced deportation."
The letters were issued by the Latvian migration service and are addressed to former citizens of the Soviet Union (mostly people over 60 years old) who came to Latvia during the Soviet era and, after Latvia regained its independence, decided not to obtain a Latvian passport but took Russian citizenship. They live in Latvia with a permanent residence permit, but, as a rule, do not speak Latvian and have little interest in Latvian culture. They receive their news from Russian media and are often pro-Russian. Latvians are not allowed to hold dual Russian citizenship.
"I didn't take courses because I simply don't have the money," one Russian-speaking woman told Current Time outside a language testing center. "I receive a pension of 340 euros every three months. And they sent me a piece of paper from Riga saying that I have to pay 70 euros for this."
"Most likely I didn't pass. I simply answered some questions," one elderly man said. "There is no sphere of communication, no place to communicate in Latvian."
In 2022, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Latvian parliament adopted amendments to the migration law. Now, in order to extend a residence permit in Latvia, holders of Russian passports must confirm their knowledge of the Latvian language at an everyday conversational level. But this exam has not been passed by many Russians living in Latvia. Some complain that it is difficult for them to learn a foreign language at their age, while others simply refuse to do so.
A Soviet military monument is dismantled in Riga in August 2022.
According to various sources, more than a thousand Russians have failed the exam. Latvian law says that if the exam is not passed, the Latvian residence permit (including permits for permanent residence) is canceled and the person loses the opportunity to legally reside in the country. Over the past 12 months, the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) has issued 63 orders for such people to leave Latvia.
Latvian officials have forcibly deported people in nine cases, while another 632 people who failed the exam left the country voluntarily for Russia on their own, without waiting for an order from the PMLP.
Another thousand or so people are currently in limbo: These are people who have never passed a language exam or submitted documents to extend their residence permits in Latvia. The PMLP is waiting for them to explain their reasons for failing to do so.
"People give different explanations -- for example, they say that they did not receive letters from the Migration Service. But, of course, we have confirmation that warning letters were received," said Madara Puke, a PMLP spokeswoman. "People also say that they believed the politicians who assured them that the Constitutional Court would make a positive decision and that the new rules would not affect them. Many really believed until the last moment that this would not affect them, so there are many excuses."
According to official statistics from 2024, Latvian inhabitants describe themselves as 63 percent ethnic Latvian, 23 percent Russian, 3 percent Ukrainian, 3 percent Belarusian, and 2 percent Polish. But according to official data from 2022, 62 percent of inhabitants spoke Latvian at home, while 35 percent spoke Russian.
And when it comes to opinions regarding Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, views do split along ethnic lines to some degree. According to a series of surveys in Latvia during the last three years, at least 80 percent of Latvian speakers blamed Russia for the war. Among Russian speakers, that number was between 32 and 38 percent.
Men dressed in military uniforms gather at the Victory Monument as members of the Russian minority mark the end of World War II and commemorate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in Riga on May 9, 2017.
But while the Kremlin has sought to portray Russian-speaking minorities in neighboring countries as oppressed by the majorities, many Russian speakers in Latvia have distanced themselves from the Kremlin's aggression.
Latvia's Harmony party, which represents Russian speakers, was once widely seen as pro-Russian and had ties with the ruling United Russia party in Moscow. But the party has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and one of its members of parliament, Boris Cilevics, told the BBC: "[Modern Russia] is absolutely analogous of the policy of Nazi Germany -- the only chance for normalization is a military defeat for Russia."
According to the PMLP, more than 85 percent of those Russians who fell under the new law have already completed all the necessary documents and have either already passed the exam or are learning Latvian and have received a temporary residence permit (valid until the exam is passed).
But Russian state media and propaganda has run with the topic of deporting those who failed the exam and claim discrimination against all Russian speakers. For more than a year, Russian media have repeated stories of Latvia "forcibly deporting Russian-speaking pensioners."
The Latvian government emphasizes that there is no discrimination against Russian speakers in the country: Latvia imposes exactly the same language requirements on all foreigners who want to obtain a residence permit. And those who fail the exam from other countries are also expelled.
"In Latvia, many emigration orders are issued every year. There is a general procedure. I think that here, too, we should not expect any special treatment. At the moment, it is clear that some people have already left earlier, without reacting or contacting the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs," Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said. "But Russian propaganda always chooses how to twist Latvian news in its own way."
The changes to the migration law in Latvia affected approximately 25,000 people. Public debate within the country led to the Latvian parliament amending the law in September 2023: the language requirements remained, but people were given more time to learn the language and pass the exam. This applies to residents of the country who received Russian citizenship after May 2003, who have already tried to pass the test but failed the exam, or who did not attend the exam for valid reasons.
"Amendments to the immigration law are needed," Latvian journalist Inga Springe told Current Time in September 2023. "I am sure that this law needs to include an age limit of up to 65 years.
"Mostly these are older people with health problems and lower mental abilities," Springe added. "We ourselves, as a state, have choked on this piece and don't know what to do. Now we have 10,000 people who did not sign up for this exam at all. Many people need to retake it. And if now their residence permit expires, it is clear that no one will deport them. It is impossible to expel so many people from the country."
A class-action lawsuit was also filed against the language requirements in Latvia's Constitutional Court, but it upheld the language requirements for Russian citizens as legal.
"Citizenship is a serious concept. It shows the choice a person has made regarding which state he or she expresses loyalty and solidarity to," Aldis Laviņs, the head of the Constitutional Court, said. "This particular case is related to former Latvian citizens and noncitizens who have decided that they want to link their loyalty to the Russian Federation. We must understand that in the current geopolitical situation, when the Russian Federation has unleashed a war in Ukraine and is taking unfriendly actions toward Latvia, by introducing such a requirement, the state is providing a mechanism to ensure that Russian citizens permanently residing here do not pose a threat to Latvian society."
Meanwhile, Russian regional authorities have declared their readiness to accept Russian speakers deported from Latvia. The governor of Pskov, Mikhail Vedernikov, has already promised that the region will provide any deportees with all the necessary assistance: "The temporary accommodation center is practically ready."