About 3,500 Russian citizens living in Latvia are expected to receive letters from the Latvian migration authority this week asking them to leave the country.
They are accused of failing to submit documents required to extend their residence permits or to register for a test of their knowledge of the national language.
Those concerned will have to leave Latvian territory by 30 November, according to an official statement published on Thursday.
A law amendment passed in 2022 tightened residence rules for Russian citizens in Latvia in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. To continue living there legally, Russians must apply for permanent resident status and, in most cases, prove that they have sufficient knowledge of the country’s language.
These new rules, which affect almost 20,000 people, had caused controversy in the country.
Latvia, which has a population of 1.9 million, borders Russia. A large Russian minority - about a quarter of the population - inhabits the country, the majority of them immigrants from the Soviet era and their descendants.
