Members of the 14th Saeima, National Alliance (NA) member Jānis Dombrava has suggested tightening residence requirements for EU citizens in Latvia, particularly in regards to knowledge of Latvian language and subsistence income levels.
Proposals were submitted to the Saeima as part of the legislative draft On the entry and residence of citizens of the European Union and their family members in the Republic of Latvia. The legislative draft suggests: if an EU citizen or his or her family members who are also EU citizens want to live in Latvia for longer than three months, they are to request an EU registration permit.
Dombrava proposes excluding the opinion for EU citizens to receive registration permits if he or she is self-employed in Latvia.
The politician explained that self-employed person’s status does not guarantee regular monthly income. He did suggest a compromise variant that allows for preserving self-employed person’s status, but this would require criteria for the income level.
He also suggested making it mandatory for EU citizens and their family members staying in Latvia for longer than six months to learn the state language at at least A2 level. If this condition is not met, EU citizens may have their registration or residence permit (temporary or permanent) annulled.
Dombrava also invites excluding from the legislative draft one of the conditions that governs the status of family members of EU citizens. The Saeima deputy suggests not recognising family member’s status based on the criteria of sharing a household with an EU citizen. The legislative draft does retain other conditions under which an EU citizen’s or his spouse’s relative can be recognised as a family member.
Dombrava also suggests setting higher requirements for EU citizens, particularly for subsistence income levels. Their monthly income level needs to be higher than the highest low-income person’s level, as suggested in the proposal.