61% of Russian citizens who signed up for Latvian language exam failed in their first attempt, as reported by National Centre for Education (VISC) manager Liene Voroņenko.
Voroņenko explained that more people signed up for the exam than actually showed up.
13 147 Russian citizens had sighed up for state language exam. 8 462 of them registered for the first round of exams and 4 685 signed up for the second.
However, only 11 147 Russian citizens showed up for the state language exam (7 383 for the first round and 3 918 for the second).
So far 6 501 Russian citizens have signed up for a second attempt at the exam.
The current redaction of the Immigration Law states that permanent residence permits issued to Russian citizens have expired as of September 2023. To live in Latvia, these people have to apply for an EU permanent resident status. To receive that, they have to submit proof to the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs of their knowledge of Latvian language at least on A2 level, as well as documents proving they have finances to live in the country.
At the very last moment the government ordered the Ministry of the Interior to prepare amendments to the Immigration Law, providing Russian citizens living in Latvia another two years to pass the state language exam so that they are able to remain living in Latvia. The government decided to provide this extension because it was concluded that approximately 10 000 of the 25 316 Russian citizens living in Latvia and who have a permanent residence permit have not applied for EU permanent resident status. This means these people will have to leave the country.
Despite the proposed changes, Russian citizens living in Latvia have to secure at least a temporary residence permit in September. Russian citizens who fail to do anything about their status will receive notifications from PMLP with an invitation to leave the country within 90 days. If no application is received by PMLP by the 1st of September 2023, that person’s residence permit is considered void from the 2nd of September 2023. That person is to leave the country by the 2nd of December 2023.
As reported by the Ministry of the Interior, with the first round of state language exam over, some of the persons who attempted the state language exam have failed it. In April and May 49% of applicants failed the exam, whereas the number of failures among people who took the exam in July and August is around 80%.
Exceptions to the state language test provide that a person who has completed basic, secondary or higher education in accredited programs in Latvian, who has completed an accredited minority education program and has passed the centralized exam in Latvian for 9th grade or the centralized exam in Latvian for 12th grade, is not required to take the test. Also, people under the age of 15 or over the age of 75 are not required to take the exam.
Russian citizens suffering from motor function problems or a diagnosis mentioned in Latvian Cabinet of Ministers regulations On the extent of the knowledge of the official language, the procedure for the examination of the knowledge of the official language and the State fee for the examination of the knowledge of the state language.
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