Nearly 6000 Russians have been asked to leave the country and have not passed the Latvian language exam as citizens | Latvian language | Russia
According to a report by Russian news agency on August 4th, Ingmas Lidaka, Chairman of the Citizenship, Immigration and Social Cohesion Committee of the Latvian Parliament, told the media that nearly 6000 Russian citizens who have not passed the Latvian language exam will receive a notice of departure.
Riga, the capital of Latvia
He said, "Based on my prediction, there are about five to six thousand people. These people have shown no desire to take exams or obtain temporary residence permits. If you look at the law, then the Latvian Citizenship and Immigration Bureau must issue a requirement to leave within three months."
According to reports, in August 2022, the Latvian authorities decided to extend temporary residence permits for Russians only in certain specific circumstances. Permanent residence permit can only be obtained after passing the Latvian language exam at a minimum A2 level before September this year. People under 15 years old and over 75 years old are exempt from exams.
![Nearly 6000 Russians have been asked to leave the country and have not passed the Latvian language exam as citizens | Latvian language | Russia](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/af0612e116aa14547779bbf1b748c4ee.jpg)
Vilnius Vitolinsh, Deputy State Secretary of the Latvian Ministry of Internal Affairs, stated that those who have not passed the Latvian language exam will be sentenced to three months of departure.
According to reports, with the termination of residence permits, Russians will lose many opportunities to access services and will stop providing them with pensions.
In September 2022, the Latvian parliament passed a bill stipulating that within three years, all education will shift towards using Latvian language, and Russian can only be learned as "a minority language". The country has a population of approximately 1.8 million, of which approximately 40% are Russian speaking residents. Meanwhile, there is only one official language in the country - Latvian. Russian has a foreign language status.