On Thursday, 2 October, the Saeima adopted in the final reading amendments to the Immigration Law, establishing additional restrictions on the issue of residence permits to foreigners with a prior criminal record.

Currently, residence permits are not issued to foreigners who have been found guilty in Latvia or abroad of crimes that are punishable under Latvian law by over three years of imprisonment. This does not apply if the criminal record has been extinguished or removed, or at least five years have passed following the release from imprisonment, if the crime was committed abroad.

Along with these amendments, the criteria will also be extended—residence permits will not be issued to foreigners who have been punished for any crime which is punishable under Latvian law by a criminal penalty.

The amendments also set out to restrict the extension of residence permits to foreigners who are punished for glorifying war or military aggression, or for the public use of symbols of totalitarian regimes.

According to the authors, the amendments aim to promote an accountable migration policy, to decrease threats to the internal and external security and sovereignty of Latvia, as well as to counter the aggression and impact of Russia and its supporters.

Representatives of the Ministry of the Interior had previously stated during a sitting of the responsible Saeima Committee that, at the beginning of this year, over 2,000 residence permits were issued to foreigners with a prior criminal record.

Saeima Press Service