RIGA 's According to the Latvian Citizenship and Migration Board, two years after Latvia's accession to the EU, the number of people immigrating to this Baltic country has not risen significantly.
As of Jan. 1, 2006, there were about 8,003 foreigners with fixed-term residence permits living in Latvia, which is 491 people more than a year ago. The number of foreigners with permanent residence permits grew over the two years from 25,570 to 29,487.
This data shows that the previous trend has continued, as in the period between January 1, 2002, and January 1, 2004, the number of foreigners with fixed-term residence permits grew by 836, while the number of foreigners with permanent residence permits increased by 2,043, the agency said.
The Citizenship and Migration Board expects that the number of immigrants in Latvia will rise gradually also in the future and that there will be no major leap in immigration figures, BNS reported.
