PM Karins promises tougher and clearer conditions for renewal of Latvian residence permits

RIGA - Conditions for the renewal of temporary and permanent residence permits will become much tougher and clearer, Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) said at a news conference following the weekly coalition meeting on Monday. 

The prime minister said that the Ministry of the Interior has drafted a respective bill to which the National Alliance and the Conservatives have proposed additional provisions. In order not to delay the adoption, it has been agreed that the parliament will start work on the ministry's version of the bill, making necessary adjustments in the process. 

Karins voiced confidence that the Saeima will manage to reach an agreement on the final version of the bill, adding that it is hard to comment on the bill in detail at this stage "as various issues of technical nature have yet to be agreed upon". 

On September 8, the Saeima endorsed draft legislation, proposed by the National Alliance and the Conservatives, that would suspend the renewal of temporary residence permits for Russian and Belarusian citizens that have obtained them in return for investments in real estate or businesses in Latvia. 

The Ministry of the Interior, meanwhile, has proposed different amendments to the Immigration Law to make receiving Latvian residence permits harder for Russian and Belarusian citizens.