Latvia’s Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) issued 19,900 temporary residence permits to non-EU nationals who invested in the Latvian economy in the period from 1 July 2010 to the end of 2024, LETA reported. According to the Ministry of Economy, the so-called golden visa programme was “an important instrument” for attracting foreign capital…
The Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, has passed amendments that will make it easier to bring skilled and qualified foreign labour into the country, ERR reports. Temporary residence permits for work will be issued under more favourable conditions in sectors deemed suffering from labour shortage, and the maximum number of permits in those sectors will be…
The mayor of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, Valdas Benkunskas, has launched a signature campaign for legislation that would oblige foreigners living temporarily in the country to learn Lithuanian, BNS reports. Under the mayor’s proposal, non-EU nationals would have to show proof of at least A2-level proficiency in Lithuanian when renewing their temporary residence permits after…
Every tenth resident of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, is a foreign national, according to the city’s mayor, Valdas Benkunskas, ELTA reports. Vilnius has altogether around 76,000 foreign residents, of whom 61,000 (80%) are non-EU citizens, BNS reported. Around 40,000 of the foreigners, mostly from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, have temporary residence permits. The mayor warned…
Latvia’s Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) will inform altogether 4,650 Russian citizens on steps they need to take to be able to stay in Latvia after changes to the country’s law on immigration, LETA reports. Russian nationals with permanent residence permits must apply for the status of a permanent EU resident and pass…
Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry has proposed extending current restrictions on Russian and Belarusian citizens for another year until May 2025, BNS reports. Under the proposal, the restrictions on Belarusians would be tightened but not completely to the level imposed on Russian nationals. Belarusian citizens arriving in Lithuania with Schengen visas would undergo extra risk assessments and…
Belarusian exiles in Lithuania have protested against what they say is “growing hostility” towards Belarusians, BNS reports. Volha Karach, director of the Lithuania-based NGO, Nash Dom (Our House), said that Belarusians in Lithuania were “victims of their openness.” She noted that Lithuanian authorities now deemed past military service or links to state institutions in Belarus…