Heading for a Record Low: Where Have All the Applicants for Latvian Citizenship Gone?

The bb.lv portal managed to find this out from a draft decision prepared for the Cabinet of Ministers meeting of Andris Kulbergs — the still "old" prime minister — held this Tuesday. The document "On Granting Citizenship of the Republic of Latvia by Naturalization" mentioned 64 applicants, including two minor children. The ethnic composition is surprising: two-thirds are Russians, 17% are Belarusians, and there is only one Ukrainian for some reason. Although, it would seem, if anyone should have a strong affinity for the country providing such assistance to official Kyiv, it would be them. But the number of those from Ukraine wanting to become citizens is the same as those from Lebanon, Serbia, Macedonia, and also from the Komi Republic. The education level of the naturalization applicants: 42% have secondary education, 39% have higher education, 16% have primary education, and 3% is unknown. Considering the aforementioned figure — only two children under 18 years old — one can conclude that even among those taking such an active life position as naturalization applicants, about one-sixth have not completed even secondary school or vocational training. However, on the other hand, this is not a formally limiting factor: recently, people with a ninth-grade education successfully ran for the Saeima. ## Complication of the Exam But what is even more intriguing is something else. Kulbergs' government did not seem to formalize the eradication of naturalization as a genre during its first term. In reality, we have only 361 people who received Latvian citizenship in 2026. And there are only two months left until the end of the year. It is unlikely that even the level of 2021 — 419 people — will be reached. But back then, we had COVID with all the restrictions for language courses and for taking exams. What is preventing the expansion of the naturalization base these days? The potential audience that your author addressed explains: naturalization exams in Latvia now only take place in four cities: Riga, Daugavpils, Liepaja, and Ventspils. This is both few and inconvenient — there is not a single center in Zemgale or Vidzeme. ## "Citizenship Check" But there are also positive aspects. For the first time in a while, a system of language courses has been established in the country, and unified standards have been developed. On the Riga website apkaimes.lv, vacancies for free training at levels A and B have been opening since the beginning of the year. An A2 level is required for obtaining citizenship. The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs recommends using free state materials. Sample tests, audio recordings for checking listening comprehension, and a free interactive guide Pilsonības pārbaude ("Citizenship Check"), which fully reproduces the structure of the real exam, are available on the official website pmlp.gov.lv. So we still have a chance to prove that politicians come and go, but the people who remain in Latvia are ready to become its citizens.