The 2022–2024 transitional provisions of the Immigration Law explained

This article sets out what the transitional provisions added to Latvia's Immigration Law between 2022 and 2024 actually require: which paragraphs were inserted, what deadlines they set, and where the requirement to evidence state language proficiency at basic level, second degree (A2) enters the picture. It is a description of a procedure, nothing more.

One clarification first, because it removes the most common misunderstanding: these provisions concern people who held a residence permit on one specific legal basis that was later deleted from the law. Latvian non-citizen status is itself a permanent status, and for residence purposes non-citizens are under no obligation to sit this check — the transitional provisions are not about them.

2022: a deleted basis and a new paragraph 58

By the law of 22 September 2022, in force from 24 September 2022, paragraph 8 of the first part of Article 24 of the Immigration Law was deleted. That was the ground on which a group of people held their permanent residence permit.

At the same time paragraph 58 of the transitional provisions was added. It provided that a permanent residence permit issued on the deleted ground remained valid only until a fixed date — initially 1 September 2023 — unless the holder applied for EU long-term resident status. That is where the language requirement enters: this status requires proof of state language proficiency at least at A2.

April 2023: paragraph 58 rewritten into three limbs

The law of 5 April 2023, in force from 20 April 2023, rewrote paragraph 58 into three limbs, setting different deadlines depending on where in the process a person stood:

• the general deadline — 1 September 2023;
• 31 December 2023 for those who had sat the check and had re-registered for a retake by 30 November 2023;
• until a final decision was taken, where an application was already under consideration.

The same amendments added three further paragraphs:

• 58.¹ — the authority must decide within one year;
• 58.² — a reduced state fee and, in practical terms the more important part, recognition of a state language proficiency check passed in the naturalisation process as evidence of having learned the state language;
• 58.³ — a pension counts as sufficient means of subsistence.

September 2023: a two-year permission to stay

The law of 14 September 2023, in force from 19 September 2023, added paragraphs 58.⁵ to 58.¹¹. These created a separate route for two situations: people who had not passed the check by 30 November 2023, and people who had a justified reason for not sitting it.

In those cases a two-year permission to stay in the Republic of Latvia could be requested, on an undertaking to learn the state language. The conditions were:

• the application had to be filed by 30 March 2024;
• the state fee was EUR 100;
• the permission carried the right to work;
• healthcare entitlement was the same as for a holder of a permanent residence permit;
• entitlement to social benefits was retained.

This matters for an accurate reading of the period: at that stage the law did not only set a deadline, it also created a mechanism allowing a person to remain and learn the language.

2024: paragraphs 67–73 and permits issued before 2003

The law of 20 June 2024, in force from 18 July 2024, added paragraphs 67 to 73 of the transitional provisions, extending the same mechanism to a second group: people whose permanent residence permit had been issued before 2003, that is under the regulatory framework that preceded the Immigration Law.

The dates set in that wave were:

• the state language proficiency check — by 16 June 2025;
• documents for EU long-term resident status — by 30 June 2025;
• expiry of the permanent residence permit — 15 July 2025;
• a retake of the check — by 30 September 2025;
• the extended filing deadline — 31 October 2025.

Paragraph 69 repeats, for this wave too, the recognition of a language check passed in the naturalisation process.

These dates have passed. That does not mean every individual case is closed — some applications were decided later, and what governs a particular person's situation is the decision taken in their file, not an article on the internet.

How many people this affected: this article gives no figure

Several official estimates of how many people the 2022–2024 transitional provisions affected are in public circulation, and they differ from one another because they measure different things: one counts the potentially affected group, another counts those who completed the procedure, another measures a change in the register over a period.

For that reason this article prints no such number. A headline figure answers none of the only question that matters in practice: which deadline and which legal basis apply to you. That can be established only from your own decision, your own application, and the current wording of the law.

Separately: Ukrainian civilians under temporary protection

This is a different obligation under a different law, and it must not be merged with the above.

Amendments to the law on support for Ukrainian civilians impose a duty to learn the state language to at least basic level, second degree (A2) within two years of temporary protection being granted. Importantly, the wording ties the duty to the performance of professional and official duties — it is not a blanket duty on everyone holding temporary protection, and the scope is set by Cabinet regulation. Before drawing conclusions, check the regulation as it currently stands for your own occupation.

On timing: for people whose temporary protection was granted, or applied for, by 31 December 2025, the two-year period starts on 1 January 2026, so the requirement takes effect from 1 January 2028.

And one further distinction: healthcare professionals and pharmacists are subject to a higher level (B1) and a different deadline. That is separate regulation at a separate level, and it should not be combined with the A2 requirement described here.

What to check in your own case

Three questions are usually enough to get oriented: on what legal basis your current permit or status was issued, what deadline follows from the decision in your own file, and whether you already hold a document that evidences state language proficiency or exempts you from the check. The last of these is covered in Who does not have to sit the A2 check; the check itself is described in The A2 state language check — what it is.

If the check does apply to you, remember its single scoring rule: a pass means at least 60 % in each skill separately — at least 9 points out of 15 in listening, in reading, in writing and in speaking. The points are never pooled. All four parts can be tried for free in the practice papers on this site, and the recurring questions are collected in the FAQ.

This article is informational and is not legal advice. Confirm your own deadline and your own legal basis at the primary source — the current wording of the transitional provisions of the Immigration Law — and with the authority handling your case.