Permanent residence and the language requirement — A2 for both statuses

A permanent residence permit and EU long-term resident status require exactly the same level of Latvian — basic level, 2nd degree, that is, A2. There is no higher level for one and lower level for the other: a single sentence in paragraph 6 of Cabinet Regulation No. 157 (MK noteikumi Nr. 157) covers both.

This article is about where the requirement comes from, what it means in practice, and where the limits lie of what an article on the internet can say about any individual case.

The requirement in one sentence

Cabinet Regulation No. 157, paragraph 6:

"A person is entitled to apply for the acquisition of European Union long-term resident status or for the receipt of a permanent residence permit if they have acquired the state language at least at basic level, 2nd degree (A2)."

One sentence, two statuses, one level. That is why the question "which of the two demands better Latvian" has no answer — in language terms they do not differ.

Where the requirement itself comes from

The regulation names the level, but the requirement itself sits in the laws, and they are two different laws for two different statuses:

Status	Provision	What it establishes
Permanent residence permit	Immigration Law, Section 24(5) (Imigrācijas likuma 24. panta piektā daļa)	for some applicants the permit is issued "if they have acquired the state language"
EU long-term resident status	Law on EU long-term resident status, Section 3(1)(2)	the status is granted if the person "has acquired the state language"

In both cases the law says that the language must be acquired, but not how much. That it means A2 is stated by Regulation No. 157. A reference to the law alone, without the regulation, therefore answers nothing — and the same applies the other way round.

How those paragraphs are distributed across the regulation is set out in Cabinet Regulation No. 157 — what it actually establishes.

What "has acquired the state language" means

The language requirement can be met in two ways, and sitting the check is only one of them.

The first route — a passed check. The state language proficiency check at basic level, 2nd degree: four parts worth 15 points each, passed if each skill separately reaches at least 60 %, that is, 9 points. There is no threshold for the combined total.

The second route — a document that replaces the check. Paragraph 7 of the regulation lists the cases in which the check is not sat at all: education obtained in Latvian within the formal education system; a minority education programme completed before 1 September 2025 together with the grade-9 centralised examination in Latvian; the Latvian baccalaureate examination at a European School; one of the health conditions listed in Annex 2, evidenced by a medical opinion; being under 15; being 75 or older.

In both cases the requirement is met by a document, not by your own assessment of your Latvian. More on this in who is exempt from the A2 check.

Language is one condition, not the only one

This is the point at which an article about language can mislead unless it is said plainly. Passing A2 does not itself grant a residence status. It satisfies one of the conditions. The others — length of residence, means of subsistence, documents, deadlines — are set by immigration law and are examined in your case file, not at the language check.

So the honest answer to "will I get the permit if I pass A2" is this: A2 removes the language obstacle; everything else is decided where your case is examined.

Non-citizens: no check is needed for residence

Latvian non-citizen status is itself permanent, so the language check is not a condition of continuing to live in Latvia. It becomes relevant in three situations:

• if the person works in an occupation for which Annex 1 to Regulation No. 157 sets a language level (anything from A1 to C2, depending on the post);
• if the person chooses to obtain EU long-term resident status;
• if the person naturalises — and then it is not this check but the naturalisation examination that is sat.

Non-citizens are also exempt from the state fee, as are Latvian citizens and citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland.

An occupational requirement is a separate question

Another frequent confusion. A language requirement attached to an occupation comes from a different basis than a language requirement attached to a status. The list of occupations is Annex 1 to Regulation No. 157, the level there runs from A1 to C2 depending on the post, and it applies to Latvian citizens and non-citizens too — nationality decides nothing there.

It follows that one person can be in two situations at once: A2 because of a status and, say, B1 because of their job. The two requirements neither add up nor cancel each other out — there are simply two of them.

Naturalisation is a different route and a different examination

If the goal is citizenship rather than a residence permit, this is a different examination under a different regulation. It is set by Cabinet Regulation No. 973 (MK noteikumi Nr. 973) under the Citizenship Law: a written part and an interview, 25 points per skill, passed if at least 16 points are scored in each skill. On top of that comes a separate test on the basics of the Constitution, the text of the national anthem, and the basics of Latvian history and culture.

The law names no CEFR level for that examination. Claims that it "corresponds to" some particular level therefore do not come from the legislation, and no such level is named in this article, deliberately.

Recognition between the two routes runs in one direction only: the transitional provisions of the Immigration Law accept a state language proficiency check passed in the naturalisation process as evidence of language acquisition. It does not work the other way — an A2 certificate does not replace the naturalisation examination.

If your permit is tied to the transitional provisions

For some people the language requirement appeared not as a choice but as a consequence of the transitional provisions of the Immigration Law — the 2022, 2023 and 2024 amendments changed the basis of residence for part of the previously permanent residents and attached the A2 requirement and specific deadlines to it.

Within this article one sentence is the right amount to say about that: the deadlines there are personal and they differ, and they cannot be read off a general description. What exactly changed in each of the three years is set out in the transitional provisions of the Immigration Law, 2022–2024 — but your own deadline and your own legal basis must always be checked in your own case.

What to do with this

Three steps, in order. First, check whether you have to sit the check at all — some people are exempt or can produce another document. Second, if you do, register for A2 specifically — you register for a level, you do not land on one according to your score. Third, plan your preparation around your weakest skill, because the threshold is counted in each skill separately.

All four parts in the official format are available free in the exam section, writing and speaking can be practised with AI feedback, and short answers to the most common questions are collected here.

This article is not legal advice. Requirements, deadlines and procedures change, and a status is granted on more than the language condition alone. Before filing documents, check the current rules and your own case at the primary source.