Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs has developed  free self-check e-tool for citizenship applicants

On Wednesday, July 14, Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (hereinafter - the Office) launched the information campaign “ACT & RECEIVE!”, which introduces with the acquisition of Latvian citizenship by naturalization, and launches an easy-to-use, easily accessible free electronic tool for interested parties to check their knowledge and prepare for examinations for the acquisition of Latvian citizenship.

“The issue of the availability of digital tools has been relevant for a long time, but it became especially important at a time when face-to-face communication was limited due to the epidemiological situation, but the importance of digital communication in everyday tasks increased,” said Uldis Apsītis, Deputy Head of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs. “The development of an electronic tool for checking your own language skills and knowledge for the Latvian citizenship test is an important and very necessary step, which allows trying out the naturalization tests and be confident with one’s knowledge, as well as provide a clearer understanding of what is to be expected during the examination.”

Since the beginning of the naturalization process from 1 February 1995 to 31 December 2020, 148,478 naturalization applications have been received for 161,911 persons. According to the data of the Register of Natural Persons, on 1 January 2020, the population of Latvia was 2.083 million, of which 1,768 million inhabitants are Latvian citizens (85%), 216,682 thousand inhabitants (10%) are non-citizens of Latvia and 98,201 thousand are foreigners (5%). Statistics show that the number of people who want to acquire Latvian citizenship and pass the necessary examinations is decreasing every year. In 2018, 930 persons acquired Latvian citizenship by naturalization, in 2019 - it was 808 persons, but in 2020 - 725.

The Office regularly conducts surveys on the attitude of non-citizens of Latvia towards the acquisition of Latvian citizenship. The data of the 2019 survey show that an important reason that deters non-citizens from naturalization is doubts as to whether they will be able to pass the tests specified in the Citizenship Law - 23% of respondents are worried about this. An older qualitative study, conducted in 2013, also mentioned fears that they would not be able to pass the tests specified in the Citizenship Law due to emotional stress as one of the factors hindering respondents from acquiring Latvian citizenship.

“When I started the naturalization process, I studied hard with a private teacher to prepare for the Latvian language test. The electronic tool greatly facilitates the learning process and the ability to check the acquired knowledge. I think this is a good solution to help the naturalization process,” Zaurs Džavadovs, the world and European kickboxing champion, shares his experience.

The campaign “ACT & RECEIVE!” is developed in the framework of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund project “Improvement and development of information systems and related processes supporting naturalization” with the aim to educate the public and raise awareness about the electronic tool developed by the Office, as well as to promote the engagement of the target audience in the use of the electronic tool and raise awareness about the possibility to acquire Latvian citizenship through naturalization.

Information prepared by:
Personnel management and public relations department, prese@pmlp.gov.lv