Three remotely convened meetings in one day Saeima on Tuesday, July 21, as an amendment to the law submitted by the government, which gives the right to revoke temporary residence permits (TUA) and to cancel visas due to violation of restrictions imposed by Covid-19, was accepted as urgent.
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Both the urgency of the draft law and its support in the first and second readings were decided by the Saeima by a large consensus, and the work of the responsible Saeima Defense, Interior and Corruption Prevention Commission also proceeded smoothly and quickly.
Amendments to the law will enter into force on the day following its promulgation. Consequently, the package of proposals supported by the government last week will come into full force in order to more restrict and better control the entry into Latvia from abroad, where the prevalence of Covid-19 is high, following the Covid-19 outbreaks detected in the beginning of July.
The amendments to the Covid-19 Infection Spread Management Law adopted by the Saeima on Tuesday were considered and supported by the government at its July 15 sitting last week, when decided to intensify the survey of immigrants to Latvia.
Cabinet of Ministers also decided that foreigners who have been decided to issue a residence permit may receive a document certifying the right of residence at a Latvian diplomatic or consular mission abroad if the country is on the so-called safe list and is not subject to entry restrictions due to the spread of Covid-19.
From 16 July, the acceptance of long-term visa (category D) applications was suspended at Latvian missions abroad where the spread of Covid-19 infection, which may pose a serious threat to public health, has been registered.
The draft law submitted by the Government to the Saeima had to be improved between the first and second readings, as the Legal Bureau of the Saeima pointed out that the amendments did not indicate clearly enough how Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP), which is responsible for deciding on the withdrawal of an authorization, finds an infringement.
Thereby Ministry of the Interior submitted a clarified article of the law for the second reading, which was also supported by the Saeima. The wording of the amendments adopted by the Saeima provides that the OCMA temporary residence permit for a foreigner may be revoked or the issued visa or decision regarding the issue of a visa or temporary residence permit may be revoked if the Board has established or received information from Health inspections, State Police or the municipal police, that the foreigner has violated the isolation, self-isolation, quarantine or home quarantine regulations or the restriction of assembly specified in regulatory enactments. Challenging and appealing against that decision shall not have suspensory effect.
The amendments to the law adopted by the Saeima also provide that when considering the issue of granting, registration or cancellation of a permanent residence permit, absence from Latvia in the period from 12 March 2020 to 31 December 2020 shall be considered justified and a decision on issuing a residence permit or the period from 12 March 2020 to 31 December 2020 shall not be included in the period of validity of the registration.
The amendments also technically specify that for non-compliance with the isolation, self-isolation, quarantine or home quarantine or assembly restrictions specified in this Law and the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers issued on the basis of this Law, a fine of two to four hundred fine units shall be imposed on a legal person. twenty-eight to one thousand fine units.
The annotation of the draft law states that according to the data of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, a significant part of the newly registered cases of Covid-19 has been diagnosed in persons from abroad, therefore it is especially important to ensure that these persons, including foreigners, self-isolation and home quarantine regulations. The current regulation allows non-compliance with fines, which may not always be a sufficiently dissuasive penalty for foreigners.
Therefore, the draft law proposes to stipulate that a visa or temporary residence permit issued to foreigners or a decision to issue a visa or temporary residence permit may be revoked if the foreigner has violated the rules of isolation, self-isolation or home quarantine. According to the proposal, cancellation is not mandatory, it is applied when assessing the individual situation and the proportionality of the cancellation, especially if a foreigner has received a visa or temporary residence permit to enter Latvia for the purpose of family reunification. This will ensure the State’s obligation under Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on the right to respect for private and family life to make an individual assessment if a person’s rights are restricted.
The annotation of the draft law also explains that in accordance with the valid norms of the Immigration Law, there is a possibility to cancel permanent residence permits granted to foreigners, as well as to refuse to issue permanent residence permits in cases when a foreigner has exceeded the allowed period of absence from Latvia. The regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers subordinate to the Immigration Law also provide that the decision on granting a residence permit is valid for three months from the date of its entry into force.
The validity of these norms facilitates the entry of foreigners from countries with a high prevalence of Covid-19 infection, and entry from certain countries is practically impossible due to the suspension of regular passenger transport, thus foreigners who meet all the conditions of the Immigration Law and have been decided on the issue of a residence permit, this permit will not be available due to entry restrictions.
In order to remedy the situation, the amendments provide for extending the validity of the decision on issuing a residence permit until the end of the year, as well as stipulating that absence from the moment of determining the state of emergency until the end of the year is justified when assessing the issue, registration or revocation of permanent residence permits. .
“Delfi” has already reported that last Monday, at the co-operation meeting of the ruling coalition parties, politicians agreed on the need for a better flow of information on who and from which countries enter Latvia after the lifting of the emergency and European Union opening of external borders.
In the week before the government decided to tighten restrictions after three outbreaks of Covid-19 infection in the catering sector, the issue of immigrants and non-compliance with self-isolation requirements was also raised. Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) also renewed the Interinstitutional Coordination Group to prepare the necessary proposals.
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