Non-citizens (Latvia)

Common card · No. 491462

"Non-citizens" (Latvian: nepilsoņi) in Latvian law are individuals who are not citizens of Latvia or any other country, but who, in accordance with the Latvian law "Regarding the status of citizens of the former USSR who possess neither Latvian nor another citizenship," have the right to a non-citizen passport issued by the Latvian government as well as other specific rights. Approximately two thirds of them are ethnic Russians, followed by Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Latvian government has stated that “Latvian non-citizens are not stateless persons as they are regarded as Latvian nationals and are under full protection of the state in Latvia and abroad". This is further backed by the Latvian Constitutional Court and the Latvian Immigration Law that stress that Latvian "non-citizens" are not to be considered as aliens or foreigners, and that people who hold the status have a permanent legal and national bond. The non-citizens are "citizens of the former USSR (...) who...

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