Latvian migration authority accused of unlawful extension of residence permits

The Latvian migration authority, the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, has been caught unlawfully extending residence permits issued to foreigners for their investments in businesses or as members of company boards, a spokeswoman for the Latvian State Audit Office said Wednesday.

State auditors discovered the violations while checking the migration authority's compliance with Latvia's asylum and immigration control policies.

Under Latvian immigration law, residence permits of this kind are issued to foreign nationals with the aim to ensure benefits to the Latvian economy. The foreigners are expected to do business in Latvia and make tax payments to the Latvian budget, State Audit Office spokeswoman Ilva Liepina-Milzaraja said.

The state auditors, however, detected several cases where employees of the immigration authority had extended foreigners' residence permits even though the above requirements had not been met.

For instance, a foreign national who had been supposed to pay 28,460 euros (32,322 U.S. dollars) in taxes but had paid less than 3,000 euros, was granted an extension of his residence permit. The case has already been reported to the Latvian Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau.

It was also found that 20 percent of temporary residence permits and 75 percent of permanent residence permits, whose holders no longer had legal grounds to stay in Latvia, had been revoked belatedly.

Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis has ordered a probe into the unlawful extension of foreigners' residence permits, Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma told journalists Wednesday.

"The interior minister has initiated a probe, which will establish who is responsible," he said, stressing that such violations would not be tolerated. Endit