On Tuesday, June 1, the Cabinet of Ministers backed a draft amendment to the Asylum Act, which provides for the easier employment, the receipt of health and education services for asylum seekers.
The draft law provides that the status of an asylum seeker and the right to reside in Latvia during the asylum procedure shall be attested by the personal document of the asylum seeker or the identity certificate of the third-country national.
The Law on the Register of Natural Persons will include information on asylum seekers and will ensure that the included and updated data will be centrally available to all institutions, which will result in faster service of asylum seekers in the institutions.
If the asylum seeker wishes to be employed and the conditions specified in the Immigration Law will be fulfilled in order to grant him or her the right to employment, the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs will issue him or her identity card. Unlike the asylum seeker's personal document, this will include enhanced security features and an entry on the right to employment. Therefore, the asylum seeker will not have to re-appeal to the State Border Guard in order to receive the asylum seeker's personal document, as is the case at the moment.
These changes will make it easier to enter into an employment contract for asylum seekers, to sign up as a tax worker and to open a bank account.
Between 1998 and 31 December 2020, 3014 persons submitted asylum applications and the average number of asylum seekers over a period of one year for the period 2016-2020 was 250 persons.
In view of the average number of asylum seekers in the country over the past five years, the Citizenship and Migration Office is expected to issue 100 certificates of identity of a third-country national to asylum seekers each year.
Prepared by:
Ministry of Interior
Communication department
Email: kn@iem.gov.lv