Almost 60% of permanent residence permits for third-country nationals in Latvia are held by Russians

Citizens of Russia make up the largest group of foreigners from third countries who have been issued permanent residence permits in Latvia. As of the end of 2025, they held 10,905 such permits. This is evidenced by information from the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA), reports the LETA agency. ### Which countries have the most permanent residence permits? According to OCMA data, at the end of last year, the number of permanent residence permits was distributed as follows: | Citizenship | Number of permanent residence permits | | -------------------- | ------------------------------------ | | Russia | 10,905 | | Ukraine | 2,710 | | Belarus | 1,825 | | Other third countries | 3,195 | | Total | 18,635 | Thus, Russian citizens account for about 58.5% of all permanent residence permits issued to third-country nationals. The share of Ukrainian citizens is approximately 14.5%, while that of Belarusian citizens is 9.8%. In total, citizens of the three countries hold 15,440 permanent residence permits — about 82.9% of the total number. ### How many permanent residence permits have been issued to citizens of other countries? In total, as of the end of 2025, there were 18,635 permanent residence permits issued to third-country nationals in Latvia. Excluding citizens of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, citizens of other countries hold 3,195 permits, or about 17.1%. The published data does not provide a detailed distribution of this group by individual countries.