This Saturday, Latvian President Andris Bērziņš has rejected the amendments to the Immigration Act and sent them to parliament for reconsideration, according to ee24.com citing baltic-course.com.
Portal ee24.com continues to follow the fate of the amendments to the Immigration Act. According to the text, minimum cost of the real estate one needs to buy in order to obtain a residence permit in Latvia increases to €150,000. Amendments also set the annual maximum number of granting such residence permits. On the other hand, there is an opportunity to obtain a residence permit when paying € 50,000 to the state. The President believes that the latter provision sterilizes the other one, while limitations discourage investment and exacerbate the demographic situation in the country.
In a letter sent to Solvita Āboltiņa, the Speaker of the Saeima, the President laid out his arguments against the amendments. First of all, limitations, which refer only to the provision of a residence permit in Latvia in exchange of buying the real estate, will not lead to a slowdown in price growth. After all, there are no limitations for provision of a residence permit for those who pay €50,000, and such foreigners will also buy real estate in Latvia. According to Mr Bērziņš, the amendments should be revised on the basis of rejection of limitations.