By-law of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs

Issued pursuant to
Section 16, Paragraph one of the
State Administration Structure Law

I. General Provision

1. The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (hereinafter - Office) shall be under the direct supervision of the Minister for the Interior.

II. Functions, Tasks and Competence of the Office

2. The Office has the following functions:

2.1. to implement the State migration and asylum policy;

2.2. to determine the legal status of persons in the State;

2.3. to perform registration of the inhabitants of the State;

2.4. to issue:

2.4.1. personal identification documents; and

2.4.2. travel documents;

3. In order to implement the specified functions, the Office has the following tasks:

3.1. to determine the right of persons to Latvian citizenship;

3.2. to analyse the processes related to migration, asylum seeking, determination of legal status of persons, registration of inhabitants and provision of persons with personal identification and travel documents, to conduct research in the referred to fields and to participate therein;

3.3. to co-operate with the State administrative institutions, international and non-governmental organisations and foreign migration services, to organise international meetings and conferences regarding the matters within its competence and to participate in the activities thereof, to analyse the experience of Latvia and other states in solving the referred to matters;

3.4. pursuant to the competence thereof to participate in the drafting of international treaties and their performance;

3.5. to inform the media and society regarding the activities of the Office;

3.6. pursuant to the competence thereof to participate in the development of regulatory enactments and draft policy planning documents and to provide opinions regarding the regulatory enactments and draft policy planning documents prepared by other authorities;

3.7. to examine the applications of persons regarding admittance to Latvian citizenship through naturalisation and prepare draft legislative proposals regarding admittance to Latvian citizenship through naturalisation for submission to the Cabinet or take a decision regarding refusal of naturalisation;

3.8. to organise development of the material for testing the knowledge of the basic conditions of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia, the text of the National Anthem, the History of Latvia and the material for testing the Latvian language proficiency of the persons applying for Latvian citizenship through naturalisation and to ensure the preparation of the necessary teaching and methodological guides.

3.9. to examine the knowledge of the basic conditions of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia, the text of the National Anthem and the History of Latvia, as well as Latvian language proficiency of persons applying for Latvian citizenship through naturalisation;

3.10. to review applications by persons regarding renunciation of Latvian citizenship, to take a decision regarding acknowledging that a person has lost Latvian citizenship or refusal to acknowledge that a person has lost Latvian citizenship.

3.11. to examine the verification procedure regarding the revocation of Latvian citizenship, to take a decision to terminate the verification procedure or to bring an action regarding the revocation of Latvian citizenship to court;

3.12. to examine the applications by persons regarding the renewal of Latvian citizenship;

3.13. to perform the tasks prescribed in other regulatory enactments in the field of migration, asylum seeking, determination of legal status of persons and registration of inhabitants, as well as provision of personal identification and travel documents.

[16 February 2010]

3.¹ The task referred to in Sub-paragraph 3.7 of these Regulations shall be performed by a structural unit of the Office - the Naturalisation Board.

[16 February 2010]

4. The Office has the following rights:

4.1. to represent the Republic of Latvia in the international organisations and at events in conformity with the competence thereof;

4.2. to establish working groups and also include experts in the composition thereof;

4.3. to request and receive information from the State administrative institutions and private persons necessary for the implementation of the functions of the Office;

4.4. to submit applications for the projects of the European Union co-financed programmes and bi-lateral and multi-lateral co-operation financial programmes;

4.5. to provide paid services;

4.6. to draw up administrative violation reports regarding the administrative violations prescribed in Sections 186, 187, 190, 190.², 190.³, 190.⁶, 190.¹⁰, 190.¹¹, 190.¹², 190.¹³ and 190.¹⁴ of the Latvian Administrative Violations Code.

[22 October 2008]

III. Structure and Officials of the Office

5. The Office shall consist of the following structural units:

5.1. departments and the divisions thereof;

5.2. self-dependent central and regional divisions.

6. The Office structural units shall act in accordance with this By-law and regulations of the relevant structural unit.

7. The Office is administred by a Head. The Head is an official of the State civil service. The Head shall be appointed to (upon approval by the Cabinet) and removed from the office by the Minister for the Interior.

8. The Head of the Office shall perform the functions of the head of an institution of direct administration prescribed by the State Administration Structure Law.

9. The Head of the Office may have advisors and assistants.

10. The Head of the Office shall have deputies. The Head of the Office may designate the structural units which shall be directly subjected to the Deputy Head of the Office.

IV. Provision of the Rule of Law in the Activity of the Office and the Reporting

11. The rule of law of the Office shall be ensured by the Head of the Office. The Head of the Office shall be responsible for the establishment and functioning of a system for internal control of the institution and verification of administrative decisions.

12. Administrative acts issued by or actual action of the officials of the Office, if it is not specified otherwise in regulatory enactments, may be contested and appealed by the following procedure:

12.1. the administrative acts issued by or the actual action of an official of the Office may be contested by submitting a relevant submission to the Head of the Office. A decision of the Head of the Office may be appealed to a court.

12.2. administrative acts (excluding the act referred to in Sub-paragraph 12.1 of these Regulations) issued by or the actual action of the Head of the Office may be contested by submitting a relevant submission to the Ministry of the Interior. Decision by the Ministry of the Interior may be appealed to a court.

[16 February 2010]

13. The Head of the Office may revoke unlawful or unsuitable decisions taken or orders given by the officials of the Office.

14. The Head of the Office shall provide a report regarding the performance of the functions of the Office and the use of financial resources to the Minister for the Interior not less than once a year.

V. Closing Provision

15. Cabinet Regulation No 7 of 7 January 2003, By-law of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (Latvijas Vēstnesis [The Official Gazette of the Government of Latvia], 2003, No 5) is repealed.

Prime Minister A. Kalvītis

Minister for the Interior Dz. Jaundžeikars

Translation © 2011 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)