The Doctor Who Ultimately Turns Out to Be a Courier: Authorities Warn – Legal Migration Has Gotten Out of Control 0 7

Kirsis noted that illegal migration is often confused with legal migration. "In fact, illegal migration is not that significant — it is about 0.5%, and these are rather isolated cases. I know that during border guard checks, out of 200 people, only one turns out to be illegal."

According to the Vice Mayor of Riga, this person is not always 100% illegal. "For example, their documents may have expired or something similar."

Kirsis emphasizes that the main problem lies in legal migration.

"In fact, we are talking about legal migration, which, in my opinion, needs to be restricted now because it has gotten out of control. There are cases where a certain amount of money needs to be presented, and five citizens from third countries use the same certificate to show that they have this money. It is clear that this needs to be stopped," the Vice Mayor stated.

A whole package of 20 different proposals aimed at strengthening control has been submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers.

Kirsis emphasized that it is necessary to reconsider the conditions that allow family members of citizens from third countries to come to Latvia. He also noted that the state needs to make informed decisions in the field of migration, rather than allowing the system to operate on autopilot.

"For example, it could be allowed to grant entry only to doctoral candidates. Migration on our part should be deliberate. If we need doctors or scientists — fine, then we focus on that. Not under the pretext that we will get doctors and students, we end up with couriers. This area needs to be organized."

On November 14, the Vice Mayor of Riga, Edvards Ratnieks (National Alliance), reported that during operations to limit illegal immigration in Riga, 16 illegal migrants were detained.

Thus, a total of 38 people without legal grounds to be in Latvia were detained, which is 65% more than in 2024.

Ratnieks emphasized that the goal is to ensure that there are no illegal migrants in Riga. He noted that the greater problem is legal migration. Therefore, it is planned to continue the initiated raids, as well as work on limiting legal migration.

For this, in his opinion, it is necessary, firstly, to significantly reduce the share of students from third countries, secondly, to introduce strict requirements for knowledge of the state language in the service sector, and thirdly, to prevent the "opening of floodgates" for family reunification.