A total of 158 persons from Latvia will be allowed to apply for permanent residency under the U.S. government’s 2005 diversity lottery, the State Department has announced.

The diversity lottery each year allows up to 50,000 people from countries with low immigration rates to apply for permanent residency. If granted, the person may permanently live and work in the United States, as well as bring their spouse and any unmarried children under the age of 21.

More than 5.9 million people applied under the 2005 program. Applications were accepted for a 60-day period from Nov. 1-Dec. 30, 2003. The 50,000 who were chosen will have until Sept. 30, 2005, to successfully complete the visa process.

A total of 64 people from Estonia and 1,114 from Lithuania were chosen in the 2005 lottery, the State Department announced July 29.

Last year, 172 persons from Latvia were chosen for the 2004 lottery.

The Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair, in its first foray into the expanded European Union, has introduced three new routes between Rīga and the United Kingdom, Finland and Germany. And to mark the event, the airline is offering one-way tickets for as low as GBP 3.99.

The three routes, to London’s Stansted Airport, to Hahn Airport in Frankfurt, Germany, and to Tampere, Finland, open Oct. 31, Ryanair announced in a press release. Ryanair will offer daily service to and from Rīga.

The airline also announced five new routes to Spain. All together, the company said, it expects 350,000 passengers to fly the eight routes in the next year.

The introductory GBP 3.99 rate is for the London-Rīga route and does not include taxes and other charges. From Tampere to Rīga the introductory rate is GBP 4.99, and from Frankfurt to Rīga the rate is GBP 7.99.

The addition of Ryanair will bring to 18 the number of passenger and cargo airlines serving Rīga International Airport. British Airlines and the Dutch carrier KLM are among other carriers that in recent months have announced new or expanded service to Rīga.

Passenger activity at the airport continues to steadily increase, according to statistics reported by airport management. Last year, 712,000 passengers arrived or departed via Rīga, with the peak coming in September, when 73,000 were served. Through the first half of this year, 432,000 passengers had used the airport, 103,000 of them in June.

Ryanair also has introduced a Latvian language section to its Web site.

Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would waive the USD 100 visa processing fee for travelers from Latvia and other countries that are providing combat troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Sponsored by Rep. William Lipiniski (D-Ill.), the bill does not specifically name any country. But Latvia is among nations with troops in both locations, according to the Latvian Ministry of Defense, with eight soldiers in Afghanistan and 133 in Iraq.

The bill would not remove the requirement for a visa, just lift the processing fee. American citizens are allowed to enter Latvia without a visa.

The bill was introduced July 14 and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Lipinski is a member of the Baltic Caucus, a collection of representatives interested in issues relevant to Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.