Latvia is among new countries from which employers may temporarily bring workers to America under H-2A and H-2B visas, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Jan. 14. The designation is valid for one year.

Under the H-2A program, employers are able to bring foreign nationals to the U.S. to fill temporary agricultural jobs. The H-2B program is for non-agricultural jobs.

Estonia and Lithuania also are on the list. Latvia and Estonia are among 15 countries added to the guest worker list for the first time this year, according to the USCIS announcement.

The additions were made by the Department of Homeland Security in consultation with the Department of State. In all, 53 countries are on the list for this year.

To qualify for the programs, according to USCIS, the job must be of a temporary or seasonal nature, the employer must show that not enough U.S. workers are available to do the work, and the employer has to show that employing foreign workers will not adversely affect wages of U.S. workers.

The count of persons from Latvia registering for new identification numbers in Ireland dropped nearly 25 percent from 2009 to 2010, suggesting that the flow of immigrants has slowed.

Data compiled by Ireland’s Department of Social Protection show that a total of 3,134 persons from Latvia last year obtained Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSN), substantially fewer than the 3,916 in 2009. However, the data are not a true measure of immigration to Ireland.

The PPSN is an identifier used by individuals in their dealings with various Irish state institutions.

Since 2000, a total of 45,836 PPSNs have been issued to persons from Latvia. During the four years from 2000-2003, the total PPSNs issued to persons from Latvia reached 6,837. After Latvia joined the European Union in 2004, easing travel restrictions for guest workers, the number of new PPSNs jumped significantly. In 2005 alone, residents of Latvia accounted for 9,328 of the new PPSNs issued that year.

From 2005-2008, a steady decline in new PPSNs was observed, although the number jumped 5 percent from 2008-2009 as the economic crisis in Latvia began to unfold.

In all, more than 154,000 persons obtained new PPSNs last year in Ireland, a 7 percent drop from 2009. Ireland, which for several years saw rapid economic growth that lured tens of thousands of new immigrants, also has suffered an economic decline.

Last year just 207 persons from Estonia sought PPSNs, a more than 50 percent drop from 2009. Meanwhile, 4,353 persons from Lithuania last year obtained the identification numbers, a 15 percent increase over 2009.

President Valdis Zatlers’ office has complained to Latvia’s electronic media licensing board about the failure of state television to play the national anthem after his New Year’s Eve speech.

The chancery has sent a letter to Ābrams Kleckins, head of the National Council of Electronic Mass Media (Nacionālā elektronisko plašsaziņas līdzekļu padome), asking for an investigation, according to a Jan. 3 announcement from the president’s press office.

Usually after the president’s New Year’s Eve speech on Latvian State Television, the national anthem is played. But on Dec. 31 residents of the country received “an unpleasant surprise” when the anthem was not heard, according to the press release.

Playing of the national anthem after the speech on state television is a tradition and raises feelings of festivity and patriotism, according to the press release. For this reason, changing the tradition should not be allowed. The president’s office also noted that commercial broadcasters that aired the president’s speech in fact did play the anthem.

Although state television may not be legally required to play the national anthem after the president’s New Year’s speech, the letter from the chancery noted that under Latvia’s electronic mass media law state broadcasters are charged with developing patriotism for an independent and democratic Latvia.

A number of Latvian State Television viewers have complained on the broadcaster’s online forum about the failure to play the national anthem. The forum administrator apologized Jan. 3 and wrote that not playing the anthem was a director’s error. The broadcaster has started its own internal investigation about the error.