Foreigners already working in Europe who need to spend time in Latvia as part of their employment would no longer need a work permit under a proposal by the Ministry of Welfare.

The ministry is preparing an amendment to the immigration law that would allow foreigners already legally working in a member state of the European Union, in the European Economic Zone or in Switzerland and whose employers assign them to work in Latvia to do so without a work permit.

For example, a citizen of Kazakhstan who already is staying and working in Lithuania, and whose employer sends them to Latvia, would no longer need a work permit in Latvia, the welfare ministry said in an Aug. 2 press release.

The amendment must still be submitted to the Saeima for consideration and passage.

Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis, in a meeting with seven Latvian youths from abroad, said Aug. 1 he is pleased with the first year of a program that invited them to work in Latvia in state offices and private companies.

“Vēlies izaicinājumu” (Seek a Challenge), a program initiated by Kalvītis and administered by the State Employment Agency with support from the social integration secretariat and Ministry of Education, is a month-long internship program that allowed the youths to work in their chosen profession, improve their Latvian language skills and get to know Latvia, the Cabinet of Ministers press office said.

The seven with whom Kalvītis met ar Darja Berdņikova of Russia, Jana Božko of Russia, Lūkass Milevskis of the United States, Laura Osvalde of the United States, Aleksandrs Perevalovs of Russia, Rūta Rietuma of Sweden and Dainis Simsons of Canada.

“Your knowledge, experience and skills are needed by Latvia,” Kalvītis told them. “We have few inhabitants, therefore we are pleased with each one who has chosen to return and work in Latvia, and youth here have greater career opportunities and more rapid growth than in larger countries.”

The seven have been interning with the State Forensic Science Bureau, Rīga Technical University, Hill & Knowlton Latvia, the State Employment Agency, SIA Averoja and SIA Agroprojekts.

The internships run from July 15 to Aug. 15.

The Latvian government is committed to supporting the program and finding internships in state offices. It is expected the project will continue next year with greater participation, the press office said.

Allowing dual citizenship for children born to Latvian citizens abroad has received strong support in a survey conducted by the Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration.

A total of 270 people from 17 countries responded to the survey conducted July 24-30. Of those, 92 percent said they support dual citizenship for children born abroad.

A task force established by the secretariat to study the problem of recent emigration to Ireland and elsewhere has proposed that such children should be granted dual citizenship. Latvia’s citizenship law already states that children born to Latvian citizens are themselves Latvian citizens, regardless of where they are born. However, some confusion exists because the law also states that people who become Latvian citizens may not hold dual citizenship.

The secretariat posed five questions in a one-page survey distributed via e-mail to Latvian organizations and media outlets abroad. The survey was not scientifically random. The total number of respondents represents about a tenth of a percent of all Latvians abroad.

Oskars Kastēns, the integration minister, said he is pleasantly surprised with the active participation in the survey.

“Such activity shows their desire to be involved in what is happening in Latvia,” Kastēns said in an Aug. 1 press release, “and that the dual citizenship question is important not just to the state, but also in their families.”

A total of 69 percent of survey respondents said they agree grant dual citizenship would encourage return migration. An additional 27 percent agreed dual citizenship in addition to other efforts to address issues of well-being would encourage return migration.

Asked if granting dual citizenship to children would encourage involvement in Latvia’s democratic processes such as elections, 89 percent agreed it would.

But only 63 percent of respondents said they are informed of the secretariat’s task force’s proposals for how to get Latvian emigrants back to the homeland.

The secretariat will include the survey results in a report to the Cabinet of Ministers on the return migration issue. Kastēns also is expected to present the results to a task force that is to be established to study the dual citizenship question.