1. Republic of Latvia legislation states that citizens of Latvia cannot possess dual citizenship. The only exemption for this applies to a very limited category of individuals, as outlined in the Republic of Latvia Law on Citizenship adopted by the Saeima in 1994, which states that:
"Citizens of Latvia and their direct descendants, who, escaping the terrors of USSR and German occupation regimes, left Latvia from June 17, 1940 to May 4, 1990 as refugees or who were deported, or for these reasons were unable to return to Latvia, and in the intervening time have gone through the naturalization process of another country, retain the right to register in Latvia's Register of Residents as Latvia's citizens, and, once registering, enjoy the full rights and obligations of citizens of Latvia, if the registration takes place by July 1, 1995. If such individuals register after July 1, 1995, they must renounce all other citizenship."*
If persons who have the right to register as Latvia's citizens under this section of the Law on Citizenship have not done so by July 1, 1995, then they must first renounce other citizenship(s), before registering as citizens of Latvia.
2. Citizens of Latvia who have acquired citizenship of another country after May 4, 1990, must note that Chapter 9, Section 1 of the Law on Citizenship states that: "the admission of an individual into the citizenry of Latvia cannot result in dual citizenship."* In such an instance, according to Republic of Latvia legislation, the individual must decide between the citizenship of Latvia and their current citizenship.
Chapter 22 of the Law on Citizenship gives two potential reasons for the loss of citizenship:
- renouncing citizenship;
- revoking citizenship.
Chapter 23 states that: "every individual with citizenship of another state, or whose other citizenship is guaranteed, has the right to renounce their citizenship of Latvia."*
Chapter 24 states that: "Latvian citizenship can be revoked by the decision of a district court, if an individual has acquired the citizenship of another country without previously submitting an application to renounce their Latvian citizenship."*
*Unofficial translation
