The Central Election Commission is re-evaluating the draft amendment to the Immigration Law

On November 2, 2026, in the official publication Latvijas Vēstnesis (No. 211, publication code OP 2026/211), in the “INSTITUTIONS” section under the Central Election Commission, decision No. 84 “Regarding the draft law ‘Amendments to the Immigration Law’ submitted by the political party ‘Mēs mainām noteikumus’” was published. The decision is the 5th item in the institutional section, and it is the most recent act adopted by the CEC regarding this citizens’ initiative.

The previous CEC decision on the same draft law was published just under two months earlier: on September 14, 2026, in issue No. 176 (OP 2026/176) titled “Regarding the refusal to register the draft law ‘Amendments to the Immigration Law’ submitted by the political party ‘Mēs mainām noteikumus’” and numbered No. 02-01.1/66. The wording at that time explicitly indicated a refusal to register the project.

Two decisions, two different wordings

Comparing the headings of both publications, one significant difference is visible — the words “Regarding the refusal to register” used in the September decision are no longer present in the title of the November decision.

• No. 02-01.1/66, published 14.09.2026, Latvijas Vēstnesis No. 176: “Regarding the refusal to register the draft law submitted by the political party ‘Mēs mainām noteikumus’”.
• No. 84, published 02.11.2026, Latvijas Vēstnesis No. 211: “Regarding the draft law submitted by the political party ‘Mēs mainām noteikumus’”.
• Both decisions were issued by the same institution — the Central Election Commission — and both refer to the same document: amendments to the Immigration Law.
• 49 days passed between the two publications.

Place in the sequence of commission decisions

Decision No. 84 continues the CEC’s sequence of decisions this autumn, which reflects both the organization of elections and institutional procedures.

• No. 83 — “Regarding the results of the 15th Saeima elections”, published 19.10.2026 (Latvijas Vēstnesis No. 201).
• No. 81 and No. 82 — respectively regarding the dismissal of a candidate’s challenge application without consideration and regarding amendments to the CEC decision of April 16 on the distribution of funding to election commissions, published in the same October 19 issue.
• No. 79 and No. 80 — regarding amendments to the list of polling stations and the opening of ballot boxes, published 06.10.2026 (No. 192).
• No. 75–No. 78 — regarding the distribution of funds in polling stations established abroad and amendments to the list of polling stations, published 02.10.2026 (No. 190).

Immigration Law changed twice this autumn

The thematic background is broader than a single initiative: the Immigration Law was amended several times in the Saeima in the autumn of 2026.

• On August 25, 2026, “Amendments to the Immigration Law” were published in Latvijas Vēstnesis No. 162 as a law adopted by the Saeima (item 1 in the list of laws).
• On September 1, 2026, a new Immigration Law was published in Latvijas Vēstnesis No. 167 — again as a law adopted by the Saeima (item 1 in the list of laws).
• In both cases, the legislative act was published before the CVK decisions regarding the initiative of the party “Mēs mainām noteikumus”, therefore the subject of the initiative is a regulation that had already been revised during this same period.

What the decision status determines

The CVK decision on the registration of the submitted draft law is the threshold beyond which a citizens’ initiative is either submitted to the Saeima as a draft law, or its progress stops.

• If the project is registered, it enters the Saeima agenda.
• If registration is refused, the initiators of the initiative may submit the project again — which the party “Mēs mainām noteikumus” also did after the September 14 decision.
• Decision number No. 84 and the publication on November 2 are the official reference points to be considered when discussing the further course of the initiative.

The significance of the initiative is currently greater than usual: on October 19, the CVK published decision No. 83 on the results of the 15th Saeima elections, therefore decision No. 84 is the first CVK act of this type published after the confirmation of the results of the new parliamentary convocation. This means that the issue of possible changes to the Immigration Law arrives exactly at the same time when the newly elected Saeima begins its work, and that the status of the citizens’ initiative becomes a general test of how open the new legislator’s agenda will be.

Official source: Central Election Commission decision No. 84 “On the draft law ‘Amendments to the Immigration Law’ submitted by the political party ‘Mēs mainām noteikumus’”, published in Latvijas Vēstnesis on November 2, 2026, No. 211, publication code OP 2026/211. For comparison: Central Election Commission decision No. 02-01.1/66, Latvijas Vēstnesis, 14.09.2026., No. 176 (OP 2026/176).