4 SISOJEVA AND OTHERS v. LATVIA JUDGMENT The Court heard addresses by Mr Portnov, Mrs Nilus, Mrs Reine and Mr Laptev. 15. On 15 June and 4 July 2006 respectively the Latvian Government and the applicants provided written replies to the additional questions asked by some of the judges at the hearing. THE FACTS I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 16. The applicants are a married couple, Svetlana Sisojeva (“the first applicant”) and Arkady Sisojev (“the second applicant”) and their daughter, Aksana Sisojeva (“the third applicant”). They were born in 1949, 1946 and 1978 respectively. The second and third applicants have Russian nationality, while the first applicant has no nationality. All three live in Alūksne (Latvia). 17. The first two applicants entered Latvian territory in 1969 and 1968 respectively, when the territory formed part of the Soviet Union. The second applicant, who was a member of the Soviet armed forces at the time, was stationed in Latvia and remained there until he finished serving his time in November 1989. The third applicant and her elder sister, Mrs Tatjana Vizule, were born in Latvian territory. 18. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union and the restoration of Latvian independence in 1991 the applicants, who had previously been Soviet nationals, became stateless. In August 1993 Tatjana married a Latvian national. She is mother to two minor children who have Latvian nationality. A. The first set of proceedings, relating to regularisation of the applicants' stay in Latvia 19. In 1993 the first and second applicants applied to the Latvian Interior Ministry's Nationality and Immigration Department (Iekšlietu ministrijas Pilsonības un imigrācijas departaments – “the Department”) to obtain permanent resident status and to be entered in the register of residents of the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republikas Iedzīvotāju reģistrs). However, on 19 June 1993 the Department issued them only with temporary residence permits. 20. The first and second applicants then lodged an application with the Alūksne District Court of First Instance, requesting it to direct the