The list of grounds for simplified obtaining of Russian citizenship has been expanded

On April 17, 2020, the Parliament has adopted a draft law providing for provisions simplifying the obtaining of Russian citizenship by foreign citizens and stateless persons.

According to the provisions of draft law, additional grounds for obtaining Russian citizenship in a simplified manner for the following persons have been approved:

1. Capable stateless persons of the legal age, if they previously had citizenship of the USSR, lived and still live in the states which were part of the USSR, and did not obtain citizenship of these states;

2. Foreign citizens and stateless persons permanently residing in the territory of the Russian Federation, if these citizens and persons:

• have been married for at least three years with a Russian citizen residing in the territory of Russia;

• received professional education in accredited educational institutions on the territory of the Russian Federation after July 1, 2002 and have been working in Russia for at least one year, given the payment of insurance contributions to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation;

• have at least one parent who has citizenship of the Russian Federation and resides in its territory;

• are citizens of the Republic of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova or Ukraine;

3. Foreign citizens and stateless persons permanently residing in the territory of the Russian Federation, recognized as native speakers of Russian;

4. Foreign citizens and stateless persons temporarily or permanently residing in the territory of the Russian Federation if the specified person is married to a Russian citizen residing in Russia and has common children in this marriage.

Also, one of the innovations is that the applicant for Russian citizenship will not need to file an application for renouncing his current citizenship.

There is no need to confirm the existence of a legitimate source of livelihood. These rules apply to stateless adults who had USSR citizenship, who lived and live in the countries of the former Soviet Union, but who did not obtain the citizenship of these states.

Thus, the provisions adopted by the Parliament will allow more people to obtain Russian citizenship.