A notification of dual citizenship is filed within 60 days from the date of obtaining the status of permanently residing abroad (resident) or within 30 days from the date of entry into the Russian Federation. The form and sample notice are posted below. The procedure is mandatory. Avoiding it is punishable by a fine.
What is dual citizenship
The presence of several passports of different states of the Russian does not make him the holder of dual citizenship.
The indicated status arises when an official international treaty is signed between the two states. It indicates the conditions for acquiring status, the rights and obligations of citizens with dual status, the rights and obligations of states and other legislative aspects.
The advantage of an international treaty is that it establishes rules to balance the rights and obligations of all members of the procedure. If there is a contract, it becomes clear:
- how a citizen will perform military service: in one country or both in turn;
- where and how will pay taxes;
- which country will receive a pension and so on.
How is dual citizenship different from two?
If there is no international treaty of the same name between the states, persons who simultaneously hold passports of the two countries are not holders of dual status, but two citizenships. This means that, by law, a person has the right to obtain a second citizenship, the law does not prohibit this, but recognizes the possession of only one “own” citizenship.
For example, a Russian who became a resident of another state in Russia is recognized only as the holder of Russian citizenship. Therefore, in the Russian Federation it is obliged to use only Russian documents and act only in accordance with Russian legislation, despite the fact that it has obligations to another state.
In Ukraine, it is also not forbidden to have a second citizenship, but in the country, a Ukrainian is recognized only as a citizen of Ukraine.
International treaties of Russia on dual citizenship
Legislatively dual citizenship with Russia is valid only with Tajikistan. Until 2015, dual status could be obtained for citizens of Turkmenistan.
Accordingly, only Tajik citizens are entitled to apply for Russian citizenship without giving up their previous status.
Bipatrides from Turkmenistan do not lose their status after 2015. However, after this date, as mentioned earlier, it is impossible to obtain Russian citizenship without abandoning the previous status.
Why report a second citizenship?
In order not to violate the laws of the Russian Federation, Russians are required to submit a notice of dual citizenship or foreign resident status to the executive authorities of Russia.
The notification procedure is established by Federal Law No. 142 “On Amendments ...” dated 06/04/2014.
In accordance with article 62 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Russians are not prohibited from becoming citizens of other states. This means that filing a notice of dual citizenship of a Russian does not compromise him or substitute him. A Russian who reports on his status as a permanent resident abroad does not surrender, but only acts in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
When is the notice given?
In accordance with the Federal Law No. 142 of 06/04/2014, the presence of foreign citizenship is reported in the following cases:
- The Russian received foreign citizenship.
- A Russian has become a permanent resident of a country abroad.The status is obtained due to the issuance of a permanent residence permit or other documents established by the legislation of a foreign state. What kind of documents are suitable, Federal Law No. 142 well establishes, since it is assumed that in each country there can be different statuses and documents (for example, in America it can be a green card or a certain type of visa).
- Upon obtaining Russian citizenship, if the applicant did not wait for a full exit from the previous status. For example, in Ukraine, renunciation of citizenship is recognized if the Presidential Decree on the termination of the applicant’s citizenship is published. The moment when the Ukrainian signed and sent the refusal of the previous status to the authorized bodies of Ukraine does not correspond to the moment of changing the status of his citizenship.
- If a minor Russian has received the foreign status of a resident or citizen.
- If a legally incompetent Russian has acquired foreign citizenship or received resident status.
Permissible notice period
As mentioned earlier, a Russian has the right to file a dual citizenship notice within 60 days after receiving a new status if he lives in the Russian Federation, or within 30 days after arriving in the country.
It does not matter how long the Russian has been absent from the country before arriving. Perhaps he lived abroad for another 10 years from the date when he issued foreign citizenship. It does not matter how long the Russian will stay in the country: even if he arrived for 1 day, a notification of dual citizenship must be submitted.
Is it possible not to report the second status?
Notifications are not given only to those who do not plan to visit their homeland. The legislation does not require sending a notification of dual citizenship from a foreign country immediately after applying for a new status or issuing a passport to a Russian citizen. The new status will have to be reported only after arrival in the Russian Federation.
Residents of Crimea who received Russian passports after 03/01/2016, and at the time of the accession of the peninsula to the Russian Federation were Ukrainian citizens, they do not give notice of dual citizenship.
Persons who became citizens of Russia as a result of the accession of Crimea to the Russian Federation do not report a new status, because, according to the employees of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they acquired Russian citizenship as Ukrainian citizens, and not vice versa, as if the Russian received a Ukrainian passport.
However, residents of other Ukrainian cities after receiving a residence permit or citizenship in Russia must submit the same notice.
Until 2015, people who did not require a visa to visit Russia did not report a residence permit. Accordingly, they received status in a state whose citizens traveled to the Russian Federation without a visa. After 2015, the general requirements for filing a notice were renewed with respect to them.
How to file a notice?
The procedure is as follows:
- download dual citizenship notification form;
- fill it in by hand or on a computer; print it;
- take photocopies from a Russian and foreign passport (residence permit);
- get acquainted with the operating mode of the OMVD OMV at the place of residence in the Russian Federation;
- contact the office or post office of Russia;
- submit documents;
- prepare payment for sending documents by notification of dual citizenship at the post office of Russia;
- receive a tear-off form;
- check the signature and seal on it of an inspector or employee of the Russian Post.
The process of submitting documents takes no more than 15 minutes, not counting the possible queue in the desired office.
A more voluminous package of documents is submitted to the child: in addition to copies of the passport or residence permit, you will need a copy of the birth certificate, copies of documents of parents or legal representatives. The list of additional documents for a child is available in Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 444 of 04/13/2011.
Can I apply through the Embassy of Russia?
The notification is submitted in person or by legal representative if he has a notarized power of attorney. The Embassy of the Russian Federation or its Consular Section are not authorized to accept notifications and forward them to the OMVD of Russia.
It is also impossible to send notices by mail, since this form of filing is not established by law, and an employee of a foreign post office is not entitled to certify the filing and return to the Russian a tear-off form for filing a notice.
What does the notification form look like
A dual citizenship notification form is published below. You can download a convenient form to fill out on the official website of the Russian Post. Forms are also available in the department of internal affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; upon contact, an employee will issue a clean copy.
The current form is established by Order of the FMS of the Russian Federation No. 450 of 07/28/2014. You can familiarize yourself with the form in Appendix No. 1 to the same Order. The notice form for minors is located in Appendix No. 2.
Before filling out, it is recommended to take a photocopy from the form for refilling if necessary.
What to write in the notification?
Filling out a dual citizenship notice is permissible by hand or on a computer on both sides of the form.
When self-executing a notification on a computer, it is important to smoothly print the finished document so that the tear-off form coincides on both sides.
The following information shall be indicated on the dual citizenship notification form:
- Name of the applicant (if the parent does not submit a notice for himself, the data of the child is required);
- Date and place of birth;
- place of residence in the Russian Federation or abroad;
- Russian passport details;
- data of a foreign passport or residence permit;
- the grounds on which the applicant relied for obtaining foreign status: employment, family reunification, marriage, education, business, investment and others;
- data on the extension of a residence permit abroad (if the applicant extended the residence permit);
- information about the document of renunciation of the existing foreign status (upon obtaining Russian citizenship, the applicants file a renunciation of the existing citizenship);
- the personal data of the inspector who receives the notices shall be indicated personally by the inspector;
- the name of the territorial authority is known in advance or left to the inspector for completion.
Example of completed notification
If you encounter difficulties in filling out the document, you can use the sample notification of dual citizenship. One copy is published below, other examples can be found on the Web. In the department of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, samples of completed notifications are also placed on the stand.
The sample of filling out a dual citizenship notice is for reference only, information from it is not rewritten. For OMVD OMVD, truthful information is important, which will allow, if necessary, to find a Russian citizen abroad.
Where to go?
The notification of dual citizenship in Russia is submitted to the OMVD OMV at the place of residence or sent together with documents through the Russian Post.
Foreign citizenship is not reported online, through the State Services portal, the International Financial Center or by mail from a foreign country. You can file a notification through legal representatives if they have a notarized power of attorney.
Fines
The applicant is supposed to pay a fine in the amount of 500 to 1000 rubles in the following cases:
- an error was detected in the submitted notification (actual, not grammatical);
- the applicant provides false information or submits copies of invalid documents;
- The Russian has violated the deadlines for submitting a notice;
- the notification contains incomplete data on acquired citizenship.
In accordance with Art. 330 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the applicant is assigned one of the following forms of punishment for evading the notification:
- a fine of 200,000 rubles;
- a fine of one annual income in the Russian Federation;
- working out 400 hours of forced labor.
How to understand what punishment a Russian is entitled to
If the employees of the OMVD OMVD learned that a Russian has a second status abroad before the applicant has time to submit a notification, a more severe punishment from those listed above is imposed. If a Russian manages to file a notice before the fact of evasion has been determined, a fine is usually imposed in the minimum amount.
They learn about migration irregularities when a Russian commits an offense in other areas of activity and collects detailed additional information about his personality and checks all kinds of violations.
After the adoption of Federal Law No. 142 in 2014, employees of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that they would not intentionally track the violators in order to impose fines or other penalties.