There are several ways to become a full-fledged citizen of Russia. The simplest and most effective of them is the restoration of citizenship of the Russian Federation. Only those persons who were previously its owners, but for one reason or another were deprived of it, are entitled to restore citizenship. How to restore lost Russian citizenship on your own? What should a potential applicant know?
How can I lose my citizenship?
Different circumstances may cause the loss of Russian citizenship. It is important to note here that the refusal of citizenship can be documented only by the personal will of the citizen. Change of citizenship of a child can be made by his consent only from the age of 14. Up to this age, parents determine his citizenship.
Often, Russians refuse citizenship because they decided to move to permanent residence in another state. The authorities of far from every country agree that their potential citizens keep in touch with their homeland. For the most part, the renunciation of previous citizenship is an integral procedure when registering a new one.
In addition, a situation is possible when the state has split into several or some part of its territory has become owned by another country. A vivid example here is the collapse of the USSR. For many of its former citizens, the issue of choosing citizenship has become urgent.
Quite often, parents go abroad with their children and apply for a new citizenship for themselves and them. Therefore, children under the age of 14 may be deprived of Russian citizenship.
What does the law on the restoration of citizenship of the Russian Federation say?
It is possible to restore the previous citizenship of Russia. This is stated in article 15 of federal law under number 62.
The article says that foreigners and stateless persons can again receive Russian citizenship subject to the following conditions:
- Stay in the Russian Federation for at least 3 years with a residence permit.
- Compliance with the laws of the country.
- Legal employment.
- Proficiency in the state language of the Russian Federation.
- Registration of refusal of citizenship of another country.
In addition, the restoration of citizenship of the Russian Federation is available to the following categories of applicants:
- foreigners with high achievements in culture, art, technology, science and refugees (including political), provided that they have been resident for at least a year,
- persons with special merits to the Russian Federation,
- subjects of the former Soviet republics who served at least 3 years in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Procedure
The procedure for restoring Russian citizenship consists of the following steps:
- Preparation and collection of all required documentation.
- Submission of documents to the migration service.
- A repeated visit to the FMS for the announcement of the decision made by the service.
- Registration of a Russian general passport.
It is important to note that applying for restoration of citizenship is possible only if you have resident status (i.e. residence permit) and stay in Russia. Documents are submitted at least six months and a maximum of 3 months before the expiration of the validity period of the residence permit.
Required documents
Here are some papers you need to prepare to restore citizenship of the Russian Federation:
- Application signed and completed (3 copies required).
- The document confirming the fact of legal stay in Russia is a residence permit.
- Identity card of the applicant (passport or other equivalent document).
- Confirmation of marital status (marriage certificate) and child birth certificates.
- Certificate of employment indicating salary or bank statement.
- 4 passport size photographs.
- Certificate of exams in Russian language, history and legislation of Russia.
- An official paper from a consulate of a foreign state on withdrawal from previous citizenship.
- Banking sector on payment of duties.
The application will be considered by the migration service from 3 months to 1 year.
The restoration of citizenship of the Russian Federation in a simplified manner
The second part of Article 15 states that the following categories of foreigners have the right to renew citizenship under the simplified procedure:
- Persons who have at least one parent with Russian citizenship, living permanently in the Russian Federation.
- Former Soviet citizens who live in a country that was part of the USSR, but never formalized its citizenship.
- Born in the RSFSR.
- Spouses of Russians, if the marriage exists for at least 3 years.
- Parents of Russian citizens living permanently within it.
- Foreigners who graduated from a Russian university and have worked in their specialization for 3 years.
- IE and investors.
- Persons working for 3 years in the specialties approved by the order of the Ministry of Labor 446.
- Arriving from the former Soviet republics and registered at the place of residence in the Russian Federation until 2002.
- WWII veterans.
The essence of the simplified procedure is that the applicant is exempted from the need to comply with the condition on the period of compulsory residence in the Russian Federation.
What to do if citizenship of another state is denied?
Quite often, the loss of Russian citizenship occurs due to the fact that the person has launched the procedure for obtaining citizenship of another country. Therefore, it may be necessary to restore citizenship of the Russian Federation. This procedure is almost no different from the above scheme. The only prerequisite for recovery is a 3-year period of stay in Russia for RWP.
The following criteria must also be met:
- Applicant's age of majority.
- Lack of indications for disability.
- The presence in the past of a Russian passport.
- Registration of renunciation of citizenship of the Russian Federation in accordance with all the rules.
If the applicant has filed a request to withdraw from the citizenship of the Russian Federation, but a positive response has not been received, he is still considered a Russian. In such circumstances, it is necessary to apply for identification of citizenship. Only after passing this check a new passport will be issued.
Foreigners who in the past had Russian citizenship can start the procedure for restoring Russian citizenship. The process itself is simple, but requires careful preparation of documents. All the subtleties of restoring citizenship can be found directly at the migration service.