News

21 May 2020

United States

Changes to Citizenship Procedures

On 24 April 2020, President Putin signed a Federal Law amending the country’s procedures related to Russian citizenship. Most notably, it is no longer required for foreign nationals to renounce their foreign citizenship when applying for a Russian passport and holding dual citizenship is therefore now permitted.

Foreign citizens holding permanent residence permits in Russia will now be able to apply for Russian citizenship immediately after receiving their permanent residence permits, provided that 1) have been married to a Russian citizen for more than 3 years (and their Russian spouse residing permanently in Russia); 2) are students who graduate from Russian universities after 1 July 2020 and who received diplomas for completing government-approved programs of professional education and who performed work activities in Russia for not less than 1 year (in total) before submitting their citizenship application; or 3) are citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine. These changes will be effective as of 24 July 2020.

A separate federal passed on 18 March 2020 shortens the processing times for the review of citizenship applications from 6 months to 3 months. These shortened processing times will apply as of 17 June 2020.

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