If a decision is made to grant Russian citizenship to a foreign national, they must be notified within ten days of the location for taking the oath of allegiance. The pledge itself must be read aloud, and the form must be signed in front of the flag of our country. This is outlined in a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on 22 November. “Parliamentskaya Gazeta” has learned who is eligible to become a Russian citizen and what is required for it.
Simplified Procedure — For Whom?
The new regulations on the procedure for considering issues of Russian citizenship and taking the citizen’s oath needed approval following the adoption of a new citizenship law this spring. According to it, foreigners who have served under contract in the Russian Army for at least one year can apply for Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure—the requirement for permanent residence in the country is waived for them.
The law simplified the process of obtaining a Russian passport for more than 20 categories of applicants. This includes participants of the state programme to assist the voluntary resettlement of compatriots to Russia, citizens of the former USSR and their children, as well as foreigners whose close relatives live in the country and are already Russian citizens.
People who have relatives in the direct ascending line who permanently resided on territory that belonged to the Russian Empire or the USSR, within its borders, will also be able to obtain a Russian passport in a simplified manner, meaning without undergoing the procedure of being recognised as native Russian speakers.
Who Wants to Come to Russia
There are many compatriots whose families, or they themselves, previously left or were taken out of our country for various reasons, Viktor Vodolatsky, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots, told “Parliamentskaya Gazeta”. “More than once, they have sent appeals to the head of our state and personally asked him during the World Congress of Compatriots to simplify the rules for obtaining Russian citizenship for them”, the deputy noted. “There are enough compatriots who would like to move to our country not only in the former USSR but also in other countries, including Europe. There are so-called Russian Germans who want to live here; there are hundreds of them”.
The state programme to assist the voluntary resettlement of compatriots to Russia has been operating for a long time and is popular, Viktor Vodolatsky assured. However, people are not ready to be accepted everywhere, but only in regions that allocate funds for these purposes. “Often, compatriots want to return to the place their ancestors were from, but the programme is not active in that region”, the deputy explained. “We are working on solving this issue”.
I Request to be recognised as a citizen
In 2023, a decision was made to grant Russian citizenship to 691,000 people, of whom almost 65,000 were participants in the compatriot return programme. The year before, 735,000 new Russians were registered, according to statistics on the Ministry of Internal Affairs website.
Under the general procedure, the decision to grant Russian citizenship is made by the president; under the simplified procedure, it is made by the heads of territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. By his recent decree, the head of state approved the application forms for acquiring citizenship; they are quite extensive: the applicant’s new homeland wants to know in detail about their life before deciding to become Russian, as well as who their relatives are. A separate application form is also provided for those wishing to renounce Russian citizenship; the first item in this document is the motives for the decision, which must be described in free form.
Once a decision has been made to accept a person into Russian citizenship, they must be notified of the place and time for taking the oath—this is a mandatory ritual. The oath can be taken on the premises of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in local government buildings, and even at historical sites, according to the presidential decree.
“I (surname, first name, patronymic), voluntarily and consciously accepting citizenship of the Russian Federation, swear…” — this is how the oath begins. The person promises to comply with the country’s laws, protect its independence, and respect its culture, history, and traditions.
The oath is taken in front of the Russian tricolour flag; the person must read its text aloud and put their signature on the form. This document is to be stored for 85 years.