Creating a single mechanism for regulating the receipt of documents for Russian citizenship would simplify the procedure for obtaining the Russian Federation citizenship for all interested parties, an analyst of the news agency Vestnik Kavkaza, Nikita Vlasov, told in the National Question program on Vesti FM.
The National Question is a weekly program on Vesti.FM, during which various aspects of national relations, primarily in Russia, are discussed. The peculiarities of the perception of the dual citizenship institution in the post-Soviet countries were discussed in today’s program.
Nikita Vlasov noted that the greatest changes in legislation regarding the acquisition of the Russian Federation citizenship could be observed in recent years. "In the fall, President Vladimir Putin adopted a new concept of migration policy until 2025. It specifies the rules for entering and obtaining the right to reside, work, and acquire Russian citizenship, and simplified the rules for obtaining Russian citizenship for various groups, including Russian speaking people, investors, teachers, doctors and others ", the expert said.
Nikita Vlasov stressed that obtaining of the Russian Federation citizenship for citizens of Ukraine was significantly simplified. “Now, it’s enough for them to provide only a notarized document confirming the renunciation of Ukrainian citizenship. In addition, starting this year, graduates of Russian universities who graduated after 2002 can also receive the Russian Federation citizenship without any complicated procedures,” he said.
“All this creates a favorable background not only for the revitalization of work with compatriots but also for improving relations with foreign countries because at the moment foreigners’ documents are considered for no longer than six months. The citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have even more advantages in this regard since the consideration of their documents takes only three months, ”the analyst of Vestnik Kavkaza specified.
The expert added that the authorities of these countries, especially the states of Central Asia, perceive the issue of dual citizenship differently. "For example, the Tajik authorities signed an agreement on the recognition of dual civil status with Russia, thanks to which Tajiks and Russians can have dual citizenship on a completely legal basis, and thanks to the signed agreement, absolutely anyone can become a dual national,” he said.
"A slightly different situation can be observed in Kazakhstan, where the authorities are trying to closely monitor whether a citizen has a second passport. The economic factor played the greatest role in this issue. In fact, the main reason for taking such a step is the risk of financial losses. The situation, when a person lives in another state, has another citizenship, but receive pensions or any other social benefits within his first country, must be dealt," the analyst said.
"Although, of course, I would like to note that it is the Russian population living in the north of the country who mainly come from Kazakhstan to Russia in order to obtain citizenship, and they receive it in the framework of the State program to facilitate voluntary resettlement of compatriots to the Russian Federation," expert noted.
"In general, I think that if it is possible to establish a single mechanism for regulating the process of obtaining the necessary documents, it will really help to reduce the level of dissatisfaction and simplify the procedure for obtaining citizenship for all those interested in this. The changes that we saw during the last year already demonstrate positive results ", Nikita Vlasov concluded.
