Russian citizenship law

On Citizenship of the Russian Federation
О гражданстве Российской Федерации
Federal Assembly
CitationN 62-ФЗ
Enacted byFederal Assembly
Signed byPresident of Russia
Signed31 May 2002
Commenced1 July 2002
Status: Amended

Russian citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Russia. The primary law governing citizenship requirements is the federal law "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation" (Russian: О гражданстве Российской Федерации, O grazhdanstve Rossiyskoy Federacii), which came into force on 1 July 2002.

Any person born in Russia to at least one Russian parent, or born overseas to two Russian parents receives Russian citizenship at birth.[1] Foreign nationals may become citizens by admission after meeting a minimum residence requirement (usually five years), proving a legal source of income, and demonstrating proficiency in the Russian language.

Russia was previously a part of the Soviet Union and its residents were Soviet citizens. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, all post-Soviet states established separate citizenship laws. Although citizens of the former Union Republics are no longer Soviet, they continue to be eligible for a facilitated acquisition of Russian citizenship in which they can be exempted from some requirements for admission as Russian citizens.

The completely new citizenship law of 28 April 2023 138-FZ entered into force on 26 October 2023, and at that moment the old law 62-FZ, which had been in force for more than 20 years, ceased to be in force.[2][3]

  1. ^ "Russian Federation Federal Law on Citizenship of the Russian Federation" (PDF). globalcit.eu. 2003. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  2. ^ https://мвд.рф/mvd/structure1/Glavnie_upravlenija/guvm/news/item/42978546/
  3. ^ https://www.advgazeta.ru/ag-expert/advices/novyy-zakon-o-grazhdanstve-chto-vazhno-znat/