The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia published official clarifications on the process of obtaining citizenship by residents of the new Russian regions

In continuation of our news about the description by a number of regional departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia of their vision of the situation with the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for residents of the new Russian regions, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia published official clarifications on the process of obtaining citizenship by residents of the regions that became apart of Russia on September 30, 2022.

However, we again draw your attention to the fact that the act (decree) of the President, which, according to the federal constitutional laws that came into force on September 30, 2022 on the entry of these regions into the Russian Federation, should regulate such a procedure, has not yet been published.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in a publication posted on the website of the department reports that:

• All residents of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions can apply to any territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia on the territory of Russia, depending on their actual location, with an application for a passport of a Russian citizen.

• Immediately before the issuance of a passport, the Oath of a Russian citizen is taken. This obligation has been provided for by Russian law since 2017 and consists in pronouncing the following text of the Oath in the presence of an authorized employee:

"I, (last name, first name, patronymic), voluntarily and knowingly accepting the citizenship of Russia, swear:

- comply with the Constitution and legislation of Russia, the rights and freedoms of its citizens;

- perform the duties of a Russian citizen for the benefit of the state and society;

- to defend the freedom and independence of Russia;

- be loyal to Russia, respect its culture, history and traditions."

• Children under the age of 14 are exempted from taking the Oath, as well as persons who cannot take the Oath due to their health, and those who are incapacitated.

• There is no state duty for issuing a Russian citizen's passport.

• If a citizen wishes to record the fact of renunciation of the existing citizenship of Ukraine, employees of the internal affairs bodies of Russia are obliged to accept a corresponding written application from him. The issued certificate will be a confirmation of the lack of citizenship of Ukraine, which may be needed to enter the civil service of Russia, as well as in other cases provided for by law.

• If residents of the new regions have previously submitted applications for acquiring Russian citizenship, there is no need to wait for a decision on them or write separate applications for issuing a passport. To obtain a passport, you can immediately apply to the unit to which such an application was submitted, or to any unit at your location.

• The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia continues to accept certain categories of persons for Russian citizenship on humanitarian grounds. Since the issuance of the relevant decrees of the President of Russia (Nos. 183, 187) in 2019 to the present, over one million people have acquired Russian citizenship on the above grounds.

• The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia draws attention to the fact that the information disseminated in the information space about forcing residents of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to renounce Ukrainian citizenship, obtain a passport of a citizen of Russia, require mandatory signing of any documents on entering military service, seizure or destruction of old identity documents during the application process and before handing over the passport of a Russian citizen.

For more information, please contact the consultants of the Confidence Group company.

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