This Decree approves:
• Regulations on the procedure for considering issues of Russian citizenship
• Regulations on the procedure for taking the Oath of a citizen of Russia
• Sample Oath form
• The procedure for submitting, processing and considering applications on issues of Russian citizenship
• List of required documents submitted along with the application in each case
• Application forms for Russian citizenship
• Forms of notifications about the acquisition or loss by a citizen of the Russian Federation of citizenship of a foreign state or a residence permit abroad
• Forms of the certificate of acquisition of Russian citizenship by birth
• Forms of certificate of termination of Russian citizenship
• Procedure for making and executing decisions on admission to Russian citizenship
Among the key differences from the previous Order, developed in development of the old law on citizenship of 2002 and in force before the entry into force of this Decree, the following can be noted.
1) The list of documents confirming knowledge of the Russian language has been expanded; in particular, such documents can now also be:
- a document on education and (or) qualifications issued on the territory of a foreign state by an educational organization of higher education, which was under the joint jurisdiction of Russia and a foreign state in accordance with an international treaty of Russia and in which training was carried out in Russian;
- a decision to recognize a compatriot as fluent in Russian, made by the commission of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia or its territorial body for recognizing compatriots as fluent in Russian;
- the requirements for the certificate of passing state testing in Russian as a foreign language added that its level must be necessary to obtain Russian citizenship (previously it was “in an amount not lower than the basic level of proficiency in Russian as a foreign language”). At the same time, in the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia dated April 1, 2014 N 255, which has not yet been officially canceled, there is no such level, and the Order itself is based on the old, no longer in force Regulation on the consideration of issues of citizenship , that is, we need to expect the publication of a new order of the Ministry of Education and Science defining the levels of proficiency in the Russian language.
The remaining documents confirming knowledge of the Russian language remained in the new Regulations; as before, knowledge of the Russian language for the purposes of obtaining citizenship can be confirmed by a certificate sufficient to obtain a residence permit.
2) In addition to one of the documents confirming knowledge of the Russian language, you now need to present a certificate confirming knowledge of the history of Russia and the fundamentals of Russian legislation at the level necessary for the purposes of acquiring Russian citizenship
3) Persons over 70 years of age, regardless of gender, are now exempt from the obligation to confirm knowledge of the Russian language, the history of Russia and the fundamentals of Russian legislation (previously men over 65 years of age and women over 60 years of age were exempted), as well as disabled people of group I and incapacitated persons
4) Documents confirming income level are excluded from the list of documents presented along with the application for citizenship in accordance with the general procedure.
5) The process of renouncing Russian citizenship is being simplified for those living outside Russia - now there is no need to provide a document confirming deregistration at the place of residence in Russia, and now it is necessary to provide a document confirming the legal grounds for being in the territory of a foreign state, and not a permit to reside there , like before
6) The requirement to provide the consent of the second foreign parent to admit Russian citizenship to a child born in marriage to a Russian citizen, regardless of whether the child is in Russia or abroad
7) The list of documents confirming the residence of the applicant on the territory of the RSFSR has been expanded, if such a citizen had former citizenship of the USSR, for the purpose of recognition as a citizen of Russia, as well as relatives in a direct ascending line born or permanently residing on the territory of the RSFSR or territory belonging to the Russian Empire or the USSR, within the state border of Russia. Such documents according to the Decree are:
- Residence permit with a mark of registration at the place of residence on the territory of the RSFSR
- extract from the house register
- a copy of the apartment card
- a document containing information about military registration
- military ID and other document containing reliable information confirming this fact
In the absence of these documents, the applicant may submit:
- archival references
- extracts from archival documents
- copies of documents from the Archive Fund of Russia and (or) other archival documents issued on the territory of the Russian Federation or the RSFSR
- court decision establishing the fact of residence of the applicant on the territory of the RSFSR
8) In the absence of registration at the place of residence or place of stay, an application for citizenship can now be submitted at the place of actual residence
9) In addition to the departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, you can now also submit an application to the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "PVS" (in the regions) and MMC (in Moscow)
The Decree establishes that persons in respect of whom a decision has been made to grant citizenship under the old law (62-FZ) and who have not taken the oath before November 22, 2023, must do so within one year after the Decree enters into force, that is, before November 22. 2024. Otherwise, these persons will be considered not to have acquired Russian citizenship, and decisions to grant them citizenship will be invalid.
For more information, please contact the consultants of the Confidence Group company.
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