Procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship in a simplified procedure

The Russian-speaking diaspora in the world is huge. Many of its representatives decide to return to their historical homeland. Some directions of the migration policy of the Russian state may contribute to this. Such as, for example, the publication of laws that make it easier for people who have significant ties with Russia to obtain citizenship of our country. How are these opportunities used in practice?

Is it easier to obtain citizenship?

In the spring of 2014, the Russian president signed a law, which, as noted by experts and lawyers, greatly facilitates the procedure for obtaining citizenship by certain categories of citizens. Which ones? First of all, Russian -speaking residents of other countries can count on a simplified acquisition of Russian citizenship , provided that their relatives lived in the Russian Empire, in the USSR or in modern Russia.

How is this procedure supposed to be carried out? Let's consider its key aspects.

Features of the new simplified procedure

The approximate period during which all the necessary steps must be implemented, according to the innovations in the law - 3 months. For comparison, if a person wants to become a subject of Russia, but does not speak Russian and has no family ties with our country, he will have to wait for a chance to obtain citizenship of 5 years (if we are talking about the general procedure of the corresponding procedure). You can speed up the process somewhat - as an option, by marrying a Russian citizen. But the timing is obviously incommensurable for "preferential" candidates in Russian citizens and people who can expect to receive the corresponding status on general grounds.

Timing is a clear relaxation, but before you get a Russian passport, a person will have to go through several important stages of communicating with the competent state authorities. In order to obtain Russian citizenship in a simplified procedure, a resident of another state falling under the criteria described above will, in particular, have to undergo an interview procedure. It is assumed that there will be established commissions that take the appropriate language "exam". In their composition, as noted in a number of sources, there will be philologists. There is information that the interview, which is one of the stages of obtaining Russian citizenship in a simplified manner, will be conducted only verbally. Any elements of the "exam" are not supposed to be submitted in writing.

The new law on citizenship: nuances

What is the specificity of the criteria for candidates for the registration of Russian citizenship, which established the law on the acquisition of Russian citizenship? You can, for example, note that the native speakers of the Russian language are the applicants who use it on a regular basis in everyday life, in family life. Actually, the circumstances of human communication in their native dialect and it is necessary to find out the experts at the interview.

Visa - will prolong

The amendments to the new Federal Law on Citizenship of the Russian Federation also include provisions reflecting the facilitated conditions for the entry of candidates for Russian citizenship in our country and finding them here. In particular, this legal act introduced a new type of visa - especially for those foreigners who came to Russia to obtain new citizenship. And if the subjects of other states at the time of signing the law are already in Russia, then they will be extended the term of legal residence in the country. If, of course, they will submit an appropriate application to the FMS of Russia. If not, you can stay in the Russian Federation within the time limits prescribed in the migration documents. At the same time, when registering citizenship in a simplified procedure, it does not matter in which legal status a foreigner falling under the basic "preferential" criteria is in the territory of the Russian Federation. That is, it can be a visa or, for example, a residence permit.

Is it necessary to renounce the previous citizenship?

It is interesting that the simplified form of obtaining Russian citizenship in the framework of the scheme under consideration assumes a mandatory refusal of citizenship from citizenship in relation to other countries by default. However, if you follow the letter of the wording of the law, as lawyers say, this requirement can be circumvented, based on the wording of the "impossibility" of renouncing foreign citizenship for reasons that "do not depend on the person" present in the legal act adopted in the spring.

Some lawyers consider the given formulation in the law not quite corresponding to a number of other legal norms operating in the Russian Federation. The fact is that dual citizenship, as is known, is legally permitted in Russia. That is why the relevant position in the considered Federal Law, experts believe, can be connected with the psychological component of the process of obtaining Russian citizenship. Man, based on the ideas of the legislator, thus, is consciously refusing to communicate with the state where he lived before becoming a citizen of the Russian Federation.

Among other notable requirements of the law - the citizen's livelihood in Russia on the fact of acceptance of citizenship of our state. Different lawyers interpret this requirement in different ways. Some believe that this refers to a bank account that is available for use in the Russian Federation, where there is a significant amount of cash. Others believe that a person, preferably, should have an apartment or a house in which he must live. Another interesting opinion in this respect is that the candidate for citizenship should, if not show financial or immovable assets, then show the FMS what, for example, has a specialty claimed on the labor market of the Russian Federation.

The next noteworthy moment, which some experts say: the law on simplified citizenship acquisition says that a person applying for citizenship must prove a kinship with Russia. But it is not said exactly how. There are no specific criteria for this. Lawyers believe that much will depend on law enforcement practice in this aspect.

Language aspect

Another interesting aspect is the same language exam. The applicant for citizenship is necessary, as we have already noted above, to prove that he uses Russian in everyday life, in the mode of everyday communication. But this, as some lawyers note, is not the only, and, moreover, not the most important criterion. The fact that the degree of proficiency in Russian will, according to experts, be assessed not so much on the level of conversation in the interview, but also relative to the frequency of a person's stay in the Russian-speaking environment - on the territory of the Russian Federation or abroad. And if, in this sense, for example, Ukrainians will simplify the acquisition of Russian citizenship without asking special questions about the linguistic environment - in a neighboring country a significant part of the population speaks Russian, then what about the descendants of emigrants who live in France Quite understandable. At the same time, as some experts believe, it is likely that FMS staff will prefer not to go deep into the analysis of the candidate's citizenship. Seeing that he speaks excellent Russian, it is unlikely that anyone will question the ability of a person to adapt to communication in Russia on the issue of citizenship.

Citizenship for Entrepreneurs

It should be noted that the Federal Law on the Citizenship of the Russian Federation, considered above, is not the only legal act aimed at facilitating the conditions of immigration in the Russian Federation, from those that were adopted in 2014. In particular, in autumn of 2014, another law was passed in Russia - the adoption of Russian citizenship by foreigners who are engaged in business in our country. According to this legal act, subjects of other states that are engaged in business or investment activities in Russia for 3 years or more can count on a simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship.

True, the law includes a number of significant, as some experts believe, sectoral restrictions. In particular, the preferential procedure for registering citizenship will not apply to entrepreneurs engaged in trade, accounting, advertising, car repair, public catering, real estate work, employment and recruitment services, legal advice, and hotel business. In some sources, explanations can be found about the large number of industry exceptions for benefits in obtaining citizenship. For example, there is information reflecting the thesis that Russia does not experience a deficit in entrepreneurs engaged specifically in these areas.

Simplified procedure in standard format

It should be noted that even before the adoption of the corresponding amendments to the Federal Law on Citizenship of the Russian Federation, there was a procedure allowing foreigners to obtain Russian citizenship in a simplified procedure. Let's consider features of the norms existing before innovations (and at the same time, operating till now - for the people not having an opportunity to get the passport of the Russian Federation in a preferential order).

The mechanism in which Russian citizenship was adopted before the recent reforms (and in fact such - for non-Russian citizens and those who do not have ties with the Russian Federation), provides the following criteria.

A candidate for Russian citizenship can be an adult who is an alien or has the status of a person without a passport of any country and belongs to the following categories:

- Persons with incapable parents who are citizens of the Russian Federation;

- persons who possessed the USSR passport and reside in the former Soviet republics without obtaining citizenship.

In the latter case, it is a question, as some lawyers say, as a rule, of individuals who, as a result of the complexities of immigration, remained in principle without any citizenship - the USSR ceased to exist, and a new passport of an independent republic was not obtained.

Simplified receipt of Russian citizenship in the framework of standard procedures that do not provide for the recently introduced benefits, procedures, possibly if the applicant for Russian citizenship is a child from whom one of the parents has a Russian passport, or a person over whom a Russian citizen formalized custody. If the parents are two, then the second, provided that he is not a subject of Russia, must consent to the child to receive a Russian passport.

Simplified receipt of Russian citizenship in the standard procedure is possible for persons who have a passport of the states formerly part of the USSR, with a diploma of the end of a Russian university or an institution of secondary vocational education. The key criterion - training, according to the documents, should be completed no earlier than July 1, 2002.

A simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship is possible for persons who have passports of former Soviet republics or who do not possess citizenship of any other states and are classified as incapacitated. The key criterion - a person must have a registration in Russia, issued before July 1, 2002.

A simplified version of obtaining Russian citizenship is guaranteed by law for foreigners residing in Russia, as well as meeting the following criteria:

- were born in the RSFSR, were citizens of the USSR;

- are married for 3 years or more with a Russian citizen;

- belong to the category of disabled persons and have children who have a Russian passport;

- who have underage children who are citizens of the Russian Federation, recognized by the court as incompetent.

Foreigners and persons who do not possess a passport of any country, subject to the citizenship of the USSR, who have come to the Russian Federation from the former Soviet republics and who have registration in the Russian Federation, issued before July 1, 2002, can also become Russian subjects. Another possible criterion for such persons is the existence of a residence permit in Russia.

A simplified system for obtaining Russian citizenship is guaranteed by the law for veterans of the Second World War living in Russia, who had a USSR passport.

Another possible scenario for the registration of Russian citizenship in a facilitated mode is the participation of a person in the state program to provide assistance in the voluntary resettlement of persons living abroad and members of their families to Russia.

Simplified citizenship: formalities

How is the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship simplified? The scenario that we are now considering, in general, is relevant for cases of requests for citizenship on the grounds that were in the laws before innovations, and for persons falling under the new criteria. That is, from the point of view of the applicant's sequence of actions for citizenship of the Russian Federation in a simplified manner, it does not matter whether he applies using the language reflected in the law version before the reform, or as a person having the appropriate privilege. But we will note the facts of differences.

What is the algorithm for the design of Russian citizenship in the framework of the mechanisms in question? In principle, there is nothing complicated here. A person should apply to the territorial body of the FMS and fill in the application form in the prescribed form. This document sets out the essence of the issues that reveal aspects of the person applying for citizenship. The application must be made in two copies, the language of the compilation must be Russian.

To this document it is necessary to attach other kinds of sources that confirm the right to obtain Russian citizenship in a simplified procedure in accordance with the reasons stated above. It is also necessary to pay the state duty - 2 thousand rubles. Those persons who had a passport of the USSR live in the former Soviet republics, but do not have the citizenship of these countries, there is no need to pay a corresponding fee. It is possible to give out an application and accompanying documents for obtaining Russian citizenship not on the territory of Russia. To do this, the applicant must apply to the nearest consulate of our country in a particular state.

After the documents for obtaining the citizenship of the Russian Federation are received by the employees of the FMS, the applicant receives a certificate stating that all sources have been accepted, as well as an inventory accompanying them. After that, within 6 months - with pre-reform grounds and 3 months - in preferential treatment, the agency will make a decision regarding the issuance of a Russian passport to a person.

Nuances of the interview

In the second case, within 5 days after the submission of documents to the Federal Migration Service, the agency must assign an interview for knowledge of the Russian language. The commission that will take the "exam" will probably include a certified expert in Russian from the nearest educational institution of the required profile. Interview - free. In terms of time it takes about half an hour. As we already noted at the beginning of the article, communication takes place orally.

If the commission decides that a person speaks Russian well, then he is issued a document confirming it.

In the event that a person can not circumvent the requirement to renounce the citizenship of the country where he lived before making a decision to move to Russia, he will also have to take the time to cooperate with the migration agencies of the previous state, as well as inform the Russian FMS about this process.

Information about what the result of the FMS is transmitted to the applicant, usually by mail - but the specific territorial structures of the FMS in different regions can determine their channels of communication with citizens. With a positive decision, a person is invited to obtain a Russian passport.