How to obtain Russian citizenship in a simplified manner and for whom this opportunity exists, we will consider in this material.

Obtaining Russian citizenship in a simplified form

Both citizens of foreign countries and stateless persons can obtain citizenship of our country. To do this, they contact the territorial offices of the Federal Migration Service, or FMS. Available option for simplified acquisition of Russian citizenship for the following categories of persons:

1. Regardless of the period of residence on the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as regardless of other living conditions, from the beginning of obtaining a residence permit until the day of application for citizenship:

  • Persons whose at least one parent currently lives in Russia and has Russian citizenship;
  • Persons who were previously citizens of the USSR, and currently live in the territory of one of the former union republics of the former USSR and have not received citizenship of this country.

2. Also, regardless of the five-year period of stay on the territory of the Russian Federation from the date of receipt of a residence permit, they have the right to obtain citizenship in a simplified manner:

  • Persons who have a husband or wife who is a citizen of the Russian Federation, provided that more than 3 years have passed since the date of marriage;
  • Persons who were born on the territory of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and who had USSR citizenship;
  • If a person has children with Russian citizenship and disabilities, with limited legal capacity or recognized by a court decision as incompetent. In this case, the second parent either disappeared, or was declared absent, or died;
  • If a person has children - citizens of the Russian Federation, and the second parent with Russian citizenship either died, or went missing, or is absent, or by a court decision he does not have parental rights;
  • If a person has able-bodied children with Russian citizenship and over 18 years of age, if the person is disabled;
  • If the person worked in the Russian Federation for at least three years before applying for citizenship and received the appropriate education after June 1, 2002;
  • Also, persons conducting business activities in the territory of our country according to the types of economic activity established by the Government of the Russian Federation for a period of at least 3 years and at the same time their profit amounted to at least 10 million rubles for this period;
  • Persons who invest in the economy of the Russian Federation according to the types of economic activity established by the Government of the Russian Federation with the size of the enterprise's net assets of at least 100,000,000 rubles, shares in the enterprise of 10% or more, or have transferred at least 6,000,000 rubles in taxes;
  • Also highly qualified specialists who have been engaged in their professional activities in the Russian Federation for at least 3 years.

How to obtain citizenship for native Russian speakers

Accelerated acquisition of citizenship is also available to persons who can prove that they are native speakers of the Russian language. This opportunity appeared in the Law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” in June 2014.

An assessment of the level of language proficiency sufficient for the possibility of obtaining Russian citizenship will be carried out by a special commission at the local branch of the FMS.

A necessary condition for classifying a foreign citizen or stateless person into this category is, in addition to using the Russian language in everyday speech, also living now or living previously of these persons, or their relatives, on the territory of the Russian Federation, the RSFSR, the USSR or the Russian Empire.

In order to obtain citizenship in this case, the level of language proficiency must be at least 4. This is the highest level of language proficiency.

It should be clarified that the deadline for filing an application for citizenship must be no later than the last 3 months of the allotted period of residence in the Russian Federation (residence permit) or no later than 15 days before the end of residence in Russia.

If the level of language proficiency is insufficient, the person can try to apply for citizenship a second time, but not earlier than a year has passed from the date of receipt of the refusal. The document confirming the right of a person to obtain citizenship as a native speaker of the Russian language is also valid for one year.

As a conclusion, we note the following. For foreign citizens who have applied for citizenship of the Russian Federation as native speakers, simplified acquisition of citizenship is available if they:

  • Take upon themselves the obligation to comply with the Constitution of the Russian Federation - the fundamental law of the citizen of the Russian Federation;
  • Have a legal source of livelihood;
  • We have formalized a renunciation of the citizenship of another state. There are, however, exceptions to this situation. Firstly, an application for renunciation of citizenship is not required if the citizen is a citizen of a state with which the Russian Federation has an international treaty or if it is impossible to renounce citizenship for reasons that do not depend on the will of the person submitting the application.

Other categories of persons entitled to simplified acquisition of Russian citizenship

Who else is entitled to benefits when applying for Russian citizenship:

  1. Veterans of the Great Patriotic War living on the territory of the Russian Federation and having USSR citizenship;
  2. Disabled foreign citizens who registered in the Russian Federation at their place of residence before June 1, 2002 and who moved to the Russian Federation from countries that were formerly part of the USSR. For such persons, there is no mandatory period of residence in the Russian Federation of 5 years for others;
  3. For foreign citizens and members of their families who are registered at their place of residence in the Russian Federation and are participating in the program to assist in the voluntary resettlement of compatriots to the territory of the Russian Federation.

There is a separate point of simplified acquisition of citizenship for incapacitated persons with foreign citizenship or without citizenship at all, as well as children. These persons are listed below:

  • Children with a single parent who has Russian citizenship;
  • Children with two parents, one of whom has Russian citizenship and applies for citizenship to their children, and the second parent does not raise objections to this;
  • According to the head of the Russian organization of orphans for children placed under the supervision of this organization;
  • At the request of an incapacitated citizen over whom guardianship is exercised;
  • At the request of the head of a medical or specialized organization in relation to disabled persons placed in this organization.

Obtaining Russian citizenship using a simplified scheme

To expedite the acquisition of Russian citizenship, the person submitting the application must provide the following documents to the FMS:

  1. Your own or another document proving your identity;
  2. A document that clearly shows that the person in the past had Russian citizenship;
  3. Document confirming the availability of sources of livelihood;
  4. A document on family relations and a passport of this close relative with Russian citizenship;
  5. Resident card;
  6. Certificate or diploma of education;
  7. Certificate of marriage with a citizen of the Russian Federation;
  8. Document showing proficiency in Russian;
  9. A document confirming renunciation of citizenship of another state in cases where it is necessary.

The procedure for submitting documents is determined by the type of reason for accelerated acquisition of citizenship.

When you come to the Federal Migration Service to submit an application, you must bring with you all the necessary documents and provide them to a specialist for review. If the FMS specialist has no questions, he will give you 2 copies of the application and a receipt for payment of the fee.

After you have paid the state fee, made copies of all documents and filled out an application, you come to the FMS again and give the application and copies of documents to the FMS official. After reviewing the documents, one of two possible decisions is made:

  • The decision on the readiness of your documents for further consideration or
  • Decision on the unavailability of submitted documents

If the documents are in order, a personal file and registration card will be opened for you. Further consideration of your documents and a decision to grant you Russian citizenship in an expedited manner can take up to 6 months. The usual review process lasts up to 1 year.

For citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the review period is reduced to 3 months.

The amount of state duty established by law for simplified acquisition of Russian citizenship is 2000 rubles.

But you will not have to pay this fee if you either had USSR citizenship or live on the territory of the former Soviet republics without citizenship.

Additional questions about obtaining citizenship

In our country, there is an obvious desire to simplify the process of obtaining citizenship and to expand the circle of people allowed to obtain citizenship in a simplified manner.

Since 2014, for example, native Russian speakers and investors have been added to this circle, the state duty for former citizens of the USSR has been abolished, and for citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan the processing time for applications has been reduced to 3 months.

However, a mandatory rule has been introduced for persons with dual citizenship to register with the Federal Migration Service.

It is clear that our state, having undergone fundamental transformations in the size of its own borders and having acquired new neighbors with whom it is necessary to formalize interstate relations, requires complex legislation to simplify the procedures for obtaining citizenship. In many ways, when obtaining citizenship you cannot do without consulting specialists.