The grounds for obtaining Russian passports in a simplified manner by foreigners from far abroad may disappear from the Federal Law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation”.

Thus, according to the bill submitted to the State Duma at the end of December last year, several points prescribed in the current version of the law will be removed from the document at once: recognition of a foreign citizen as a native speaker of the Russian language, a qualified specialist.

Also, foreigners who are married to a citizen of the Russian Federation will not be able to apply for a simplified procedure if there is no joint child in the family.

If the draft law is adopted without changes, foreign graduates of Russian universities with honors diplomas, specialists who have received education in Russia and work in Russia for at least a year before the date of filing an application for citizenship, as well as parents of children who are citizens of the Russian Federation, including number of receptionists.

The list of grounds is listed in Article 16 "Admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation of certain categories of foreign citizens and stateless persons" of the new draft law.

"Great Uncertainty"

Last year, more than 80 citizens of the United States, Canada and Australia, who planned to move to live in Russia and get passports, turned to the editorial office of RT.

Thus, within the framework of the “Not One on One” project, RT, together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, assists the Hare family from Australia in acquiring Russian citizenship.

Two years ago, they sold their property in their home country and moved to live in Novosibirsk.

Thanks to the assistance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the children of John and Evelyn Hare: Sabrina, Joash, Anyuta, as well as her husband and child, were issued temporary residence permits (TRPs).

Hare's future plans were to receive documents in a simplified manner on two points at once: a native speaker of Russian and a qualified specialist.

After living for eight months on the basis of the TRP, members of the Hare family planned to apply for residence permits (permits).

Then Sabrina, who speaks Russian better than others, had to apply for recognition as a native speaker of Russian.

In this status, she would have acquired Russian citizenship in a simplified manner.

After that, her parents, who had visas for highly qualified specialists, could obtain a residence permit and, based on their status, as well as their daughters who are citizens of the Russian Federation, apply for Russian passports in a simplified manner.

According to the family's lawyer, Timur Beslangurov, the whole procedure would take no more than three years.

However, now, if the bill is passed, the Hare family will have no reason for a simplified procedure.

“It will be much more difficult for us to get citizenship,” explains Sabrina Hare.

“My parents issued high-skilled visas in order to achieve citizenship as soon as possible, but now everything is changing.

The only option for them now to stay in Russia is to apply for a temporary residence permit under a quota in the Altai Territory, but we know how difficult it is to get it, so there is no certainty of success.

We have a very strong desire to stay.

We sold everything in Australia and it will be a very big loss for us to come back.

It seems to people who are hoping to move to Russia that Russia either does not want people to come here to live, or that they do not have a clear plan for immigration.”

According to Sabrina, if her parents are given a temporary residence permit, all family members will need to obtain a residence permit, live on it for five years, and only then apply for citizenship.

“For us, this creates a lot of uncertainty, makes it difficult to plan for the future, when you don’t know if you will be allowed to stay in the country or the rules will change later.

In addition, we cannot own agricultural land if we are not citizens of the Russian Federation, so it is more difficult for us to create a farm in Russia.

It is very difficult for our family, we try to fulfill all the requirements, but with these proposed changes, we no longer have the confidence that we can stay,” the girl says.

Eight years instead of three

Other heroes of RT publications - the American Campbell family - will also have no reason for a simplified order.

Like other foreigners who applied to the Not One on One project, they planned to apply in the status of native speakers of the Russian language or qualified specialists.

The Campbells decided to move to Russia after the United States “began to aggressively spread the LGBT ideology,” said the head of the family, Jason.

He withdrew his children from the public school due to their class having transgender students.

In addition, the man spoke about the increased riots on the streets of the city in which he lived.

For his three daughters, he wants to find a more traditional and safer environment to raise, so he came to Russia.

“So much has changed since I came to Russia — it’s hard for me to keep track of everything as a single parent in a foreign country,” says Campbell.

— I have no other choice but to apply for a TRP quota and continue to act in accordance with the law.

I have no rights to change these procedures, but I will do everything in my power to stay in Russia.”

The mother of Jason Campbell's daughters is a Russian citizen.

In accordance with the law, girls have the right to a simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship.

However, due to their mother suffering from a mental disorder, she is unable to apply and help them with their paperwork.

“It is difficult, even impossible, for my wife to make such a claim because she has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and lives in a delusional mental state,” Jason explains.

“According to the decision of the North Carolina court, she had to leave our house, as she was a danger to our daughters.

It was a huge loss and grief for my family, because we love her very much.

A North Carolina judge ordered her expelled under the threat of holding me accountable for risking the children.

Unfortunately, we got divorced in 2019 due to her refusing treatment for her illness.”

Now the Campbells live in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yaroslavl Region.

Margaret, Mary and Serafima are homeschooled, learning Russian with a tutor.

According to the head of the family, they like life in Russia, they began to make friends and feel at home here.

In mid-February, Jason plans to apply for a TRP for a quota.

After receiving the document, open your own icon-making workshop at the Holy Trinity Danilov Monastery. 

Since the mother of Jason's daughters cannot help them acquire Russian citizenship, if the bill in today's edition is passed, the family will have to wait for passports for at least eight years instead of two to three years in a simplified manner.

In general, a foreigner from far abroad who has no ties with Russia (relatives, children, education) receives a temporary residence permit under a quota.

After living for a year on the basis of the TRP, he issues a residence permit and then only five years later he applies for Russian citizenship.

“Imagine that a foreign investor comes to Russia, who is already a specialist with an education.

He wants to live here.

He needs to either have a child or study at a Russian university, otherwise he will have to wait for the issuance of a Russian passport for at least eight years.

For a country like Russia, it is at least strange to leave as an immigration policy only two options for a simplified procedure for obtaining citizenship for residents of non-CIS countries.

We looked at the statistics of Russian universities for foreigners who study there.

Mostly they are citizens of the CIS.

For the next decade, migration policy will look about the same as before: our compatriots, citizens of the CIS and, in fact, everything,” explains lawyer Timur Beslangurov.

At the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation published statistics, according to which students from Kazakhstan (61 thousand), Uzbekistan (48.7 thousand) and China (32.6 thousand) most often come to Russia for higher education.

Followed by Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, India, Egypt, Belarus, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.

not required in practice

RT turned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a request to explain why they plan to remove three points at once from the law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” regarding the simplified procedure for obtaining citizenship for residents of far abroad.

According to the department, the procedure for recognizing a native speaker of the Russian language was not included in the new version of the law, since it was redundant for persons with relatives in a direct ascending line, permanently residing in the territory that belonged to the Russian Empire or the USSR (within the State border of the Russian Federation). ).

Qualified specialists and investors were removed from the category of persons entitled to the simplified acquisition of Russian citizenship, since the relevant provisions "were not required in practice."

And the presence of a common child in a marriage is required to combat fictitious marriages between foreigners and citizens of the Russian Federation in order to acquire citizenship.

“The concept of the bill does not imply the granting of Russian citizenship on the basis of formal criteria that do not take into account the existence of a real connection between a person applying for the acquisition of Russian citizenship and the Russian Federation,” the ministry explained.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs also noted that the bill provides for a reduction in the number of requirements for more than 20 categories of persons when they are admitted to Russian citizenship.

“First of all, we are talking about people who are our compatriots - citizens of the former USSR, their children, participants in the State program to assist voluntary resettlement in the Russian Federation of compatriots living abroad.

The number of persons entitled to the simplified acquisition of Russian citizenship also includes persons who have close relatives living in Russia - citizens of the Russian Federation, ”the press service said.