Russian Speakers to Have Simplified Procedure for Obtaining Russian Citizenship

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on the simplified issuance of Russian citizenship to compatriots who are fluent in the Russian language and live or have lived in the Soviet Union or the Russian Empire within the borders of the modern Russian Federation.

A foreign national or a stateless person will have to undergo an interview in a special commission on recognition of an alien native Russian language. To be eligible, interviewees need to speak Russian on a daily basis and use it at home and in the cultural sphere.

Also eligible for interview will be people whose relatives in the direct ascending line (i.e. parents, grandparents, etc.) live or previously lived in the Soviet Union or the Russian Empire within the borders of the state of modern Russia.

"In order to create favorable conditions for the acquisition of said persons of the nationality of the Russian Federation are established favorable conditions for entry into the Russian Federation, the extension of the period of temporary stay in the Russian Federation and a simplified procedure for obtaining a residence permit," the official statement reads.

Dimitri Dolaberidze