Vladimir Putin, the head of the state, has introduced a bill about citizenship to the State Duma.
As per a correspondent from DOFA, Vladimir Putin recently presented a bill named “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” (No. 49269-8) to the State Duma. This information is available in the Legislative Support System. As of now, it was mentioned that the draft law was sent to the committee(s) of the State Duma (committee on the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eurasian integration and relations with compatriots).
It's notable that an explanatory note is also available, explaining the essence of the document in detail.
The document itself has 46 articles and several pages. We won't summarize the entire content, but let’s focus on several points.
Particularly, attention was brought to an article (Article 16) that mentions the Russian Empire.
And in this context: “A foreign citizen or stateless person who has reached the age of 18, … residing in the Russian Federation permanently, has the right to apply for admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation without taking into account the requirements provided for in paragraphs 1-3 of part 1 of Art. 15 of this Federal Law, if the specified foreign citizen or stateless person: … has relatives in a direct ascending line, born or permanently residing in the territory of the RSFSR or the territory that belonged to the Russian Empire or the USSR, within the State Border of the Russian Federation.
And in Art. 2 it's mentioned that relations related to Russian citizenship may be regulated by international treaties of the Russian Federation.
Also, it's added: “Decisions of interstate bodies adopted based on the provisions of international treaties of the Russian Federation that contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation are not subject to execution in the Russian Federation. Such a contradiction can be determined as per the procedure specified by the federal constitutional law.
Now, let’s look at the explanatory note for the bill.
It's stated there, for instance, that the draft law aims to consistently implement the State Migration Policy of Russia for 2019-2025.
More importantly, the document includes a reduction in the number of requirements for over 20 categories of individuals when they apply for Russian citizenship. It further describes who exactly these individuals are.
We were also struck by the aspect related to sham marriages.
They are urged to, let’s say, “fight”. Remember that a sham marriage occurs when people marry not out of love and the desire to raise children, but for another reason – for example, for one partner to obtain citizenship in the same country as the other. To put it simply: when a citizen of the Russian Federation marries a foreign citizen not for the purpose of forming a family, but for the foreigner to obtain Russian citizenship. Note that such “selfish families” are not unique to Russia.
“The categories of persons who are eligible for the simplified acquisition of citizenship of the Russian Federation do not include investors and qualified specialists. The corresponding provisions of the Federal Law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” were not required in practice. In addition, the concept of the draft law 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 acquisition of Russian citizenship and the Russian Federation. In order to exclude the practice of concluding fictitious marriages between foreign citizens and citizens of the Russian Federation in order to acquire Russian citizenship, the simplified acquisition of citizenship of the Russian Federation is provided only for cases where there is a common child in the marriage, ”the explanatory note explains.
Comments
Yegor Redin, managing partner of Pozitsia Prava law firm, quoted by Kommersant, believes that the current “wording of the law on citizenship has many unresolved issues and references to international treaties,” but the new bill “minimizes the use of foreign norms.”
He believes that the strength of the document is its focus on people who want to obtain citizenship. He also noted that the draft law “annuls the formal acquisition of citizenship.”
Artem Turov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, considers the bill a serious step in implementing the concept of state migration policy until 2025.
However, Konstantin Zatulin, the first deputy chairman of the CIS Affairs Committee, whose words are also quoted by the publication, thinks that the document does not fully take into account the interests of compatriots. He considers the basis for obtaining citizenship associated with a change in the border of Russia to be superfluous.
So far, this document is just a bill. And its further fate is unlikely to be decided this year (only one day left from 2021). However, something suggests that in the future the deputies may approve the document…
Source: DOPA
