Obtaining Russian citizenship in Crimea: documents, procedure

Legal basis

According to Russian law, Crimea is invariably part of Russia. The peninsula has laws that are no different from other regions of the country. Based on this, any foreigners have the right to obtain Russian citizenship in Crimea on the same basis as, for example, in the capital, in the Far East or other region.

Anyone who comes to the peninsula can obtain Russian citizenship through Crimea on the general basis provided for by Federal Law No. 62-FZ of May 31, 2002 “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” (hereinafter referred to as Federal Law No. 62), in a general or simplified manner. Among other conditions, the general procedure presupposes the right to citizenship only after 5 years of permanent residence on the territory of Russia (including on the territory of the Republic) on the basis of a residence permit (RP).

A simplified procedure, including a reduction in the period of compulsory residence on the territory of the Russian Federation, can be applied for by native speakers of the Russian language, spouses of Russian citizens, persons born in the RSFSR, and other preferential categories specified in Art. 14 Federal Law No. 62.

In addition, the right to a simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship could be obtained by Crimeans who had a place of permanent residence on the territory of the peninsula, but shortly before reunification were forced to leave Crimea and change their place of registration.

How to confirm Russian citizenship for a child in Crimea – Online legal guide

The issuance of birth certificates for children, issued in accordance with the standards of the Russian Federation, began only on August 1, 2014. Therefore, most parents could not, and still cannot, enter their offspring into a foreign passport, issue their own passport for them if they turned 14 years old, and suddenly the need arose to receive child benefits and other social payments.

The procedure is not complicated, it just takes a certain amount of time. During this period, you need to visit several institutions, go to your former place of residence, if the documents were not issued in Crimea.

Despite the fact that confirming Russian citizenship for a child in Crimea is not a mandatory procedure, most parents still strive to do this in order to avoid bureaucratic problems in the future.

For example, a passport for a child will be needed if the opportunity arises to travel abroad or receive assistance from the government for the maintenance or care of small children.

Additional financial assistance has never bothered anyone, especially when applying for a loan or mortgage under the maternity capital program.

Papers to be provided

The Migration Service of Russia has the right to review papers for citizenship and confirm it on the basis of Decree No. 1325, adopted by the President in 2002.

The law stipulates a procedure for which the following documents must be provided:

An insert that, until 2007, was issued with a child’s birth certificate.

One or another type of passport - foreign, diplomatic, official.

Passports of parents, who must be Russian citizens. They can show not only a national document, but also a foreign passport or any other.
Information that the parents or one of them is of Russian origin.
In some cases, data on the Russian citizenship of only one of the parents is shown if the second is a foreigner. Such a certificate must be marked by the Russian migration authorities, with a mandatory signature and seal.
For a child, a certificate indicating the place of birth can be anything.

Placing a stamp

Russian citizenship for children can be confirmed using a regular stamp. To do this, the child’s parents must simply contact the department of the Federal Migration Service or the consulate.

They must bring their children's birth certificates there.

Only employees of federal bodies who deal with issues related to migration, as well as employees of diplomatic missions of the Russian Federation, have the right to affix a stamp.

Confirmation of the child’s Russian citizenship at the FMS department

For a child born in Russia after July 1, 2002, the birth certificate will indicate that the mother and father are citizens of the country. Therefore, the baby automatically becomes a citizen.

Many people are hesitant to do this procedure themselves, given the number of bureaucratic problems that need to be overcome.

Therefore, they turn to special companies that help save people from queuing and going to various institutions.

The easiest way to get a stamp is for those parents whose children were lucky enough to be born on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula. Registration takes place without red tape and without providing special certificates or confirmations. The rest need to spend a lot of time confirming Russian citizenship.

Required documents

First of all, you need to start translating documents and collecting the necessary papers to submit them to the territorial offices of the migration service.

Many citizens face problems with document translation, which are associated with additional financial costs. You need to pay for the services of a translator and then a notary.

To obtain citizenship for a child, his mother and father must provide the following types of papers:

Birth certificate;
Copies and originals of both parents’ passports;
An extract from the house register, which will indicate the registration of the baby at the place of residence for March 2014;

Sample extract from home book

If you did not have time to register your children, you can attach an extract from the parents’ registration.

You only need to translate the child’s birth certificate, which will cost 700 rubles.

Most parents try to save money on this, so they translate the paper themselves and then provide it to notaries.

They, in turn, refuse to certify such translations, since they were made by unprofessional translators. Providing such services will cost an additional 140 rubles.

Notaries did not come up with these requirements on their own, but are provided for by notarial legislation. In particular, it states that only professional translations from one language to another can be certified.

In cities and towns of the Crimean Peninsula, some notary offices and firms have signed cooperation agreements with professional translation agencies. This greatly simplifies the paperwork procedure and reduces the cost of translation and notary services.

Another option is to contact notaries who can do the translations themselves. But in order to avoid discrepancies in the original and copy of the birth certificate, it is important to draw up documents from professionals, adhering to the requirements of the law.

It is worth remembering that a notary only certifies a copy of the birth certificate of one or more children. The original will simply be attached, and it is on the copy that the necessary stamp is placed, confirming the citizenship of the Russian Federation.

The procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship follows the following scheme:

Submit all collected papers to the division of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation, which must be completed in the appropriate manner;
Confirm the Russian citizenship of the parents;
Mothers who are raising children or a child on their own do not have to bring the father’s passport. It is important to have in your hands the original certificate granting the woman the status of a single mother;
Mothers who do not have contact with their children's fathers are required to write a corresponding declaration. It must indicate that the father does not take part in raising the children.

Children who may have been born in Crimea after the 2014 referendum, and who also received a Ukrainian birth certificate, must confirm their status as citizens of the Russian Federation. Parents can do this. Confirmation will not be required if Russian-style certificates are issued for the children.

A paper that will confirm the child’s citizenship is issued within 1 day, but only if he was registered with his mother and father. If this is not the case, then parents can receive confirmation after 10 working days. Sanctions are not applied to those who have not obtained proof of citizenship for their children.

What is proof of Russian citizenship?

Having collected all the necessary papers, it is worth remembering that you can submit them either through intermediaries or yourself. But before that, you should make an appointment with the migration service by calling.

There is no electronic recording option in Crimea. Although you can send a request by email regarding clarification of one or another aspect of filing papers. To do this, go to the website www.92fmsgov.

ru, and select the desired tab.

You can confirm your citizenship of the Russian Federation after fulfilling all the requirements as follows:

Obtaining a stamp on a copy of the birth certificate;

Making changes to this document in accordance with current legislation;
Adoption of a child by citizens from the Russian Federation;
Obtaining a Russian citizen passport after reaching the age of majority.

Source: https://rezonans-law.com/kak-podtverdit-grazhdanstvo-rf-rebenku-v-krymu/

The procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship in Crimea

Taking into account the above, in Crimea you can obtain Russian citizenship through the procedure of admission to citizenship on general or preferential (in a simplified procedure) basis.

Obtaining Russian citizenship by Ukrainians who came to Crimea after reunification on a general basis is possible subject to the fulfillment of a number of conditions, including:

legal entry into the territory of Russia;
obtaining a temporary residence permit in Crimea;
residence on the basis of a temporary residence permit for at least 1 year and subsequent receipt of a residence permit;
residence on the basis of a residence permit for at least 5 years at the time of filing an application for citizenship;
presence of a legal source of income, renunciation of Ukrainian citizenship, knowledge of the Russian language and compliance with other conditions.

Registration of Russian citizenship in Crimea for Ukrainians in a simplified manner almost always presupposes the fulfillment of the same conditions, except for the condition of residence in the Republic on the basis of a residence permit for 5 years. For example, Ukrainians recognized in Crimea as native speakers of Russian, or persons who have been married to a current Russian citizen for at least three years, can apply for Russian citizenship immediately after obtaining a residence permit.

Package of documents for obtaining Russian citizenship

As for Ukrainians who moved to Crimea after March 2021, in order to obtain Russian citizenship on a general basis in a general or simplified manner, in accordance with the Regulations (approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1325 of November 14, 2002), they must submit:

application in the form (approved by the Regulations);
resident card;
a document confirming the presence of a legal source of income in Russia, including income certificates, employment certificates, income statements, pension certificates, and so on;
a document confirming knowledge of the Russian language;
photo of the established size.

Along with them, documents confirming the right to a simplified procedure are submitted.

Where to contact

In accordance with paragraph 1 of the Regulations approved by Presidential Decree No. 1325, applications and documents on citizenship issues are submitted to the territorial divisions of the migration service at the place of residence (OVM UMVD). Contact details, addresses and reception schedules for territorial units operating on the territory of the peninsula can be found on the website of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Crimea. We remind you that Sevastopol, as a city of federal significance, is a separate entity.

Reception of citizens of Ukraine on citizenship issues is carried out by appointment. You can make an appointment by phone, through the electronic queue terminal at the territorial department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or online. This can also be done using the online registration service on the website of the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or using the State Services website https://www.gosuslugi.ru/175792/3/info.

Obtaining Russian citizenship by Ukrainians when living in other regions

If the permanent place of residence of a Ukrainian is another region of the Russian Federation, there are no grounds for automatically recognizing him as a citizen of the Russian Federation, regardless of which specific region and how long he lived, the recognition procedure is provided only for residents of Crimea. However, this does not prevent him from receiving a passport on a general basis, in the manner prescribed by Federal Law No. 62. The process and conditions for such registration have already been described above: legal entry into Russia → obtaining a temporary residence permit → obtaining a residence permit → obtaining citizenship. Depending on the existence of grounds for applying the simplified procedure, this entire path can take from 2.5 to 8 years.

Terms and cost of registration

Ukrainians who have moved to the territory of the peninsula and are applying for citizenship on a general basis are first required to pay a state fee. For admission, according to paragraphs. 25 clause 1 art. 333.28 of the Tax Code, a state duty of 3.5 thousand rubles is charged. Failure to pay will definitely cause refusal to accept documents.

According to Art. 35 Federal Law No. 62, consideration of the issue of admitting Ukrainian citizens to Russian citizenship in the general procedure is carried out within a year, in a simplified procedure - within six months, in relation to native speakers of the Russian language - within 3 months after receiving the documents.

Ukraine is ready to turn the population of Crimea into potential criminals

And this is 60% of all passports issued in the country in 2021. Official Kyiv was horrified to see such statistics and decided to take tough measures. The Verkhovna Rada has registered a bill on criminal prosecution of people with dual citizenship, or more precisely, Ukrainian and Russian. Most of these people live in Crimea.

Term for fine or disobedience

Sergei Stepanov: Kyiv did not have a task to retain Crimea and does not now have a task to return

screenshot of “SBU - Spilka Blogery of Ukraine”
The head of the State Migration Service of Ukraine, Maxim Sokolyuk , said that the authorities should consider an option that would allow Ukrainians not to renounce Ukrainian citizenship by receiving documents from another country. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba supported this idea, but then stated that there should be one exception to the rule.
A Ukrainian who has received a Russian passport automatically loses the right to participate in the electoral process. Can neither nominate himself nor vote.

The Council on Interethnic Relations under the President of the Russian Federation called such a decision unacceptable, because it violates the constitutional rules of Ukraine itself. As long as a person is not deprived of citizenship, he has the right to vote. But this point does not seem to bother Ukrainian politicians.

In practice, even many Ukrainian deputies carry Russian passports. And when they are grabbed by the hand, they shake their heads, denying any involvement in the Russian Federation. Thus, the following have dual citizenship: already a former member of the presidential party “Servant of the People” Mikhail Sokolov , deputy of the Kiev regional council from the “Petro Poroshenko Bloc” Vyacheslav Sobolev , deputy of the Lokhvitsky district council of the Poltava region Petr Cherny and mayor of Odessa Gennady Trukhanov .

With the new bill, the Ukrainian authorities want to include an additional article in the criminal code under the number 114-2. It says the following: “Failure by a citizen of Ukraine to report the citizenship of the aggressor state will be criminally punishable.” They want to punish disobedient Ukrainians with imprisonment from two to five years.

But this is not enough for the deputies; they also decided to introduce administrative responsibility. Ukrainians who fail to submit a declaration on receipt, possession or termination of foreign citizenship on time will have to pay a fine from 340 thousand to 510 thousand hryvnia (from 900 thousand rubles to 1 million 300 thousand rubles).

Honorary title "criminal"

“Not only Crimea and Donbass.” Bystryakov said what other territories Ukraine has lost

rian.com.ua
The news about the bill caused a storm of indignation in society; some Crimeans who have family ties in Ukraine and often travel there also felt special excitement.
Moreover, residents of the republic cross the Russian border using a Russian passport, and the Ukrainian border using a Ukrainian one. And this has long been no secret to anyone. But Kyiv has been conducting real surveillance of Crimean officials for a long time. As soon as they try to cross the Ukrainian border, they are met with handcuffs outside Perekop. Suffice it to recall how in September 2021, Ukrainian law enforcement officers detained Oleg Kizimenko , the former deputy head of the Sevastopol City State Administration. In the same year, the former Deputy Minister of Sports of Crimea Farukh Kamalov . On suspicion of treason, in November 2020, a former official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, deputy head of the Crimean department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and reserve police colonel Nikolai Fedoryan .

Today, 7 years after the annexation of Crimea to Russia, almost 1.5 million residents of the republic received red passports. Only a few thousand renounced Russian citizenship. At the same time, about 40% of the peninsula’s population has two passports. And this is only official data. In this regard, many people are concerned about the question: will Crimeans be punished in Ukraine for having two passports? And how will they be able to identify violators outside Perekop?

“Recently in Ukraine there has been a high level of activity in repressing dissent. Therefore, the likelihood of such a law being adopted is very high. Citizenship charges are stupid; just remember how many members of the elite are citizens of other countries. I immediately remember the legendary Kolomoisky, who admitted that he has three of them,” says Crimean political scientist Vladimir Dzharalla .

The expert notes that the situation looks even crazier given the fact that the new law is directed against citizens of another country - Russia, who have nothing to do with Ukraine.

Ukrainians reminded Navalny whose Crimea

RIA Novosti, Evgeny Odinokov |
Go to photo bank The result of the adoption of the new law will most likely be regular detentions of ordinary people trying to go to their relatives in Ukraine.
This is probably the goal - to stop all contacts so that people cannot compare what Ukraine has become after the coup and what Crimea looks like 7 years later, the expert is convinced. Acceptance does not mean compliance

“They want to introduce a new bill for one simple reason - this way people are forced to make a choice. Either you leave Russian citizenship and access to the territory of Ukraine is actually closed for you, or you live with Ukrainian citizenship, but then you will not have the opportunity to live in Crimea, says lawyer Irina Repina . “Today, when border guards find Russian passports on Ukrainians, they can simply take them away. And the new law will make it possible in the future to fine people or even initiate criminal cases against them. And it’s completely legal.”

Zhan Zapruta is also convinced that the punitive bill will be adopted . But, in his opinion, it will not affect ordinary people visiting Ukraine.

“I believe that liability will only arise if a person concealed information about dual citizenship when applying for civil service in Ukraine. There is one more point: the original bill contains the phrase “citizenship of the aggressor country.” But the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine did not legally recognize Russia as an aggressor. And such a resolution simply does not exist today,” the expert concludes.

Grounds for refusal

For Crimeans, automatically recognized as Russians as a result of the option, there was only one reason for refusal - the lack of permanent residence on the territory of the peninsula. For other Ukrainians acquiring citizenship, Art. 16 Federal Law No. 62 provides a whole list of grounds for rejecting their applications.

An application may be rejected if the applicant:

poses a threat to the security of the Russian Federation and its constitutional order;
participated in armed conflicts against the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation;
participated or is participating in extremist activities;
has restrictions on entry into the Russian Federation due to the fact that he was expelled or deported from it;
used forged documents when submitting an application or provided false information about himself;
is in military service in another state;
convicted by a court verdict or has an outstanding conviction for crimes recognized in Russia;
persecuted by Russian law enforcement agencies;
does not meet the conditions for granting citizenship.

The refusal is made in writing, of which the applicant himself is notified.

Refusal of a Ukrainian passport

So, according to paragraphs. d) clause 1 of Art. 13 Federal Law No. 62, in order to become a citizen of the Russian Federation, the applicant is obliged to renounce his existing citizenship by sending a corresponding application to the authorized bodies of his old homeland and submitting a response to it. But in 2021, a special refusal procedure was introduced specifically for Ukrainians. According to paragraphs. c) clause 2.1. Art. 14 Federal Law No. 62, it is enough to certify the application for renunciation of Ukrainian citizenship in Crimea in 2021 from a notary and submit such a certified document to the migration authorities. It is no longer necessary to seek a positive decision from the Ukrainian authorities, as well as to expect any response, which actually allows you to save your Ukrainian passport.

Ukrainian-Russian (dual) citizenship

Art. 6 Federal Law No. 62 allows Russians to have citizenship of other countries. If there is no international agreement on this between the Russian Federation and another state, such citizenship is recognized not as dual, but as multiple. In this case, Russia considers such binationals exclusively as its citizens. For example, Crimeans recognized as Russian citizens, even if they retained Ukrainian passports, the Russian state will consider them exclusively as their citizens.

This cannot be said in relation to the Ukrainian state: the legislation of Ukraine does not contain provisions on dual or multiple citizenship. Moreover, according to paragraph 1 of Art. 19 of the Law of Ukraine dated January 18, 2001 No. 2235-III, the acquisition by a citizen of Ukraine of a passport of another state is the basis for the loss of Ukrainian citizenship by such a person. However, the facts of application of such sanctions to Crimeans are unknown. Firstly, such a decision can only be made by the President of Ukraine, and secondly, in relation to Crimeans this would be too widespread. Thus, despite the existence of a norm, in practice it is not applied by the Ukrainian authorities.

Putin simplified obtaining Russian citizenship for Ukrainians from Crimea and Donbass

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on a simplified procedure for obtaining a Russian passport for certain categories of Ukrainian citizens. It will also be easier for residents of some other countries who previously lived in Crimea or the RSFSR to obtain a passport. The document is posted on the official legal information portal.

According to the decree, citizens of Ukraine who live in Crimea or on the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) have the right to a simplified receipt of a passport. Also eligible are citizens of Ukraine who do not have citizenship of other countries and were born and lived in Crimea, but left the peninsula before March 18, 2014, when it joined Russia following a referendum.

In addition, citizens previously deported from the territory of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and their relatives received the same right. It may be easier to obtain a Russian passport for citizens of Ukraine or stateless persons who have a residence permit or temporary residence in Russia, a certificate of temporary asylum in Russia or a participant in the program of voluntary resettlement to Russia of compatriots living abroad who have permanently resided in the territories of certain regions DPR and LPR until April 2014.

Finally, the right to facilitate the acquisition of Russian citizenship is granted by this decree to citizens of Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Iraq who were born on the territory of the RSFSR and had Soviet citizenship, as well as their children, spouses and parents.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the procedure for accepting applications for simplified acquisition of Russian citizenship from residents of Donbass. The department's message indicates that applications will be accepted in the Rostov region, where two centers for issuing Russian passports have begun operating in test mode. The Ministry notes that residents of the LPR and DPR will not have to renounce Ukrainian citizenship. The processing time for an application for a Russian passport should not exceed three months. Representative of the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Kirill Alzinov, said that 86% of residents of the DPR and LPR want to obtain Russian citizenship.

On April 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the simplified provision of Russian citizenship to residents of the DPR and LPR. The Russian leader said that Moscow has no desire to create problems for Kyiv by introducing a simplified procedure for issuing Russian Federation passports to residents of Donbass, but it also cannot tolerate infringement of their civil rights. The presidential decree states that to obtain a Russian passport, an identification document, an application, a certificate of change of surname and a birth certificate of children (to enter information about them in the new passport) are sufficient. Putin later said that Russia is considering the possibility of granting Russian citizenship in a simplified manner to all citizens of Ukraine.