In the Russian language, there is a distinction between citizens of Russia, referred to as Rossiyane, and ethnic Russians, referred to as Russkie. The word Rossiyane is used much more often than Russkie in media and official documents. Those who have received Russian citizenship via naturalisation are also called Rossiyane, regardless of ethnicity and mother tongue. The word Rossiyane was coined by Mikhail Lomonosov in the 18th century.
Until 1990, the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic was a subject of the Soviet federation. In 1990, state sovereignty of the RSFSR was declared, though the USSR was not abolished until the end of 1991. Article 11 of the declaration of state sovereignty introduced RSFSR citizenship. The text of the citizenship act was ready in the summer of 1991, but was not adopted by the Supreme Council until November 28, 1991. On January 23, 1992 some changes with respect to the dissolution of the USSR were applied to the text; the result was signed by the President and finally came into force after publication on February 6, 1992.
Citizenship act of 1991
In accordance with Article 13, former Soviet citizens among permanent residents on February 6, 1992 of the RSFSR were recognized as RSFSR citizens. Those who expressed their will not to become RSFSR citizens until February 6, 1993 were not recognized as RSFSR citizens. Supreme Council decree N 5206/1-1 recognized the following as Russian citizens:
those who left the RSFSR before February 6, 1992 for study, work, treatment, or personal reasons and returned after February 6, 1992
military personnel of RSFSR abroad
Former Soviet citizens who were born on December 30, 1922 or later on Russian territory or to a Soviet citizen who was a permanent resident of the RSFSR at the birth of his or her were recognized as if they had been RSFSR citizens by birth. s are a visible feature of Russian citizenship Russian citizenship can be acquired:
by birth
by registration
by naturalization
by restoration of citizenship
by opt
by following parents' citizenship
Compatriots act of 1999
In 1999, in spite of the veto of the President, the Federal Assembly adopted the Act on the state policy on compatriots abroad. Article 11 stated that all former Soviet citizens and their descendants should be recognized as Russian citizens unless they had declared their intentions to be citizens of foreign states. However, this article was revoked in 2002 and persons under this article are not generally recognized by executive or court authorities of Russia as citizens of the Russian Federation unless they received documents of Russian citizenship before the article's revocation. No official comments have been given as to how this article should be interpreted. Oleg Kutafin, the chairman of the Presidential Committee on citizenship, criticized this Act in his book Russian Citizenship, but the legal consequences of this Act were not analyzed there.
Citizenship act of 2002
In 2002, a new citizenship act, supported by President Vladimir Putin, replaced the act of 1991. Russian citizenship can be acquired:
by birth
by naturalization
by restoration of citizenship
by following parents' citizenship
The rules of citizenship by birth generally follow the principle of jus sanguinis, though a child can be recognized as a Russian citizen in several special cases:
neither parent, both of whom are permanent residents of Russia, is a Russian citizen, but the child was born in Russia and does not acquire any other citizenship
the child is found abandoned on Russian territory and the parents remain unknown for more than six months
Naturalization is usually granted if the applicant meets the following requirements:
has been a resident of Russia for not less than five years
promises lawful behaviour
has a legal source of income
speaks Russian
In certain cases, some or even all of the above requirements can be waived by an Executive Order of the Russian President, as happened on 3 January 2013, when Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an Executive Order granting Russian citizenship to French-born actor Gérard Depardieu, citing authority granted under Article 89 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Restoration of citizenship is granted under the same rules as naturalization; the only exception is the residence term requirement. Although not in compliance with law, executive agencies usually do not grant Russian citizenship to former Russian citizens if they do not satisfy citizenship restoration requirements, even if they satisfy requirements for facilitated naturalization. A special provision of law made it possible for former citizens of the USSR to apply for Russian citizenship before 2009. The only requirements were holding a temporary residence permit or a permanent residence permit, or being registered as a permanent resident of Russia as of July 1, 2002 and meeting the naturalization requirements of p. 2 and p. 4. Citizenship of children generally follows the citizenship of their parents. If one or both parents obtain Russian citizenship, their children become Russian citizens as well. If one or both parents lose Russian citizenship, their children lose it too. A child can acquire or relinquish Russian citizenship by the application of his parents, but at least one parent must be a Russian citizen in this case.
Visa requirements
Visa requirements for Russian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other countries placed on citizens of Russia. In 2020, Russian citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 121 countries and territories, ranking the Russian passport 48th in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.
Constitutional Court cases
[|Case of Smirnov] (1996)
Smirnov was born on RSFSR territory in 1950. In 1979, he married and moved his permanent residence to the Lithuanian SSR. He divorced in 1992 and returned to the RSFSR on December 8, 1992. He then applied for a notice of Russian citizenship in his passport, but this was rejected by executive officers. His claim was also rejected by common jurisdiction courts, including the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. The position of the executive officers and the courts was that Smirnov, in accordance with Article 13 of the Citizenship Act, was a former citizen of the Russian Federation, but not a citizen of the Russian Federation since February 6, 1992. He did have the option to apply for Russian citizenship through registration. However, the Constitutional Court ruled that Article 18 of the Citizenship Act was not in conformance with the Constitution, as the registration procedure of Article 18 could be applied to Russian citizens by birth; that is, those persons who:
were born in the territory of the RSFSR
were citizens of the USSR
did not renounce Russian citizenship
relocated to another Soviet republic
were not citizens of another Soviet republic
eventually returned to Russia
There is an opinion that this ruling determines that every former citizen of the USSR who was born in the territory of the RSFSR and never renounced Russian citizenship is a Russian citizen by birth, even if he also has foreign citizenship. This opinion is based on the Court's interpretation of Article 6 of the Constitution given in the text of the decision: "such persons... cannot lose Russian citizenship unless they explicitly expressed their will to give it up". A notable advocate of this position is Anatoly Mostovoy, who published the book Get Your Citizenship Back!.
Criticism of the Decision
1) incorrect interpretation of Article 13 of the Citizenship Act of 1991 2) incorrect interpretation of constitutional articles 3) there were no constitutional issues in this case
Case of Daminova (2005)
Case of Fatullaeva (2007)
Until 2001-2002, former Soviet citizens could register their permanent residence on the territory of Russia in the same way as Russian citizens. The federal act regarding Russian citizenship was amended several times to allow former Soviet citizens who had had their permanent residence registered on July 1, 2002 to apply for Russian citizenship. Fatullaeva had been living in Russia up to this date but had never registered permanent residence. She challenged the requirement of permanent residence registration at the Constitutional Court. The Court rejected her claim for the following reasons:
such a requirement does not violate her constitutional rights and freedoms
the state is not obliged to grant citizenship, except as provided by its laws, and Fatullaeva still would be able to obtain Russian citizenship after every requirement of law is satisfied
The Act on the Legal Status of Foreigners in the USSR was in force until 2002. According to this act, permanent residents of the USSR were persons who received permanent residence permits. Other foreigners were those with temporary residences in the USSR. However, former Soviet citizens did not apply for residence permits; they registered their permanent residence in the same manner as Russian citizens, in accordance with the Decree of Government N 290 of March 12, 1997. Therefore, registration of permanent residence was equivalent to obtaining residence permits in Russia.
The Russian Federation has a treaty with Kazakhstan and a treaty with Kyrgyzstan. There is also a multilateral treaty among the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Republic of Belarus. Citizens of the respective states that come to Russia for permanent residence have the right to obtain Russian citizenship if they:
were citizens of the RSFSR, or
were born in the territory of the RSFSR, or
were living in the territory of the RSFSR before December 21, 1991, or
have relatives who are citizens or permanent residents of the Russian Federation
Until the end of 2003, those treaties were ignored by Russian executive authorities. Presidential Decree N 1545 provided some means for implementation of the treaties. However, the decree requires that the applicant provide evidence that the state of his citizenship allows him to reside in Russia. This does not conform to the treaties and makes obtaining citizenship significantly more difficult or even impossible in some cases. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation stated in its decision that one must prove, in accordance with the treaties, that he came to Russia for permanent and not temporary residence. This can be proved in accordance with Russian law. In accordance with the Act on the Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation, obtaining temporary or permanent residence permission in Russia does not require any permission from foreign states, so technically every person who lawfully resides in Russia is able to apply for a temporary residence permit and then for a permanent residence permit. Although the interpretation of the Federal Act given by the Supreme Court is incompatible with the Presidential Decree, the article was not declared void.
Dual nationality and citizenship treaties
Restricted dual nationality is permitted in Russia with treaty countries. However, Russian authorities will only recognise Russian nationality under the law, exceptions provided to those who hold nationality of one of those countries in which a treaty is in force which deals with the issue. The following international treaties contain rules related to dual citizenship:
The European Convention on Nationality has been signed but not ratified by the Russian Federation. It is binding to the extent of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Domestic citizenship legislation is usually considered to conform to the convention.
