Citizenship with a diploma with honors

There are categories of foreign citizens who may be admitted to citizenship of the Russian Federation under a simplified procedure immediately after obtaining a residence permit (hereinafter, a residence permit). These foreigners include, among others, persons who have successfully completed, in the Russian Federation, a state-accredited full-time higher education program and received a document of education and qualifications with honors.

This means that a foreign national who has completed full-time studies with honors at a Russian higher education institution in a state-accredited program may apply for citizenship if they hold a residence permit. Higher education programs include bachelor's, specialist, and master's programs, as well as programs for training research and research-and-teaching personnel in postgraduate study (adjuncture), residency programs, and assistantship-internship programs (pursuant to Article 12 of Federal Law No. 273-FZ “On Education in the Russian Federation”).

Consider an example:

A citizen of Armenia completed full-time studies in a program at one of Russia's state universities and, upon graduation, received a diploma with honors. In this case, this Armenian citizen is entitled to apply for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation if they hold a residence permit (or immediately after obtaining a residence permit).

Document submission procedure

To submit an application and a complete set of documents for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation under paragraph 6, part 2, Article 16 of Federal Law No. 138-FZ “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation,” a foreign citizen must apply to the territorial authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the constituent entity where they are staying.

The application for admission to citizenship is processed within three months. If necessary, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs may extend the processing period by a further three months.

Document package

The current list of required documents in .pdf format can be downloaded here

List of documents for applying for Russian citizenship on the basis of completing full-time university studies and receiving a document of education and qualifications with honors  

A foreign citizen or stateless person who has reached the age of eighteen, has legal capacity, and resides permanently in the Russian Federation (regardless of the period of residence) is entitled to apply for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation without meeting the requirements

1) to reside permanently in the Russian Federation for five years from the date of the decision to issue a residence permit in the Russian Federation until the date of filing the application for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation;

2) to have command of the Russian language;

3) to know the history of Russia and the fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation;

if the said foreign citizen or stateless person:

• has successfully completed in the Russian Federation a state-accredited higher education program on a full-time basis and received a document of education and qualifications with honors.

The application and documents, required to acquire citizenship of the Russian Federation, are submitted to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs or its territorial authority.

1. Application - in 2 copies (printed double-sided)

The application must be completed in Russian by hand using black, blue, or purple ink, or using electronic means. The applicant must sign each page of the application in the designated field in the lower right corner. Handwritten text must be legible. Abbreviations and acronyms may not be used when completing the application, except for those in common use; corrections and erasures are also not permitted.

All fields in the application that are required to be completed must be filled in, unless the circumstances required to answer a question do not exist. In that case, the word "none" is entered in the relevant field, or the corresponding section is left blank. Answers to the questions in the application form must be comprehensive.

If there is insufficient space in an application field to provide all the required information, that information must be provided on additional sheets attached to the application, which form an integral part of the application (hereinafter, an addendum). In this case, the relevant application field must contain the entry "See addendum".

The addendum sheets must indicate the number of the field being supplemented and provide the required information. All addendum sheets must be numbered. The sheet number and total number of addendum sheets must be indicated in the upper right corner of each addendum sheet. The number of copies of each addendum must correspond to the number of copies of the application. The applicant must sign each addendum sheet in the lower right corner.

2. Identity document of the applicant.

If the foreign citizen does not have such a document, a copy of the finding establishing the foreign citizen's identity, issued by a territorial authority of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation

The document must remain valid for at least the application processing period at the time the application is submitted (at least 6 months is recommended). 

A document confirming the presence or absence of citizenship (a citizen's passport, a stateless person's identity document, a temporary identity document for a stateless person in the Russian Federation, a non-citizen's passport issued by the relevant authority of a foreign state, or documents confirming that the applicant does not hold citizenship of a foreign state, issued by the authorized authority of the foreign state in which the applicant was born).

3. Residence permit.

4. Migration card and detachable part of the notification of arrival of a foreign citizen or stateless person at their place of stay — migration registration.

In most regions, the Ministry of Internal Affairs requires a residence registration stamp in the residence permit in order to submit an application.

5. Birth certificate.

6. Documents confirming changes to personal details.

Marriage certificate, divorce certificate, or certificate from the civil registry office in the event of repeated surname changes, or a name-change certificate.

7. State-standard document of education and qualifications (bachelor's diploma with honors, specialist diploma with honors, master's diploma with honors, residency completion diploma and its supplement, assistantship-internship completion diploma and its supplement, postgraduate completion diploma (with the qualification "Researcher. Research and Teaching Lecturer") and its supplement).

8. Personal photographs, 3 x4 cm – 3 pcs. (black-and-white or color).

The applicant's (child's, incapacitated person's) image in the photograph must correspond to their age on the date the application is submitted.

9. Receipt for payment of the state fee.

All the listed documents must be submitted as photocopies, together with the ORIGINALS.

Copies made from original documents must be of good quality, easy to read, and contain all the information shown in the original document. Copies must be made on standard A4 sheets and must not be cut to the size of the original.

The originals of the applicant's identity document and other required documents submitted by the applicant must be returned. Copies of these documents are attached to the application; their conformity to the originals is verified by an official and certified by their signature and the seal of the authority responsible for citizenship matters in the Russian Federation, or by the seal of a subordinate enterprise (authorized organization).

The period for provision of the public service is 3 months.

The period may be extended for the time required to verify the documents submitted by the applicant and the information provided by them when filing the application, and to obtain additional documents and information stipulated by this Federal Law,  but by no more than three months.

The application will not be accepted for consideration and will be returned to the applicant together with the attached documents if:

a) the application and documents are improperly prepared, including if they contain clerical errors, typos, or other mistakes;

b) the documents attached to the application that are required under this Regulation have not been submitted in full.

If the application is refused acceptance for consideration, the official returning the application will state, orally or in writing, the circumstances that gave rise to the refusal and how they can be remedied.

At the applicant's written request, the official will provide written information about these circumstances and how they can be remedied, including a list of missing documents.

All official documents issued by foreign authorities in a foreign language must be legalized, translated, and notarized.

For countries party to the 1961 Hague Convention:

• The original document must be apostilled in the country where it was issued.
• The document and the apostille affixed to it must be translated into Russian.
• The translation must be certified by a notarial attestation by a notary in the Russian Federation.

                 For countries that are not parties to the Hague Convention:

• Documents must undergo consular legalization through the consular offices of the Russian Federation abroad or the Consular Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

All documents not prepared in Russian must be submitted with a translation into Russian. The accuracy of the translation or the authenticity of the translator's signature must be notarized in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

The originals of the Russian translations of the above documents must be returned. Copies are attached to the application; their conformity to the originals is verified by an official and certified by their signature and the seal of the authority responsible for citizenship matters in the Russian Federation, or by the seal of a subordinate enterprise (authorized organization).

If a document prepared in a language other than Russian duplicates all entries in Russian, it does not need to be submitted with a Russian translation. 

Under paragraph 6, part 2, Article 16 of Federal Law No. 138-FZ of 28.04.2023 "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation"

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 889 of 22.11.2023 "Issues of Citizenship of the Russian Federation" ("Regulation on the Procedure for Considering Citizenship Issues of the Russian Federation," "Regulation on the Procedure for Taking the Oath of a Citizen of the Russian Federation")