Citizenship of the Russian Federation for citizens of Ukraine registered in Ukraine

There is a narrow group of people who are entitled to apply with an application and a package of required documents for admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation, bypassing the stage of obtaining a residence permit, and also without complying with the requirements to confirm proficiency in the Russian language, knowledge of the history of Russia and the fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation. These people include, among others, citizens of Ukraine who are registered in Ukraine.

Under Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 04.01.2024 No. 11 “On determining certain categories of foreign citizens and stateless persons entitled to apply for admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation,” citizens of Ukraine who are registered in Ukraine are entitled to apply with an application and a package of required documents to acquire Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure.

In addition, this right is granted to their close relatives, namely: children, including adopted children, spouses and parents (regardless of their citizenship).

Consider the following examples:

A citizen of Ukraine has been living in Australia since 2005, but is registered at her place of residence in Kirovohrad Oblast. In this case, she is entitled to apply for admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation under a simplified procedure, without first obtaining a residence permit.

A citizen of Ukraine registered in Odesa Oblast has been living in France since 2021 and is married to a citizen of that country. They have a child together, who is also a citizen of France. In this case, the whole family is entitled to apply for Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure.

Please note that, under Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 06.10.2023 No. 2723-r from 00 hours 00 minutes local time on 16 October 2023, entry into the Russian Federation by citizens of Ukraine arriving from the territories of third countries has been temporarily restricted through checkpoints across the state border of the Russian Federation, with the exception of the multilateral air checkpoint “Moscow (Sheremetyevo)”.
This restriction does not apply to citizens of Ukraine under the age of 14 entering the Russian Federation independently or accompanied by a legal representative, guardian or custodian who is a citizen of the Russian Federation.

To submit an application and a complete set of documents for admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation under Part 9 of Article 16 of Federal Law No. 138-FZ “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation,” a foreign citizen must apply to the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the constituent entity in which they are staying.

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 Ukrainian citizenship

A foreign citizen or stateless person, including one who previously held citizenship of the Russian Federation and formally renounced citizenship of the Russian Federation in accordance with the established procedure, is entitled to apply for admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation without regard to 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 the citizenship of the Russian Federation;

2) to be proficient in the Russian language;

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

if the foreign citizen or stateless person in question is:

• a citizen of Ukraine or a stateless person holding a document confirming the right to stay (reside) in the Russian Federation (migration card, temporary residence permit, temporary residence permit for educational purposes, residence permit, refugee certificate, certificate of temporary asylum in the territory of the Russian Federation, or certificate of a participant in the State Programme to Assist the Voluntary Resettlement to the Russian Federation of Compatriots Living Abroad), who permanently resided in Ukraine, as well as their children, including adopted children, spouses and parents (regardless of their citizenship).

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

1. Application - 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-hand corner. Handwritten text must be legible. When completing the application, abbreviations and acronyms may not be used, except for those in common use, and corrections or erasures are not permitted.

All fields of the application that are mandatory must be completed, except where the circumstances necessary to answer a question do not exist. In that case, the word "none" is entered in the relevant field, or the relevant section is left blank. Answers to the questions in the application form must be complete.

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 it (hereinafter, an “addendum”). In this case, the relevant application field must state “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-hand corner of each sheet. The number of copies of each addendum must match the number of copies of the application. The applicant must sign each addendum sheet in the lower right-hand corner.

2. Documents proving the applicant’s identity and citizenship, or lack of citizenship.

If a foreign citizen does not have such a document, provide a copy of the report on the establishment of the foreign citizen’s identity issued by the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 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, stateless person’s identity document, temporary identity document of 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. A document confirming the right to stay (reside) in the Russian Federation:

• visa,
• migration card,
• temporary residence permit,
• temporary residence permit for educational purposes,
• residence permit,
• refugee certificate,
• certificate of temporary asylum,
• temporary identity document of a stateless person in the Russian Federation or another document confirming the right to stay (reside) in the Russian Federation in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation), or
• certificate of a participant in the State Programme.

4. A document confirming permanent residence in the territory of Ukraine, issued by the authorized authorities of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic or Ukraine.

Submission of such a document is not required if this information is contained in the identity document.

Citizens of Ukraine who do not have documents confirming residence in the territory of Ukraine can obtain only a residence permit.

5. Migration card and detachable portion of the notification of arrival of a foreign citizen or stateless person at their place of stay - migration registration.

6. Birth certificate (if available).

7. Documents confirming changes to the full name.

Documents issued by civil registry authorities, a passport bearing a stamp recording the registration of a marriage (or divorce), an employment record book (a copy of the employment record book certified by the employer in accordance with the established procedure), a court decision or another document.

8. A document confirming the degree of relationship (birth certificate, marriage certificate, child adoption certificate or another document),

- if the application is submitted in respect of their relatives or by such relatives.

9. Photographs (personal) 3 x 4 cm – 3 pcs. (black-and-white or color).

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

10. Receipt for payment of the state fee.

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

A copy made from an original document must be of good quality, easily legible and contain all the information shown in the original. Copies must be made on standard A4 sheets and must not be cut to match 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; an official checks them against the originals and certifies them with their signature and the seal of the body responsible for citizenship matters in the Russian Federation, or the seal of a subordinate enterprise (authorized organization).

The period for providing 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 completed, including where they contain clerical errors, typos or other mistakes;

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

If the application is refused acceptance for consideration, the official returning the application shall indicate in writing or orally the circumstances underlying the refusal and how they can be remedied.

At the applicant’s written request, the official shall provide written notice of 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 certified with an apostille 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 endorsement by a notary in the territory of the Russian Federation.

                 For countries that are not parties to the Hague Convention:

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

All documents not 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; an official checks them against the originals and certifies them with their signature and the seal of the body responsible for citizenship matters in the Russian Federation, or the seal of a subordinate enterprise (authorized organization).

If a document drawn up in a language other than Russian has all entries duplicated in Russian, no Russian translation is required.

An application for admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation by foreign citizens, except in the cases provided for by Article 18 of Federal Law No. 138-FZ of 28 April 2023 “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation,” is rejected in the following cases:

• their participation in the activities of an organization included in the list of organizations and individuals for which there is information about their involvement in extremist activities or terrorism; or
• if the Interdepartmental Commission on Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Extremist Activities adopts a decision to freeze (block) funds or other property of the foreign citizen or stateless person; or
• if there is a court decision that has entered into legal force to suspend transactions on bank accounts (deposits) and other transactions involving their funds or other property.

Under Part 9 of 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 “Matters of Citizenship of the Russian Federation” (“Regulation on the Procedure for Considering Matters of Citizenship of the Russian Federation,” “Regulation on the Procedure for Taking the Oath of a Citizen of the Russian Federation”)

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 11 of 04.01.2024 “On determining certain categories of foreign citizens and stateless persons entitled to apply for admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation”