Russian MPs approve bill on dual citizenship for foreigners in 1st reading

The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, has approved the first reading of the bill, according to which foreigners no longer have to give up their existing citizenship when being granted the Russian one.

Currently, when applying for Russian citizenship, foreigners must confirm that they had addressed their country’s corresponding bodies in order to give up their original citizenship. The new bill cancels this requirement.

Chairman of the Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Leonid Kalashnikov said that previously this measure was in place only for citizens of the self-proclaimed Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine, TASS reported.

“Today, we are approving this bill for the entire world, so that anyone who wants to obtain Russian citizenship does not have to abandon their previous one,” the MP said. The State Duma will consider the second reading of the bill on April 17.