In April, Russian government
simplified the norms for giving citizenship to its native people. According to
the new rule, citizens who can give a proof that they/their family have lived
within the boundaries of Soviet Union or Russia, are eligible for getting the
citizenship.
These modifications in the
citizenship norms were signed by the President Vladimir Putin and made into
law. He annexed Crimea last month and he was of the view that this law would
protect the rights of native Russian speakers across the former Soviet Union.
The law came into force in just
3 weeks and established an easy procedure for gaining Russian citizenship for
foreign citizens and also for native Russians who don’t have citizenship
This
procedure is planned to take 3 months according to a report by Russian
television. It requires people to give up any other citizenship before they can
get a Russian passport. For applying people have to face an interview to prove
that they are well-conversant in Russian language.
They should prove that they use Russian in family, household and cultural
spheres.
They
must also prove that they or their relatives live permanently in Russian or their
ancestors lived within the Soviet borders before the Revolution of Bolshevik in
1917. Earlier there were very stringent laws for getting citizenship in Russia
and it was difficult for those who started living outside its borders after the
Soviet got broke in 1991.
The
modification in the citizenship law allows people to avoid long and official
procedure in order to get citizenship.There are certain
flaws in the law which still needs to be resolved. It is still not clear what
criteria would be used to identify which applicant is a native speaker?
