MOSCOW, February 12 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Federal Migration Service and Economic Development Ministry have drafted a law on granting citizenship to foreigners who invest more than 10 million rubles (over $287,000) in Russia, or who have a Russian diploma and have worked here for at least three years, Kommersant newspaper writes on Wednesday.

“Self-employed entrepreneurs who have worked in Russia for at least three years with annual business revenue of more than 10 million rubles, as well as investors who own at least 10% of a Russian company with the charter capital of at least 100 million rubles ($2.9 million), can apply for Russian citizenship,” the newspaper writes.

Under current legislation, only foreigners married to a Russian national or stateless persons who were born in the former Soviet Union can file for citizenship. The bill’s authors propose using the European experience of a simplified procedure for granting citizenship.

Under the bill, this procedure can also be used by foreign students who received a Russian diploma as of July 1, 2002 and have worked in Russia for at least three years before applying for citizenship. The newspaper writes that the government has already discussed the bill and will soon forward it to the State Duma.

Currently, only foreigners married to a Russian citizen or those who were born in the former Soviet Union and are stateless qualify for the speeded-up procedure. Nearly 136,000 foreigners obtained Russian citizenship in 2013, according to the Federal Migration Service. That was up from about 96,000 in 2012.