MOSCOW, April 7 (RAPSI) – The Government has submitted a bill simplifying a procedure of obtaining Russian citizenship by foreigners to the lower house of parliament, according to the State Duma database.

Currently, one of the conditions to the receipt of the citizenship including acquiring under a simplified procedure is turning to an authorized body of a foreign state with an application for the abandonment of present nationality.

The bill envisages access to Russian citizenship without filing applications for the existing citizenship withdrawal with foreign authorities. 

The initiative also proposes to exclude from the law a demand for the 3-year living in Russia and confirmation of a legal earnings for adult persons without citizenship if they had the USSR citizenship, lived or live in the former USSR member states and failed to obtain citizenship of these countries; foreigners who have Russian spouses and children in these marriages; foreign citizens having one or two parents with Russian citizenship and residing in the Russian Federation.

The draft law also stipulates a right to file a citizenship application to citizens of Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan having an active residence permit but without a set term of living in Russia.

Moreover, the legislative proposal reduces a labor term for foreigners graduating from Russian educational or science institutions from 3 years to 1.