Procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia simplified

Applicants for Russian citizenship from Abkhazia and South Ossetia will not need to comply with the requirements for permanent residence in the Russian Federation and knowledge of the Russian language and Russian history.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on simplified acquisition of Russian citizenship by citizens of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the TASS reports today. Persons applying for Russian citizenship will not need to comply with the requirements for permanent residence in the Russian Federation and knowledge of the Russian language and Russian history, the TASS reports.

As follows from the text of the official document published on the portal of legal acts, “persons who have reached the age of 18, have legal capacity, were citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia or the Republic of South Ossetia on August 26, 2008 and have not lost the above citizenship on the day of filing an application for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation, apply without observing the requirements provided for in Paragraphs 1-3 of Part 1 of Article 15 of the Federal Law <…> ‘On Citizenship of the Russian Federation’,” the Russian President’s decree states.

Citizens of Abkhazia and South Ossetia permanently residing on the territories of their republics should submit applications to an appropriate Russian diplomatic mission to obtain Russian citizenship. In the case of residing in Russia, they should submit an application to an appropriate territorial body of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) at the place of their stay, residence, or actual residence.

On April 25, Sukhumi and Moscow ratified an agreement on dual citizenship. The document secures the right of citizens of one country (party of the agreement) to acquire citizenship of the other country (other party of the agreement) without renouncing their existing citizenship of their country (party of the agreement).

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 17, 2025 at 01:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.