Fake will not be able to pass?

Head of State Vladimir Putin submitted a bill on citizenship to the State Duma.

According to a DOFA correspondent, Vladimir Putin recently submitted to the State Duma a bill “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” (No. 49269-8). Information about it is contained in the Legislative Support System. At the time of writing this text, it was indicated that the draft law was sent to the committee (s) of the State Duma (committee on the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eurasian integration and relations with compatriots).

What is important is that an explanatory note is also published there, which interprets the essence of the document in some detail.

The document itself contains 46 articles and quite a few pages. Of course, we will not retell its contents in full. However, let’s stop at some points.

In particular, attention was drawn to the fact that one of the articles (Article 16) mentions the Russian Empire. Yes, yes, it is her.

And in this context: “A foreign citizen or stateless person who has reached the age of 18, … permanently residing in the Russian Federation, has the right to apply for admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation without taking into account the requirements provided for in paragraphs 1-3 of part 1 of Art. 15 of this Federal Law, if the specified foreign citizen or stateless person: … has relatives in a direct ascending line, born or permanently residing in the territory of the RSFSR or the territory that belonged to the Russian Empire or the USSR, within the State Border of the Russian Federation.

And in Art. 2 states that relations in the field of Russian citizenship may be regulated by international treaties of the Russian Federation.

And at the same time, it is added: “Decisions of interstate bodies adopted on the basis of the provisions of international treaties of the Russian Federation in their interpretation that contradicts the Constitution of the Russian Federation are not subject to execution in the Russian Federation. Such a contradiction may be established in the manner prescribed by the federal constitutional law.

Now let’s use the explanatory note to the bill.

There, for example, it is stated that the draft law is aimed at the consistent implementation of the Concept of the State Migration Policy of Russia for 2019-2025.

What is more important: the document provides for a reduction in the number of requirements for more than 20 categories of persons when they are admitted to Russian citizenship. The following is a description of who exactly we are talking about.

But we were also attracted by such a moment concerning fictitious marriages.

They are invited to give, let’s say, “battle”. Recall that a fictitious marriage is when people get married not because they love each other and want to raise children, but for some other purpose – for example, for one of the partners to obtain citizenship of the same country as the other. Simply put: when a citizen of the Russian Federation ties the knot with a foreign citizen not for the purpose of creating a family, but for the purpose of obtaining Russian citizenship by a foreigner. Note that such “selfish families” are not only in Russia.

“The categories of persons who are eligible for the simplified acquisition of citizenship of the Russian Federation do not include investors and qualified specialists. The corresponding provisions of the Federal Law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” were not required in practice. In addition, the concept of the draft law does not imply the granting of Russian citizenship on the basis of formal criteria that do not take into account the existence of a real connection between a person applying for acquisition of Russian citizenship and the Russian Federation. In order to exclude the practice of concluding fictitious marriages between foreign citizens and citizens of the Russian Federation in order to acquire Russian citizenship, the simplified acquisition of citizenship of the Russian Federation is provided only for cases where there is a common child in the marriage, ”the explanatory note explains.

Comments

Yegor Redin, managing partner of Pozitsia Prava law firm, quoted by Kommersant, believes that the current “wording of the law on citizenship has many unresolved issues and references to international treaties,” but the new bill “minimizes the use of foreign norms.”

He believes that the strength of the document is its focus on people who want to obtain citizenship. He also noted that the draft law “annuls the formal acquisition of citizenship.”

Artem Turov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, considers the bill a serious step in implementing the concept of state migration policy until 2025.

However, Konstantin Zatulin, the first deputy chairman of the CIS Affairs Committee, whose words are also quoted by the publication, thinks that the document does not fully take into account the interests of compatriots. He considers the basis for obtaining citizenship associated with a change in the border of Russia to be superfluous.

So far, this document is just a bill. And its further fate is unlikely to be decided this year (only one day left from 2021). However, something suggests that in the future the deputies may approve the document…