Leon

Did anyone recently go through the process to renounce Russian
citizenship?

My wife recently became a US citizen and wants to renounce her Russian
citizenship. It will be easier and safer for her to travel to Russia
with US passport and visa.

Thanks, everyone.

Leon & Svetlana

Mrtravel

Leon wrote:
    > Did anyone recently go through the process to renounce Russian
    > citizenship?
    >
    > My wife recently became a US citizen and wants to renounce her Russian
    > citizenship. It will be easier and safer for her to travel to Russia
    > with US passport and visa.

For this issue, I recommend contacting the consulate she is registered
with. If she hasn't registered with a Russian consulate after moving to
the US, she should do so.

Why is it safer for her to travel to Russia on a US passport?
My wife was also under the impression that it would be beneficial to
also keep her Russian citizenship.

I am curious because my daughter has Russian and US citizenship and will
be going to Russia next month. From what we are told, the only issue is
that she might have to show the airline her US passport for her return
trip to show she has permission to come to the US. Of course, she would
use her US passport on entry to the US.

Andy Platt

"mrtravel" wrote

    > I am curious because my daughter has Russian and US citizenship and will
    > be going to Russia next month. From what we are told, the only issue is
    > that she might have to show the airline her US passport for her return
    > trip to show she has permission to come to the US. Of course, she would
    > use her US passport on entry to the US.

She shouldn't show the Russian passport at any stage during the return leg
(unless you need some sort of exit stamp in it). No sense in complicating
the issue.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

Dskdrv

If you show the US passport on exit from Russia, could you be asked for the
visa ? If you don't have a visa - entered with Russian passport - would you
not have to leave with the Russian passport also ?

It would be a pity to renounce Russian citizen if there is no legal reason ,
such as , dual nationality not allowed. It is nice to keep something from the
country of your birth.

Mrtravel

Dskdrv wrote:
    > If you show the US passport on exit from Russia, could you be asked for the
    > visa ? If you don't have a visa - entered with Russian passport - would you
    > not have to leave with the Russian passport also ?

But show your US passport to the airline so they know you don't need a
US visa to get back. Show the exit control the Russian Passport.

From the original poster's question, I assume they had some other
reason to renounce citizenship. This seems more complicated as now she
would need a visa to go. With both US and Russian citizenship, there is
no more paperwork.

Axqi Rqvst

Prof. George Ginsburgs has written extensively on post-Soviet
nationalities and on dual nationality law and policy (the two do
differ!) There's also a useful article by André Liebich on "Plural
Citizenship in Post-Communist States", published at 12 Int'l Journal
of Refugee Law 97 (2000). See also Gisburgs, Migration in Russia and
the Canons of Admittance to Russian Citizenship, in T. Alexander
Aleinikoff and Doublas Klusmeyer, eds., From Migrants to Citizens:
Membership in a Changing World, Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, 2000.

From the Liebich article:

"States which do not allow dual/multiple citizenshipbut foresee
excepions (mainly by treaty, or at birth, or by minors, etc.)
alongside the prohibition: Russia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan,
Lithuania. "The Russian case is interesting, not only because of the
twenty to twenty-five million Russian-speakers living abroad. Whereas
the corresponding Soviet law (1978) prohibited dual/multiple
citizenship, the Russian Federation has sought to have iot authorized
(reciprocally) by way of bilateral treaties. This attempt has not been
successful and it has introduec a mesure of uncertainty into Russian
legislation. Thus, the Russian constitution states that 'a Russian
citrizen may have the citizenship of a foreign State, in conformity
with the federal law or international treaty' (article 62) wheras the
citizenship law (1992, amendment of 1993) specifies that a Russian
citizen 'shall not be recognized as affiliated to citizenship of
another State unless an international treaty of the Russian Federation
provides for otherwise' (article 3). The substance of the two
statements may correspond but the tone certainly differs. This
two-track approach is also reflected in specific provisions of the
law. Thus, a Russian citizen 'may be permitted, _on petition_,' to
hold the citizenship of a State with which the Russian Federation has
a pertinent treaty (article 3, emphasis added). In other words, even
when there is a treaty, dual/multiple citizenship is not authorized
automatically, though a person who claims Russian citizenship may no
longer be required to produce proof that he or she does not hold
another citizenship.

"The other states in this category also allow for dual/multiple
citizenship by international treaty but, in fact, do not authorize
such citizenship or do so only in cases independent of treaty
considerations. Thus, Moldova's Citizenship Law (1991) [since
replaced, see http://www.uniset.ca --A.R.] grants citizenship to
children born abroad of one Moldovan parent (article 10), a provision
that frequently entails dual citizenship. It confers citizenship upon
repatriates, including children and grandchildren of persons who left
Moldova since 1940 and 'other persons {*101} of Moldovan extraction'
(article 14), without expressly requiring renunciation of another
citizenship, as is the case for other naturalizations (article 15). It
may be that renunciation is expected in all cases, even when not
expressly mentioned. Article 20 of the citizenship law states that
citizenship shall be denied to criminals and terrorists as well as to
those 'who are citizens of another State.' If this is to be read as a
blanket prohibition then it would also preclude eventual treaty
attempts at introducing dual/multiple citizenship.

"Tajikistan's Citizenship Law (1995) is more nuanced. It stipulates
that citizens of Tajikistan are not allowed to 'belong' to the
citizenship of another country, with the exception of cases foreseen
by the law and by Tajikistan's international treaties (article 4). It
also distinguishes between acquisition of Tadjik citizenship by way of
registration, for instance, for spouses and for repatriates or their
descendants (article 21), and acquisition by way of naturalization,
referred to here asd 'reception into citizenship' (article 23). One of
the grounds for denial of such 'reception' is possession of another
citizenship; but this stipulation is not invoked in the case of
'registration' (article 24). Kazakhstan's Citizenship Law (1992) makes
some of the same reservations as that of Tajikistan. It also expressly
authorizes 'Kazakhs forced to leave the territory of the Republic and
living elsewhere' to hold Kazakh citizenship alongside that of other
countries, if this is not contrary to the laws of those countries
(article 1).

"Lithuania's Citizenship Law (1991) forbids dual/multiple citizenship,
'except in cases provided for in this Law' (article 1). The only clear
such case appears to be marriage to a Lithuanian (article 14) inasmuch
as this tacitly provides exemption from the general provision that
acquisition of Lithuanian citizenship requires renunciation of
previous citizenship (article 12). Another article stipulates that
'persons retaining the right to citizenship,' that is, individuals of
Lithuanian origin, will be granted, upon petition, documents
confirming the right (article 17). It remains silent as to whether
such individuals too must renounce other citizenships."

Leon

Some background information why my wife would like to renounce her
Russian citizenship.

In order for a Russian citizen to leave Russia Federation and
permanently reside elsewhere, one (technically) should:

- Go to local civil registry office and remove "propiska" at the
current addresss
- Go to OVIR and get PMZh ('permanent residence outside of Russian
Federation') stamp in the passport. This may require to get all kinds
of documents, including absence of any obligations to the Russian
Federation the IRS equivalenebt ("nalogovaya inspektzia"), etc.
- Apparently, Russian Federation can issue two types of foreign
passports, one issued by OVIR (where PMZh stamp can be stamped) and
one issued by MID (ministry of foreign affairs) for temporary trips.
PMPzh cannot be stamped in the MID passport.
- Upon arrival in the destination country, register at the Russian
consulate.

However, very few people -- including my wife -- actually follow the
above procedure.

As a result, when exiting Russian Federation one can encounter all
kinds of problems depending upon how zelous border guards can be. I
personally know of one case when a Russian woman (permanent US
resident) was stopped at the border in (Moscow, SVO airport) and had
to stay in Russia for 3 months. That's how long it took her to get
all documents and finally get the right passport with the right PMZh
stamp in order to depart Russian Federation.

I speak fluent Russian and worked there for several years. I only
carried a color copy of my US passport and it saved multiple times.
Police are known to detain foreigners (happens quite often), hold
their passports, and of course indirectly ask for bribes. This is
especially common in St. Petersburg. Finnish Embassy received so many
complaints that an official protest was lodged with the Russian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In every instance, presenting color copy
and "take me to the US embassy" worked. I was allowed to leave with a
very unfriendly smile. Russian citizen would not be treated the same
way -- believe me.

My wife and I want to visit our family in Russia as foreigners, i.e.
US passports and visas. "Any problems? Please feel free to send us
home to the US".

Leon