The State Duma has adopted in the second and third readings amendments to the law "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation," which simplify the process of confirming citizenship for children born to Russian citizens.
The press service of the lower house of parliament emphasized that the legal representatives of the child will be able to send an application to the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs through the "Gosuslugi" portal.
According to the innovations, the notification of citizenship registration will be signed with an enhanced electronic signature of an authorized person. However, the possibility of submitting documents on paper remains. As noted by the Deputy Head of the CIS Affairs Committee Artyom Turov, the document does not offer any innovations related to the acquisition of Russian citizenship by foreigners.
After being signed by the president, the new law will come into effect 180 days from the date of official publication.
It should be reminded that in accordance with current legislation, a child is considered a citizen of Russia by birth automatically if at least one of the parents has Russian citizenship. Thus, citizenship does not need to be obtained, but only confirmed, which previously could only be done by personal presence.