When she turned 18, she found that she could not apply for a Ukrainian
passport because her birth certificate was lost during the move from Tajikistan, and her mother, who did not understand how important it was to
get a passport for her daughter, did not take care of this problem earlier.
When Nadezhda sought assistance at Tajikistan’s Embassy in Ukraine in September 2015, she was told that she is not a citizen of the Republic of Tajikistan.
The certificate she was issued to this effect did not have her photograph on it.
For her part, Nadezhda had grounds for acquiring Ukrainian citizenship
on the basis of territorial origin, since her grandmother was born on the
territory of modern Ukraine.
After she received a second certificate from Tajikistan’s consulate—this
time with a picture—Nadezhda filed an application with Ukraine’s State
Migration Service to acquire citizenship and receive a passport. However,
the State Migration Service refused her citizenship and recommended that
she obtain an immigration permit.
People who have the right to citizenship of Ukraine on the basis of territorial origin fall under the quota for an immigration permit.50 Obtaining this
50 Paragraph 3 of Part 2 of Clause 3 of the Procedure for Processing Applications
for Immigration Permits and Applications to Cancel such Permits and the Implementation of
Adopted Decisions, approved by Resolution No. 1983 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
of December 26, 2002 https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1983-2002-%D0%BF
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