residence in Ukraine at the time they filed the corresponding documents with the
State Migration Service. If they want to extend their residence in Ukraine, they
must submit a document that confirms their identity.
Stateless persons often do not have identity documents. Until April 2018,
a resolution47 was in effect in Ukraine that gave the State Migration Service
the authority to conduct a procedure for establishing the identity of foreign nationals and stateless persons. After this resolution lost force, however, the State
Migration Service only had the authority to conduct this procedure for Ukrainian citizens.48 As identity documents, the State Migration Service accepts a certificate from the country of origin’s consulate concerning non-citizenship with
a photograph of the applicant. However, Ukrainian laws specify a clear list of
documents that establish identity,49 and a certificate concerning non-citizenship
is not one of them. At the same time, few consulates are willing to issue these
certificates with a photograph of the person. In particular, the embassies of Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Kazakhstan issue certificates of non-citizenship without a photograph. As a result, migrants from these countries cannot
extend their legal stay in Ukraine, which drives them into a dead end as they try
to acquire Ukrainian citizenship, even though they have this right under the law
“On Citizenship of Ukraine.”
It is a paradox that, in the age of digital technology, the possibility of acquiring Ukrainian citizenship depends on the form of the certificate and the presence of
the applicant’s photograph. Because of this, a number of Right to Protection clients,
including migrants from Russia, cannot realize their right to citizenship of Ukraine.
Even for applicants whose consulates issue certificates with photographs, the
process for extending legal residence and for applying for citizenship drags on for
a long time:
Nadezhda Zhukova, a native of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic moved
to Ukraine in 1993 with her parents when she was still a child.
47 Oder of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine No. 320 “On the Approval of the
Procedure for Processing and Issuing Ukrainian Passports,” can be accessed following the link:
https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/z1089-12
48 Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 302 of March 25, 2015,
which envisages a “procedure for processing issuing, exchanging, sending, confiscating,
returning to the state, and destroying Ukrainian passports deemed invalid,” https://zakon.
rada.gov.ua/laws/show/302-2015-%D0%BF/print
49 Law of Ukraine “On a Single State Demographic Register and Documents
Confirming Ukrainian Citizenship, Identity, or a Special Status,” Part 1 of Article 13 can be
accessed following the link: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/5492-17/print
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