Acquisition of nationality through naturalization Russian Federation nn A highly effective set of reforms were introduced in the 2002 Law on Citizenship, which drew on the technical advice of international legal experts on how to address statelessness in the context of State succession. nn A facilitated naturalization procedure, available from 2003 to 2009, allowed former USSR citizens to acquire Russian nationality. More than 650,000 stateless persons acquired Russian nationality through naturalization between 2003 and 2012. nn In 2009 the 2002 Law “On Citizenship” was amended to extend the list of persons eligible to acquire citizenship through the simplified procedure. nn At UNHCR’s 2011 Ministerial Meeting, the Russian Government pledged to introduce procedures to facilitate acquisition of citizenship and issue residency permits to additional categories of stateless persons. nn Additional amendments to the Russian Citizenship Law that were adopted in November 2012 filled remaining gaps in the law to reduce statelessness. Statelessness in the Russian Federation The break-up of the former Soviet Union left millions of people stateless in the newlyindependent Russian Federation. Pursuant to Article 13.1 of the 1991 Federal Law on Citizenship (1991 Citizenship Law) former Soviet citizens who were permanent residents in the Russian Federation on the day the law took effect were considered to be Russian citizens, but were entitled to make a declaration that they did not wish to be considered as citizens within a year from the entry into force of the Law. In addition to this, stateless persons who resided permanently in the territory of the Russian Federation or another former Soviet republic had the opportunity to register as citizens within a year of the law entering into force (Article 18(e)). 22 The same opportunity was extended to foreign citizens and stateless persons who had either acquired Russian citizenship by birth or had an ancestor who was a Russian citizen by birth, regardless of their place of residence. Through a 1993 amendment, the law also allowed former USSR citizens who took up residence in the territory of the Russian Federation after 6 February 1992 to acquire Russian Federation citizenship by registration, with a three-year deadline to do so, later extended to 31 December 2000. The Russian citizenship of the vast majority of the population living in the Russian Federation after its independence was thus secured, as was the citizenship of many individuals who had ties with Russia. CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS WITHIN 10 YE ARS