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Some States have introduced provisions that allow for the reacquisition of
nationality if individuals lose or do not acquire another citizenship.
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For States that do not accept dual or multiple nationalities, citizenship legislation
must ensure that the requirement to renounce another nationality as a precondition
for acquiring or retaining nationality is lifted when such renunciation is not possible.
For example, refugees should not be expected to return to or to contact the
authorities of their country of origin to renounce their citizenship.
Good practices: Russian Federation
The break‑up of the former Soviet Union left millions of people stateless. In the
newly independent Russian Federation, rules set out under the 1991 Federal Law
on Citizenship established deadlines by which those residing permanently on the
territory of the Russian Federation could acquire Russian citizenship. Under the rules,
individuals who could not prove that they held permanent resident status in the
Russian Federation were not entitled to acquire Russian citizenship.
By the end of the 1990s, many former Soviet citizens in the Russian Federation had
not undertaken steps to regulate their citizenship status there or in other States
with which they had ties. Some had automatically become citizens of other newly
independent States, sometimes unbeknownst to the individuals concerned, while
others remained stateless because their personal circumstances were such that they
failed to qualify for nationality anywhere.
Aware that many former Soviet citizens remained without regularized status in
the Russian Federation, the Russian government initiated reforms to the 1991
Citizenship Law. The new law on citizenship of the Russian Federation entered into
force on 1 July 2002 (2002 Citizenship Law) and further amendments to facilitate the
acquisition of Russian Federation citizenship by former Soviet citizens residing in the
Russian Federation were passed in 2003.
The key provision that resulted in the reduction of statelessness concerned
a temporary measure to facilitate the acquisition of Russian nationality through
naturalization of former Soviet citizens on the basis of a temporary or permanent
residence permit. This procedure waived the requirements that were most difficult
to fulfil for citizens of the former USSR residing in the Russian Federation with
undetermined nationality status, namely proof of uninterrupted residence for
five years, proof of means of self‑sufficiency, and Russian‑language proficiency.
Applicants were also exempted from paying naturalization fees. During the six‑year
time frame that the procedure was in place, a total of 2,679,225 persons acquired
Russian nationality through naturalization, of whom 575,044 were stateless persons.
This represents one of the most successful efforts at statelessness reduction in the
past decade.
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