THE PROBLEM OF STATELESSNESS IN UKRAINE AND THE WAYS OF ADDRESSING IT III. Categories of stateless persons in Ukraine III. 1 Persons who entered Ukraine with the 1974 standard ex-USSR citizen passports or with birth certificates, and persons born in the territory of Ukraine after 13 November 1991 who did not acquire effective citizenship After the declaration of independence on 24 August 1991, the question on the legislative regulation of immigration processes became acute for Ukraine due to the desire of a large number of the former USSR citizens, identifying themselves as Ukrainians, but residing outside Ukraine, to receive access to Ukrainian citizenship. The situation was aggravated by the fact that Ukraine had no immigration laws of its own. To solve the issue, it was established that, until the adoption of relevant Ukrainian legislative acts, the USSR legislative acts on the matters not regulated by Ukrainian legislation would be applied in the territory of Ukraine provided that they were not in conflict with the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. In particular, the matters of entry and exit of foreigners into/from Ukraine and issuance of permanent permissions to stay and residence permits in Ukraine were regulated by the Rules of Stay of Foreign Nationals in the USSR 12. Therewith, it is worth noting that the above-mentioned Rules applied to foreigners and stateless persons except for former USSR citizens, which made the procedure of obtaining the citizenship of Ukraine by former USSR citizens legally unregulated before the relevant Ukrainian legislation came into force. The story of Svitlana Svitlana was born in Uzbekistan in 1982. Her father was working in Ukraine at that time and at the age of 15 she finally came to Ukraine to visit him. She planned to go back home after a few months, but due to some circumstances the family found itself in financial straits, which made her stay in Ukraine. Having no other choice, she moved to Crimea where her grandmother lived. She was told in the Embassy of Uzbekistan that even though she was a citizen of that country by law, she would be able to receive a passport only at the place of her registration 12 Available at http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v5152400-81 15