The Verkhovna Rada adopted the draft law on multiple citizenship in Ukraine

On December 17, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the draft law No. 11469 on the introduction of the institution of multiple citizenship in the country.

This was reported by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

247 PMs voted pro. A number of proposals and comments, including those of the Ukrainian World Congress, must be taken into account before the second reading. A separate vote was ordered to ask the Constitutional Court for its opinion on the law, says Zheleznyak.

The explanatory note noted that among the tasks of the project is to improve the regulation of the legal status of foreigners and stateless persons who serve or have served under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service, and the National Guard. This also applies to the spouse of such a person and their children.

The document proposes, in particular:

• to determine the states whose citizens (subjects) acquire Ukrainian citizenship under a simplified procedure;
• to determine the category of people who must renounce foreign citizenship in order to acquire Ukrainian citizenship;
• to introduce a declaration of recognition as a citizen of Ukraine;
• to update the category of people who cannot acquire Ukrainian citizenship;
• to review the grounds for losing Ukrainian citizenship.

Volodymyr Zelensky registered draft law No. 11469 in the Rada in August 2024. It is being processed in a specialized committee.

What preceded

In 2021, Zelensky submitted five bills on multiple citizenship to the Verkhovna Rada, but they did not have time to be considered before the start of a full-scale war.

Draft law No. 6368 was intended to determine the stateʼs attitude towards Ukrainian citizens who have citizenship of other countries. The second draft law concerned national security — No. 6369. It dealt with the system of declaring the presence of citizenship of other countries and checking the data in this declaration.

This was related to the draft law No. 6372 — on administrative liability for untimely submission or failure to submit a declaration of the presence of another citizenship. Criminal liability was provided for intentional attempts to conceal the fact of dual citizenship. The draft law also proposed to limit the right to dual citizenship for judges ( No. 6371 ) and customs officers ( No. 6370 ).

Finally, in January 2024, Zelensky registered draft law No. 10425, which would allow Ukrainian citizenship to all ethnic Ukrainians and their descendants, except for citizens of the Russian Federation, as well as foreign volunteers. The document has not yet been considered.

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