Large investors, alumni of Russian universities to enjoy easier naturalization - newspaper
MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) - The Federal Migration Service and the Economic Development Ministry have drawn up a law, which facilitates naturalization of foreign citizens, Kommersant wrote on Wednesday.
The simpler naturalization procedure will be primarily granted to businessmen who invest at least ten million rubles in Russia and foreign alumni of Russian colleges and universities who work in Russia for at least three years, the newspaper said.
Amendments to Article 14 of the Law "On Russian Citizenship" have been discussed in the government and will soon be submitted to the State Duma, Kommersant added.
So far, the simpler naturalization procedure is mostly enjoyed by foreigners who are married to Russian citizens or who were born in the former Soviet Union and are stateless persons.
The new law allows sole proprietors who have worked in Russia for at least three years to aspire for Russian citizenship if their yearly revenue exceeds ten million rubles. Investors who hold at least 10% stake in the authorized capital of a Russian legal entity are also eligible for naturalization. The authorized capital must amount to at least 100 million rubles.
Another innovation concerns foreign citizens "who have earned a professional occupation degree since July 1, 2002, and have been working in Russia for three years by the time they file a naturalization request."
For now the legislation and the draft law do not restrict the employment of foreign students in Russia who regularly have residence permits. So, the draft law makes them eligible for the simpler naturalization procedure even before their graduation.
