In 2020 The number of people who became Russian citizens increased by 30 percent
05 January 2021
According to the Russian Ministry of Interior, in 2020, over 560,000 foreign applicants received the Russian citizenship. This is 32 percent more than in 2019.
The growth is associated with the simplification of the procedure for granting citizenship to certain groups of applicants, such as the residents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), the TASS news agency reported.
At the same time, the number of foreign citizens staying in Russia in 2020 significantly decreased due to the coronavirus. While before the pandemic, between 9 and 11 million foreigners were in the country on any given day of a year, in 2020 their number was 6 million.
Last September, the Interior Ministry announced the development of a new federal law that would simplify the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship and employment for citizens of other countries.
Text: Abdulla Shakirov