This guide will walk you through the most important steps and processes for obtaining citizenship, so you can get started on building your life and business in Russia.
What’s the difference between citizenship and permanent residence?
Ultimately, there isn’t much of a difference between holding a permanent residence permit and a citizenship in Russia. Permanent residents have almost identical rights to natural citizens, and hiring permanent residence permit (PRP) holders may actually be advantageous for Russian businesses over hiring citizens. A PRP is valid for 5 years and can be renewed an indefinite number of times.¹
Unlike a PRP, however, a citizenship never needs to be renewed, and you won’t be faced with the possible loss of your visa. Citizenship also means visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 105 countries with your Russian passport², many of which require visas for American and UK citizens specifically.
Many expats do choose to remain in the country on a PRP rather than apply for citizenship, however. One reason for this is the belief that becoming a Russian citizen means leaving behind your homeland permanently. While this is widely believed to be the case, most expats aren’t required to revoke their citizenship in order to obtain a Russian one, unless their home country doesn’t allow them to hold dual nationality.
Gone are the days with strict travel restrictions inside Russia. However, one slight downside to PRP holders versus Russian citizens is the travel restriction to closed Russian cities and territories, which are often locations that have specific military purposes. If you’re a PRP, you won’t be able to visit these places under any circumstances³. In reality, though, you likely won’t ever need to visit any of these 44 closed cities anyhow. Russian citizens themselves would need to get permissions either by being officially invited to the city by one of its residents or have a government-approved reason to go there⁴. But this restriction is something you probably won’t lose sleep over.
Like many countries in Europe, though, regardless of whether you’re a citizen or not, you’ll need to register where you live in Russia if you reside in a place for over 90 days⁵. If just visiting Russia to begin with, bear in mind that your host will need to register you with the immigration registry if you stay for more than 7 business days⁶.
Can I have a dual citizenship?
Yes, dual citizenship is recognized in Russia⁷ and there are over a million people who hold Russian citizenship in addition to another passport. It’s important to check your home country’s laws on dual citizenship before you begin your application, however. In many countries that don’t allow dual citizenship, merely applying for a second nationality is just cause to have citizenship revoked.
Many sources on the web claim that a step in the citizenship application process is revoking your previous citizenship⁸. However, rest assured, as long as your home country allows dual citizenship, this isn’t the case. Foreign nationals shouldn’t worry about being able to keep their previous citizenship as they apply for their Russian one.
