Russia May Ease Citizenship Rules for Children

The procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship may be eased for children from marriages between a Russian citizen and a foreigner, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

“Following numerous appeals from Russians, we are now working on how to amend the Law on Russian Citizenship,” the minister said at a meeting of the World Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots.

“The amendments will stipulate that a child who lives with parents abroad [not in Russia] will be able to get Russian citizenship without permission from his or her non-Russian parent,” Lavrov added.

Several scandals over the citizenship of children whose parents got divorced have taken place in Russia over the last few years.

A diplomatic row arose in 2009 when Finish national Paavo Salonen was charged for illegally taking his five-year-old son Anton from his Russian mother Rimma to Finland with the help of a Finnish diplomat, who crossed the Russian-Finnish border with the boy in the trunk of his vehicle.

 

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