MINSK, 5 January (BelTA) – The Internal Affairs Ministry has made a number of comments about the latest amendments to the law on citizenship of the Republic of Belarus, BelTA has learned.
The head of state signed amendments to the citizenship law on 10 December 2020. According to the Citizenship and Migration Department of the Internal Affairs Ministry, the amendments are designed to improve the law taking into account the practice of its application, improve the demographic potential, and ensure domestic security of the state.
In line with the document the best interests of the child will be the overriding principle in decisions on citizenship matters. The amendments have also reduced the time period, during which a foreigner needs to live continuously in Belarus before submitting an application for Belarusian citizenship, from seven to five years. The number of people eligible for citizenship on preferential terms has been increased. In particular, it now includes persons, who constantly live in Belarus, have been married to a Belarusian citizen for at least three years, and have a common underage child with Belarusian citizenship.
The number of persons, who can receive Belarusian citizenship via a simple registration procedure, has been increased to include people, who have graduated from a Belarusian university and have worked in Belarus for at least three years. The same right is granted to children, who are foreign citizens or stateless persons, provided they constantly live in Belarus. Their parents or a single parent have to file a joint application for the child's citizenship.
The law now also provides for restoring Belarusian citizenship. This right can be granted to people, who used to have Belarusian citizenship and lost it against their will and now return to Belarus for permanent residence. For instance, those are people, who received a foreign citizenship or became a foreign citizen while underage in accordance with their parents' decision.
The amendments have revised the list of reasons for rejecting a Belarusian citizenship application and have adjusted the reasons for terminating the review process of the applications that have already been submitted.
In line with the law Belarusians can forfeit their citizenship for participating in terrorist or extremist activities or for inflicting heavy damage to state interests. The provision does not apply to citizens, who were born into Belarusian citizenship.
The number of persons, who cannot forfeit Belarusian citizenship, now includes suspects in criminal cases for crimes committed in Belarus. The novelty will not allow suspects to dodge prosecution by terminating their Belarusian citizenship.
The document comes into force on 18 June 2021.
