Citizenship through education

There are categories of foreign citizens who may be admitted to citizenship of the Russian Federation under a simplified procedure immediately after obtaining a residence permit (hereinafter referred to as a residence permit), including foreign nationals who have received vocational education under secondary vocational or higher education programs at educational or scientific organizations of the Russian Federation located on its territory, and have engaged in employment in the Russian Federation in the relevant specialties for a total period of at least one year before the date of filing an application for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation.

This means that a foreign national who has received vocational education under secondary vocational or higher education programs may apply for citizenship if they hold a residence permit, provided that the additional condition is met: working in Russia in the specialty obtained for at least one year before the date of filing the application. Higher education programs include bachelor's, specialist, and master's degree programs, as well as programs for training scientific and academic teaching staff in postgraduate studies (adjuncture), residency programs, and assistantship-internship programs (in accordance with Article 12 of N 273-FZ "On Education in the Russian Federation"). It does not matter whether the foreign national worked in Russia on a work visa, under a patent, or simply as a citizen of an EAEU member state, or whether they were not required to obtain a work permit because of their status in Russia (for example, having a temporary residence permit or residence permit).

Let us consider some examples: 

Suppose a citizen of Armenia studied at one of Russia's state universities and, after graduating, got a job at a Russian company in the specialty they had obtained. Six months later, they received a residence permit. In this case, this Armenian citizen has the right to apply for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation once their employment period reaches at least one year (that is, approximately six months after obtaining the residence permit in this example).

Suppose a citizen of Latvia studied at a state college in Russia and received a temporary residence permit while studying. After graduating, they took a job at a Russian company in the profession they had obtained. After working for six months, they had to leave for Latvia for personal reasons. In this case, to apply for citizenship through education, after returning to Russia they will need to work in their profession for another six months and obtain a residence permit.

To submit an application and a complete set of documents for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation under clause 7, part 2, Article 16 of Federal Law N 138-FZ "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation," a foreign citizen must contact the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the constituent entity in which they are staying.

Document package

The current list of required documents in .pdf format can be downloaded here

List of documents for applying for Russian citizenship on the basis of education received at educational or scientific organizations of the Russian Federation located on its territory, and employment in the Russian Federation in the relevant specialties for at least one year

A foreign citizen or stateless person who has reached the age of eighteen, has legal capacity, and permanently resides in the Russian Federation (regardless of the period of residence) may apply for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation without regard to the requirements to

1) permanently reside in the Russian Federation for five years from the date of the decision to issue a residence permit in the Russian Federation until the date of filing an application for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation;

2) have command of the Russian language;

3) know the history of Russia and the fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation;

if the foreign citizen or stateless person in question:

• has received vocational education under educational programs of secondary vocational education, bachelor's degree programs, specialist degree programs, master's degree programs, residency programs, assistantship-internship programs, with state accreditation, or under programs for training scientific and academic teaching staff in postgraduate studies (adjuncture) at educational or scientific organizations of the Russian Federation located on its territory, and has engaged in employment in the Russian Federation in the relevant specialties for a total period of at least one year before the date of filing an application for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation.

The application and documents required to acquire citizenship of the Russian Federation are submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia or its territorial body.

1. Application — 2 copies (printed double-sided)

The application must be completed in Russian by hand using black, blue, or violet ink, or using electronic means. Each page of the application must be signed by the applicant in the designated field in the lower right corner. Handwritten text must be legible. Abbreviations and acronyms may not be used when completing the application, except those in common use, and corrections or erasures are not permitted.

All fields of the application that are required to be completed must be filled in, except where the circumstances required to answer a question do not exist. In that case, the word "none" is entered in the relevant field or the corresponding section is left blank. Answers to the questions in the application form must be exhaustive.

If there is insufficient space in a field of the application to provide all necessary information, that information is entered on additional sheets attached to the application, which form an integral part of it (hereinafter, an addendum). In this case, the relevant field of the application must state "See addendum."

The field number being supplemented must be indicated on the addendum sheets, along with the required information. All addendum sheets must be numbered. The sheet number and total number of addendum sheets must be indicated in the upper right corner of each sheet. The number of copies of each addendum must correspond to the number of copies of the application. Each addendum sheet must be signed by the applicant in the lower right corner.

2. A document proving the applicant's identity.

If a foreign citizen does not have such a document, a copy of the conclusion establishing the foreign citizen's identity, issued by a territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in accordance with Russian law.

The document must be valid for at least the application processing period at the time the application is submitted (we recommend at least 6 months). 

A document confirming the presence or absence of citizenship (a citizen's passport, a stateless person's identity document, a temporary identity document of a stateless person in the Russian Federation, a non-citizen's passport issued by the relevant authority of a foreign state, or documents confirming that the applicant does not have citizenship of a foreign state, issued by the authorized body of the foreign state in which the applicant was born).

3. Residence permit.

4. Migration card and detachable part of the notification form of arrival of a foreign citizen or stateless person at their place of stay — migration registration.

In most regions, the Ministry of Internal Affairs requires a stamp in the residence permit confirming registration at the place of residence when an application is submitted.

5. Birth certificate.

6. Documents confirming changes to personal details.

(marriage certificate, divorce certificate, or certificate from the civil registry office in the event of repeated surname changes, or a certificate of name change).

7. A state-issued document confirming the level of education and/or qualifications (a document on primary vocational or secondary vocational education, or higher vocational or postgraduate vocational education), obtained on or before September 1, 2013, or

- a document on education and qualifications obtained after September 1, 2013, including the supplement to each of the above documents (if provided for by the relevant document), or

- a certificate of completion of postgraduate studies (adjuncture), as well as

• documents (information) confirming employment in the Russian Federation:

- employment record book (a copy of the employment record book certified by the employer in accordance with the established procedure), and/or

- information on employment, prepared in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, and/or

- employment contracts or civil-law contracts for performing work (providing services),

- information on the status of the insured person's individual personal account, provided by the territorial body of the Social Fund of Russia in the form established in accordance with federal law.

8. Personal photographs, 3 x4 cm — 3 pcs. (black and white or color).

The image of the applicant (child, incapacitated person) in the photograph must correspond to their age on the date of filing the application.

9. Receipt for payment of the state fee.

All listed documents must be submitted as photocopies, together with the ORIGINALS.

A copy of an original document must be of good quality, easy to read, and contain all the information shown in the original document. Copies must be made on standard A4 sheets and must not be cut with scissors to match the size of the original.

The originals of the applicant's identity document and other required documents submitted by the applicant are subject to return. Copies of these documents are attached to the application; an official checks them against the originals and certifies them with their signature and the seal of the body responsible for citizenship matters of the Russian Federation, or the seal of a subordinate enterprise (authorized organization).

The period for providing the public service is 3 months.

The period may be extended for the time necessary to verify the documents submitted by the applicant and the information provided by them when filing the application, and to obtain additional documents and information stipulated by this Federal Law,  but by no more than three months.

An application will not be accepted for consideration and will be returned to the applicant together with the attached documents if:

a) the application and documents are improperly prepared, including if they contain clerical errors, typos, or other errors;

b) the documents attached to the application that are required under this Regulation have not been submitted in full.

If an application is refused acceptance for consideration, the official returning the application will state, verbally or in writing, the circumstances that served as grounds for the refusal and how they can be remedied.

At the applicant's written request, the official will provide written information about these circumstances and how they can be remedied, including a list of missing documents.

All official documents issued by foreign government authorities in a foreign language must be legalized, translated, and notarized.

For countries party to the 1961 Hague Convention:

• The original document must be apostilled in the country where it was issued.
• The document and the apostille affixed to it must be translated into Russian.
• The translation must be certified by a notarial attestation made by a notary in the Russian Federation.

                 For countries that are not parties to the Hague Convention:

• Documents must undergo consular legalization through the consular offices of the Russian Federation abroad or the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

All documents not in Russian must be submitted with a translation into Russian. The accuracy of the translation or the authenticity of the translator's signature must be notarized in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

The originals of translations into Russian of the above documents are subject to return. Copies are attached to the application; an official checks them against the originals and certifies them with their signature and the seal of the body responsible for citizenship matters of the Russian Federation, or the seal of a subordinate enterprise (authorized organization).

If, in a document  not in Russian, all entries are duplicated in Russian, no translation into Russian is required.

Under clause 7, part 2, Article 16 of Federal Law of 28.04.2023 N 138-FZ "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation"

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 22.11.2023 N 889 "Issues of Citizenship of the Russian Federation" ("Regulations on the Procedure for Considering Issues of Citizenship of the Russian Federation," "Regulations on the Procedure for Taking the Oath of a Citizen of the Russian Federation")