International migration and citizenship in the Russian Federation (the example of migration from Central Asia)

The aim of the article is to identify the relationship between international migration and citizenship in the Russian Federation, the dynamics of this relationship, as well as the characteristics of strategies for the naturalization of foreign citizens using the example of migrants from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The text first examines the legal framework governing the grounds, conditions and procedure for acquiring and terminating Russian citizenship. Then comes the analysis of statistics on the acquisition of different migration statuses and citizenship. The article ends with a brief analysis of the main motives and strategies for obtaining citizenship. The author concludes that the naturalization strategies of migrants are closely related to both the regulatory and legal grounds for acquiring Russian citizenship, and to the motives of the migrants themselves, as well as the degree of their integration. For many migrants, the main motive is to minimize risks and maximize access to the resources of the host society. However, there are also those, primarily family migrants with children, who choose Russian citizenship as part of their strategy for long-term residence and integration.